JP6177660B2 - Input device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device that performs operation instructions by touching a screen with a user's finger or the like.

  Conventionally, by using a touch panel that can switch sensitivity, when detecting the approach of a finger to the touch panel set to high sensitivity, the sensitivity is reduced, the menu button is displayed, and the finger is moved while pressing the menu button. An image display device that displays a menu area and menu icons is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2010/089980

  By the way, in the image display device disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the sensitivity of the touch panel can be switched between high and low. Considering the case of changing before touching, it is desirable to set the sensitivity as high as possible and detect a finger or the like at a position as far as possible from the display screen. However, in reality, if the sensitivity of the touch panel is increased too much, there is a problem in that erroneous detection and malfunction increase and operability deteriorates. For example, assuming a case where a touch panel is used for an in-vehicle device, the touch panel is placed on a display screen having a maximum size of about 8 inches. In this case, if the sensitivity of the touch panel is increased too much, when the user brings one finger close to the display screen, the fingertips of the other fingers and each part of the palm may be detected at the same time. It becomes impossible to accurately detect which part of the top is being pressed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to provide an input device capable of reducing erroneous detection and malfunction when the sensitivity of a touch panel is increased.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an input device according to the present invention includes a display device that displays a predetermined operation screen, a touch panel that is arranged on the operation screen and can be switched between high and low detection sensitivity, and an operation screen that is more than the touch panel. Based on the detection results of both the proximity sensor that detects the position of the user's hand approaching the operation screen and the touch panel and proximity sensor that are set to high detection sensitivity. Fingertip position determining means for determining the position of the fingertip of the user approaching the operation screen.

  Specifically, when the user's finger approaches the operation screen described above, the proximity sensor detects the position of the user's hand included in the detection range, and the touch panel set to high detection sensitivity is And detecting a plurality of locations including a finger other than the fingertip or a part of the palm, and the fingertip position determining means selects a location farthest from the position detected by the proximity sensor among the plurality of locations detected by the touch panel. The position.

  Assuming that you operate the touch panel with your fingertips, if you increase the detection sensitivity of the touch panel, not only the fingertip you are trying to operate (for example, the index finger), but also other fingers or part of your palm that are folded to the palm side in parallel Then, the situation of detection occurs. On the other hand, if the position of the hand is detected by the proximity sensor, it can be said that the position of the fingertip to be operated is farthest from the position of the hand. In this way, by combining the proximity sensor and the touch panel to detect the position of the hand and determine the position of the fingertip, the position of the fingertip to be operated can be determined even when the touch panel set to high sensitivity is used. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of erroneous detections and malfunctions associated therewith.

The touch panel described above is set to a low detection sensitivity until the proximity sensor detects the approach of the user's hand, and is changed to a high detection sensitivity after detection . Thereby, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection and malfunction other than during operation.

The touch panel described above, after the determination of the position of the fingertip by the fingertip position determining means has been completed, it is preferable to set the low detection sensitivity. Thereby, when the touch panel is touched with a fingertip, the touched position can be accurately detected, and the detection accuracy of the operation position can be increased.

  In the above-described display device, it is preferable that at least the display content of the operation screen corresponding to the position of the fingertip is changed when the position of the fingertip is determined by the fingertip position determination unit. As a result, it is possible to detect the fingertip position before touching the touch panel with the fingertip, and to display a prefetch menu before contact at a position far from the operation screen.

  In the display device described above, it is desirable to change at least one of the number and type of operation icons included in the operation screen. Thereby, the screen transition can be performed before the fingertip touches the operation screen, and the operation time can be shortened.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus of one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the installation state of a touch panel and a proximity sensor. It is a figure which shows the detection range of a touch panel and a proximity sensor. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the operation screen containing an operation icon. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure which detects a user's fingertip position combining the touch panel and proximity sensor which can switch detection sensitivity. It is explanatory drawing of the position detection which combined the proximity sensor 26 and the touchscreen 22. It is a figure which shows the operation area | region required in order to select each operation icon on the operation screen shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example of a prefetch menu.

  Hereinafter, an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment to which an input device of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle device 1 includes a navigation processing unit 10, a TV tuner processing unit 14, a radio tuner processing unit 16, an AV processing unit 18, an operation unit 20, a touch panel 22, an input control unit 24, a proximity sensor 26, A display processing unit 30, a display device 32, a digital-analog converter (D / A) 40, a speaker 42, a control unit 50, and a hard disk device (HDD) 70 are provided.

