KR102579229B1 - Multi switch device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multi-switch device having a push and scroll input function by touch, and more specifically, to determine the user's push or scroll operation from information detected through an electrostatic touch electrode sheet and a pressure sensor and to use an internal electric actuator. Provides a multi-switch device that can achieve a sense of push or scroll operation. A multi-switch device according to the present invention includes a switch panel installed on one side of a case and receiving a user's touch operation; a touch electrode sheet installed below the switch panel and provided with a plurality of electrodes to detect a user's touch input; an electric actuator installed below the touch electrode sheet and generating a vibration waveform corresponding to the user's push or scroll operation to provide a feeling of push or scroll operation to the user; a pressure sensor installed at the bottom of the switch panel and detecting pressure applied to the switch panel by a user; A control unit that determines whether the user intends a push or scroll operation based on information detected through the touch electrode sheet and the pressure sensor and controls the electric actuator to generate a vibration waveform corresponding to the push or scroll operation; It is characterized by being composed including.

Description

Multi switch device {Multi switch device}

The present invention relates to a multi-switch device having a push and scroll input function by touch, and more specifically, to determine the push or scroll operation intended by the user from information detected through an electrostatic touch electrode sheet and a pressure sensor to determine the internal This relates to a multi-switch device that can implement a push or scroll operation feeling through an electric actuator.

In order to meet the needs of users, recently released electronic devices are becoming more and more slim type with increasingly diverse functions and increasingly thinner sizes and thicknesses, and in response to this, push devices are being installed in electronic devices. Various switch devices, such as switches and scroll switches, are also gradually reducing their thickness and size while implementing better functions.

Among the switch devices installed in various electronic devices, the switch device currently installed on the steering wheel of a vehicle is provided to operate and control various convenience facilities provided in the vehicle, and the switch device installed on the steering wheel is designed to operate and control various convenience facilities in the vehicle. It shows a tendency for various switches to be concentrated on one side.

For example, the steering wheel of a vehicle produced recently has several switches such as a window switch that opens and closes the windows, a steering light switch that turns the steering lights on/off, an audio switch that operates the audio, and a wiper switch that operates the wipers. A multi-function multi-switch device is installed to increase the driver's operability of various devices and prevent him or her from losing forward attention while operating various devices.

Meanwhile, Figure 1 shows an example of a multi-switch device mounted on a conventional vehicle steering wheel, and Figures 2 and 3 show a push switch and a scroll switch respectively provided in the multi-switch device shown in Figure 1. there is.

In the case of the push switch 10, as shown in FIG. 2, when the button 11 is pressed, the slide 12 coupled to the lower part moves downward and moves into a rubber or metal dome, etc. The configured portion of the switch 13 is pressed and comes into contact with the lower contact point 14, thereby generating an electrical signal. In this case, the feeling of operation due to the push operation is that when the button 11 is pressed, the switch 13, which is composed of a rubber or metal dome that gives a reaction to the push, returns to its original state. A feeling of operation when pushing occurs due to the repulsive force trying to go.

And, as shown in FIG. 3, the scroll switch 20 has a structure in which a scroll (21) with protrusions formed on the outer circumferential surface is in contact with a ball (22) supported through a spring (23) at its lower part, and the scroll ( When turning 21) with a finger, a feeling of manipulation of the scroll occurs due to contact between the ball 22 and the protrusion formed on the outer surface of the scroll 21.

However, as described above, the multi-switch device mounted on a conventional vehicle steering wheel is subject to many restrictions in terms of design because it must be mounted within a limited space of the vehicle steering wheel.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 1, the multi-switch device mounted on a conventional vehicle steering wheel is equipped with each push switch (button) operated by a push operation occupying a certain switch area and separated from each other by a boundary line. Due to the switch area occupied by each push switch, it is very difficult from a design perspective to place multiple push switches in a limited space.

In addition, since each switch is structured to operate with only one function (push or scroll), there is a problem that it is virtually impossible to assign multiple functions to one switch. In addition, push switches, scroll switches, etc. have the disadvantage that it is virtually impossible to change the operating feel once set because each switch independently provides only one operating feeling according to a push or scroll operation.

Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-1093993 (2011.12.07)

The present invention was created to solve the above problems, and the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide each operation feeling according to push and scroll operations in a multi-function multi-switch device mounted on a vehicle steering wheel through an internal electric actuator. The purpose is to provide a multi-switch device that combines an electrostatic touch electrode sheet and a pressure sensor to generate different vibration waveforms and detect the push or scroll operation intended by the user.

The multi-switch device of the present invention for solving the above-described technical problem includes a switch panel installed on one side of a case and receiving a user's touch operation; a touch electrode sheet installed below the switch panel and provided with a plurality of electrodes to detect a user's touch input; an electric actuator installed below the touch electrode sheet and generating a vibration waveform corresponding to the user's push or scroll operation to provide a feeling of push or scroll operation to the user; a pressure sensor installed at the bottom of the switch panel and detecting pressure applied to the switch panel by a user; A control unit that determines whether the user intends a push or scroll operation based on information detected through the touch electrode sheet and the pressure sensor and controls the electric actuator to generate a vibration waveform corresponding to the push or scroll operation; It is characterized by being composed including.

Here, a damper that can reduce noise generated when the electric actuator operates may be installed between the case and the switch panel.

Additionally, a protrusion may be formed on the surface of the switch panel, which is an area where the user scrolls, and has a gently curved surface and protrudes convexly upward.

At this time, a protrusion that can provide a scroll operation feeling to the user may be formed on the surface of the protrusion.

Meanwhile, the touch electrode sheet may be a single layer composed of a plurality of real electrodes and a plurality of virtual electrodes adjacent thereto.

In this case, the real electrodes have a cross (+)-shaped array structure, and the virtual electrodes can be placed at corners adjacent to the real electrodes.

Also, when extracting the user's touch coordinates using the touch electrode sheet, a predetermined weight may be assigned to each coordinate where the real electrode and the virtual electrode are located.

At this time, the amount of electrostatic change of the virtual electrode may be set to the average value of the amount of electrostatic change of actual electrodes adjacent to it.

Here, when extracting the user's touch coordinates using the touch electrode sheet, the electrostatic change amount of the real electrode and the virtual electrode and the weight assigned to each of these electrodes can be applied to a predetermined coordinate extraction algorithm formula to extract the touch coordinates.

According to the structure of the multi-switch device of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the multi-switch device has a constant switch area like a conventional switch and is divided from each other through a boundary line, and a boundary line with a push function and a scroll function according to touch is provided. It can be implemented as a seamless design, and has the advantage of being able to implement multiple operating sensations such as push and scroll using an internal electric actuator.

In addition, by forming protrusions and protrusions that imitate existing scroll wheels on the surface of the switch panel that receives the user's touch input, it is possible to implement the same operating feel as the existing scroll wheel through the protrusions and protrusions, and the user can use the protrusions to Not only does it make it possible to easily recognize the position of the scroll wheel, but it also has the advantage of providing convenience and accuracy when scrolling because the user can clearly recognize the starting and ending points.

In addition, the protrusion structure formed on the surface of the switch panel increases the friction between the user's finger and the surface of the switch panel, giving a feeling of presence as if the user is rotating a scroll wheel with his or her finger.

In addition, since it has a structure that can selectively generate two operating sensations, push or scroll, through a single electric actuator installed inside, there is no need to separately install electric actuators for generating the push or scroll operating sensation. Therefore, there is an advantage in that cost reduction can be achieved by reducing the number of installed electric actuators, and miniaturization of the multi-switch device can also be realized.

In addition, previously, in order to detect finger touch coordinates during electrostatic touch sensing, a one-layer electrode sheet with a vertical electrode array structure and a two-layer electrode sheet with a horizontal electrode array structure were required, but the multi-switch device of the present invention Since electrostatic touch coordinates can be extracted through a specific algorithm using a single-layer touch electrode sheet with a real electrode and an adjacent virtual electrode, cost reduction and product miniaturization are achieved by reducing the number of installed touch electrode sheets. There is an advantage in being able to implement .

In addition, unlike existing switch devices, the multi-switch device of the present invention accurately determines the user's push operation or scroll operation based on electrostatic touch and touch pressure and provides a corresponding operating feeling through an electric actuator. It has the advantage of reducing unintentional misoperation by users.

In addition, there is an advantage in reducing noise caused by vibration generated by the electric actuator by installing a damper between the switch panel and the case that supports it.