  The navigation processing unit 10 performs a navigation operation for guiding the traveling of the vehicle on which the in-vehicle device 1 is mounted, using the map data stored in the hard disk device 70. Used in conjunction with the GPS device 12 for detecting the position of the host vehicle, the navigation operation for guiding the running of the vehicle searches for and displays peripheral facilities and POIs (Point Of Interest) in addition to map display and route search / guidance. Etc. are included. The vehicle position detection may be performed using a combination of autonomous navigation sensors such as a gyro sensor and a vehicle speed sensor in addition to the GPS 12.

  The TV tuner processing unit 14 receives a broadcast signal such as terrestrial digital broadcast and performs processing for reproducing video and audio. The radio tuner processing unit 16 receives radio broadcast signals and performs processing for reproducing sound. The AV processing unit 18 performs a process of reading and reproducing music data and video data that are compressed and stored in the hard disk device 70. Note that music data and video data may be read from a CD or DVD using a disk reader (not shown).

  The operation unit 20 is for receiving various operations by the user, and includes various switches and operation knobs. The touch panel 22 is disposed so as to overlap the screen of the display device 32, and detects the position on the screen where the user's finger contacts. This touch panel 22 is, for example, a capacitance type, and the sensitivity can be varied by changing the detection threshold. In the present embodiment, two types of detection sensitivity (high sensitivity and low sensitivity) are realized by changing the detection threshold. The input control unit 24 monitors the operation state of the operation unit 20 and the touch panel 22 and detects the content input by the user.

  The proximity sensor 26 detects a user's hand that is in a predetermined positional relationship with the display screen of the display device 32. The proximity sensor 26 has a wider detection range including a range farther from the display screen than the touch panel 22 with increased detection sensitivity. Various existing methods can be used as the detection method. For example, an infrared sensor method, a capacitance method, or other methods can be used.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an installation state of the touch panel 22 and the proximity sensor 26. As shown in FIG. 2, the touch panel 22 is disposed so as to cover the entire display screen of the display device 32. Further, the proximity sensors 26 are respectively arranged on the top, bottom, left and right of the display screen.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a detection range of the touch panel 22 and the proximity sensor 26. The touch panel 22 can be switched between two levels of high and low detection sensitivity. In FIG. 3, the detection range of the touch panel 22 when the detection sensitivity is set low is A, and the detection range of the touch panel 22 when the detection sensitivity is set high. Is indicated by B. Further, the detection range of the proximity sensor 26 is set to be wider than the detection range of the touch panel 22 in which the detection sensitivity is set high, and is indicated by C in FIG.

  The display processing unit 30 outputs video signals for displaying various operation screens and displays these screens on the display device 32, and also displays video screens and AV processing corresponding to broadcast signals received by the TV tuner processing unit 14. A video signal for displaying the video screen reproduced by the unit 18 is output and displayed on the display device 32. The display device 32 is installed in front of the center of the driver seat and the passenger seat, and is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display device (LCD).

  The digital-analog converter 40 converts audio data and music data generated by the navigation processing unit 10, TV tuner processing unit 14, radio tuner processing unit 16, and AV processing unit 18 into analog audio signals. And output from the speaker 42. In practice, an amplifier for amplifying a signal is connected between the digital-analog converter 40 and the speaker 42, but this amplifier is omitted in FIG. Further, the combination of the digital-analog converter 40 and the speaker 42 is provided for the number of reproduction channels, but only one set is shown in FIG.

  The control part 50 is for controlling the whole vehicle-mounted apparatus 1, and is implement | achieved by running the predetermined program stored in ROM, RAM, etc. by CPU. Further, the control unit 50 detects the position by combining the touch panel 22 and the proximity sensor 26, and switches the display content of the operation screen by detecting the position before the fingertip touches the display screen based on the detection result. In order to display the pre-read menu, an operation screen creation unit 51, a sensitivity switching unit 52, and an operation position determination unit 53 are provided.

  The operation screen creation unit 51 creates various operation screens to be displayed on the display device 32. This operation screen includes operation icons for giving various instructions to the in-vehicle device 1 when the user points with a finger.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of an operation screen including an operation icon. The operation screen shown in FIG. 4 is a menu screen for setting a destination for route search in the navigation operation using the navigation processing unit 10. This operation screen (menu screen) includes six operation icons A to E.

  The sensitivity switching unit 52 switches the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 in two steps, high and low. This switching is performed by changing the detection threshold. For example, with respect to the capacitive touch panel 22, it is detected that the electrostatic capacitance between two types of transparent electrodes arranged in a crossing direction changes when a user's finger or hand is brought close to the touch panel. The position of a finger or the like is detected. By changing the detection threshold used to detect the change in capacitance, the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 (distance from the surface of the touch panel 22 that can detect a finger or the like) can be switched. The operation position determination unit 53 performs a process of determining the operation position of the operation screen by combining the detection results of the proximity sensor 26 and the touch panel 22 in conjunction with the operations of the operation screen creation unit 51 and the sensitivity switching unit 52. . The sensitivity switching unit 52 and the operation position determination unit 53 described above correspond to the fingertip position determination unit.

The in-vehicle device 1 of the present embodiment has such a configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for detecting the fingertip position of the user by combining the touch panel 22 and the proximity sensor 26 whose detection sensitivity can be switched.

  The operation position determination unit 53 determines whether or not the user's hand has been detected by the proximity sensor 26 (step 100). Note that even when an object other than the user's hand approaches, it is detected by the proximity sensor 26. However, since it is assumed that the user performs an operation by touching the touch panel 22 with a fingertip, in the following description, The description will be made assuming that the user's hand approaches. If the user's hand is not detected, a negative determination is made in the determination of step 100, and this determination is repeated.

  When the proximity sensor 26 detects the user's hand, an affirmative determination is made in step 100. Next, the sensitivity switching unit 52 sets the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 high (step 102). In addition, the operation position determination unit 53 determines whether or not the user's fingertip has been detected by the touch panel 22 with increased detection sensitivity (step 104). If not detected, a negative determination is made, and then the operation position determination unit 53 determines whether or not the detection state by the proximity sensor 26 is maintained (step 106). If it is maintained, an affirmative determination is made, the process returns to step 104, and the presence / absence determination by the touch panel 22 is repeated. On the other hand, when the detection state by the proximity sensor 26 is released (when the user's hand is no longer detected), a negative determination is made in the determination of step 106. Next, after the sensitivity switching unit 52 sets the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 to be low (step 108), the process returns to step 100 and the presence / absence determination by the proximity sensor 26 is repeated.

  Further, when the user's fingertip is detected by the touch panel 22 with increased detection sensitivity, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 104. Next, it is determined whether or not there is one location where the user's fingertip is detected by the touch panel 22 (step 110). Because the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 is increased, when a hand other than the index finger is folded back to the palm side and the hand is brought close to the touch panel 22, not only the fingertip of the index finger but also other folded fingers and part of the palm May be detected. When such a plurality of locations are detected at the same time, a negative determination is made in the determination in step 110, and the operation position determination unit 53 determines the position of the location farthest from the detection position of the proximity sensor 26 from among the plurality of locations. Select (step 112).

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of position detection in which the proximity sensor 26 and the touch panel 22 are combined. In FIG. 6, H indicates the position of the hand detected by the proximity sensor 26, and h <b> 1 to h <b> 4 indicate the position of the hand or finger detected by the touch panel 22 with high detection sensitivity. Assuming that the index screen or the middle finger is projected and the operation screen is operated with the fingertip, the position h3 farthest from the position H detected by the proximity sensor 26 among the four positions h1 to h4 detected by the touch panel 22 is operated. It can be determined that the position of the fingertip to perform.

  When a plurality of positions are detected on the touch panel 22 with high detection sensitivity in this way, one of them is selected as the fingertip position of the user. Further, when there is one detection location (affirmative determination at step 110), the location of this one location is adopted as the fingertip position of the user.

  Next, the operation position determination unit 53 determines whether or not an operation icon corresponding to the next operation is arranged at a position on the operation screen corresponding to the fingertip position of the user (step 114). FIG. 7 is a diagram showing operation areas necessary for selecting each operation icon on the operation screen shown in FIG. For example, in order to select the operation icon B, the user needs to point the operation area b with a fingertip. However, since the touch panel 22 is set to high detection sensitivity at this time, the user does not need to directly point the touch panel 22 surface corresponding to the operation area b with a fingertip, and is a space several cm away from the touch panel 22 surface. In this case, the operation of selecting the operation icon B is performed by placing the fingertip at a position corresponding to the operation area b.

  When the operation icon is not arranged at the fingertip position of the user, a negative determination is made in the determination in step 114, and the determination operation for detecting the fingertip by the touch panel 22 is repeated by returning to step 104. If an operation icon is placed at the fingertip position of the user, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 114, and then the operation screen creation unit 51 corresponds to the operation icon pointed to by the fingertip. A prefetch menu is displayed (step 116).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of the prefetch menu. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the prefetch menu corresponding to the operation icon B includes additional icons B1, B2, B3, and B4. Conventionally, these additional icons B1 to B4 are included in the operation screen one level lower after the user touches the operation icon B with the fingertip. In the present embodiment, before the user directly touches the operation icon B with the fingertip, these additional icons B1 to B4 are displayed as a prefetch menu.

  Next, the sensitivity switching unit 52 sets the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 to be low (step 118), and the operation position determination unit 53 determines whether or not the user's fingertip has been detected by the touch panel 22 having a low detection sensitivity. (Step 120). If not detected, a negative determination is made and this determination is repeated. If the user's fingertip is detected, an affirmative determination is made in the determination in step 120, and then the operation position determination unit 53 places an operation icon (in the example shown in FIG. 8) at the fingertip position detected by the touch panel 22. It is determined whether any of the additional icons B1 to B4) is arranged (step 122). If not, a negative determination is made, and the process returns to step 120 to repeat the fingertip detection determination. If an operation icon is arranged, an affirmative determination is made in the determination in step 122, and an operation corresponding to the operation icon pointed to by the user's fingertip is performed (step 124).

  As described above, when it is assumed that the touch panel 22 is operated with a fingertip, if the detection sensitivity of the touch panel 22 is increased, not only the fingertip (for example, the index finger) to be operated but also other fingers folded to the palm side or A situation occurs in which a part of the palm is detected in parallel. On the other hand, if the position of the hand is detected by the proximity sensor 26, it can be said that the position of the fingertip to be operated is farthest from the position of the hand. In the in-vehicle device 1 of the present embodiment, by combining the proximity sensor 26 and the touch panel 22, the position of the fingertip to be operated can be determined even when the touch panel 22 set to high sensitivity is used. Thus, it is possible to reduce erroneous detection and malfunctions associated therewith.

  The touch panel 22 is set to a low detection sensitivity until the proximity sensor 26 detects the approach of the user's hand, and is changed to a high detection sensitivity after the detection. Thereby, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection and malfunction other than during operation.

  Further, the touch panel 22 is changed to a low detection sensitivity after the fingertip position determination by the operation position determination unit 53 is completed (after the operation of Step 114 is completed). Thereby, when the touch panel 22 is touched with a fingertip, the touched position can be accurately detected, and the detection accuracy of the operation position can be increased.

  In addition, it is possible to detect the fingertip position before touching the touch panel 22 with the fingertip, and display a pre-read menu before contact at a position far from the operation screen. In particular, in the prefetch menu display, at least one of the number and type of operation icons included in the operation screen is changed. Thereby, the screen transition can be performed before the fingertip touches the operation screen, and the operation time can be shortened.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible within the range of the summary of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the in-vehicle device 1 has been described, but the present invention can be applied to various devices installed indoors and outdoors other than the vehicle.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by combining a proximity sensor and a touch panel, the position of the fingertip to be operated can be determined even when a touch panel set to high sensitivity is used. Thus, it is possible to reduce false detections and malfunctions associated therewith.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-vehicle apparatus 20 Operation part 22 Touch panel 24 Input control part 26 Proximity sensor 30 Display processing part 32 Display apparatus 50 Control part 51 Operation screen creation part 52 Sensitivity switching part 53 Operation position determination part

Claims (5)

A display device for displaying a predetermined operation screen;
A touch panel arranged on the operation screen and capable of switching between high and low detection sensitivity;
A proximity sensor for detecting a position of a user's hand approaching the operation screen, having a detection range including a position farther from the operation screen than the touch panel;
Fingertip position determining means for determining the position of the user's fingertip approaching the operation screen based on detection results of both the touch panel and the proximity sensor set to high detection sensitivity;
Wherein the touch panel, the set to a low detection sensitivity to the detection of the approaching of the user's hand by the proximity sensor, the input device according to claim be subject to change high detection sensitivity after detection. In claim 1,
When the user's finger approaches the operation screen, the proximity sensor detects the position of the user's hand included in the detection range, and the touch panel set to high detection sensitivity includes the fingertip and other than the fingertip. Multiple locations, including some of your fingers or palms,
The input device characterized in that the fingertip position determination means sets a position farthest from the position detected by the proximity sensor among the plurality of positions detected by the touch panel as the position of the fingertip. In claim 1 or 2 ,
The input device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel is set to a low detection sensitivity after the fingertip position determination unit finishes determining the position of the fingertip. In claim 3 ,
The display device changes at least the display content of the operation screen corresponding to the position of the fingertip when the position of the fingertip is determined by the fingertip position determination means. In claim 4 ,
The display device changes at least one of the number and type of operation icons included in the operation screen.

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