1 is an image showing a switch device mounted on a conventional vehicle steering wheel.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a push switch provided in a conventional switch device.
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a scroll switch provided in a conventional switch device.
Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the external structure of a multi-switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the specific configuration of the multi-switch device according to the present invention.
Figure 6 is a top view of a touch electrode sheet provided in the multi-switch device of the present invention.
7 is a conceptual diagram showing the arrangement relationship of virtual electrodes in a touch electrode sheet.
Figure 8 is an example diagram showing weights assigned to the coordinates of real electrodes and virtual electrodes in a touch electrode sheet.
Figure 9 is a formula diagram showing an algorithm formula for extracting touch coordinates from a touch electrode sheet.
Figure 10 is a conceptual diagram explaining that weighting is given according to the change in capacitance of the touch area when extracting touch coordinates.
Figure 11 is a diagram conceptually showing that vibration generated from an electric actuator is attenuated through a damper installed at the top or bottom of the case.
12 is a flowchart sequentially showing a series of processes for generating push vibration or scroll vibration by determining a user's push or scroll operation.
Figure 13 is a flowchart showing a scroll event generation algorithm including an internal filter for filtering touch noise during a user's scroll operation.

Below, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention.

However, the present invention may be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In addition, it should be noted that parts indicated with the same reference numbers throughout the detailed description refer to the same components.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the multi-switch device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 4 is an image showing an example of the multi-switch device of the present invention installed on the steering wheel portion of a vehicle, and Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the specific configuration of the multi-switch device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the multi-switch device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a scroll input unit 122 disposed in the center, and 4 devices disposed in the up, down, left, and right directions centered on the scroll input unit 122. It consists of two push input units 121, and the scroll input unit 122 and the four push input units 121 are configured to implement a push or scroll function by touch manipulation using the user's finger.

In this way, the multi-switch device 100 of the present invention is implemented as a seamless design that eliminates the dividing line between each switch provided in the existing multi-switch device (see FIG. 1), so it is luxurious in terms of design. It can provide a sense of aesthetics. In addition, when a push input is applied through the four push input units 121 or a scroll input is applied through the central scroll input unit 122 through the user's touch operation, the internal electric actuator 150, which will be described later, is driven. By generating a unique vibration waveform corresponding to a push or scroll operation, it is possible to provide the user with multiple operating sensations, such as pressing a push switch or rotating a scroll wheel.

Specifically, the multi-switch device 100 according to the present invention includes a case 110 that forms the outline of the multi-switch device 100, as shown in FIG. 5, and is installed on one side of the case 110 and is sensitive to the user's touch. A switch panel 120 on which a push or scroll operation is input according to the operation, a touch electrode sheet 130 installed at the lower part of the switch panel 120 and provided with a plurality of electrodes for detecting the user's touch input, and a touch electrode An electric actuator 150 is installed at the bottom of the seat 130 and generates a vibration waveform corresponding to the user's push or scroll operation to provide the user with a feeling of push or scroll operation, and an electric actuator 150 is installed at the bottom of the switch panel 120 and provides the user with a sense of push or scroll operation. Whether the user intends to perform a push or scroll operation based on information detected through the pressure sensor 180, which detects the pressure applied to the switch panel 120, and the touch electrode sheet 130 and pressure sensor 180. It is configured to include a control unit (not shown) that determines and controls to generate a vibration waveform corresponding to the push or scroll operation through the electric actuator 150.

The switch panel 120 is a part where the user's touch operation is input, and includes a central scroll input unit 122, which is the part where the user's scroll operation is input, and the up, down, left, and right directions of the scroll input unit 122. It consists of four push input units 121 that are disposed in and are the parts where the user's push operation is input.

Here, the scroll input unit 122 is a part that replaces the existing scroll wheel function. Instead of rotating with the user's finger like the existing scroll wheel structure, the user moves the scroll input unit 122 with his or her finger. This part is designed to perform the same function as operating a scroll wheel when it is moved up or down while touching it with pressure.

This scroll input unit 122 has a gently curved surface on the surface of the switch panel 120 and a protrusion 123 that protrudes convexly upward in order to provide the user with a scroll operation feeling similar to that of a conventional scroll wheel. is formed, and has a structure in which a plurality of protrusions 124 are arranged on the surface of the protrusion 123 having the curved shape.

In this way, by forming the protrusion 123 and protrusion 124 structures on the surface of the switch panel 120 that can implement a feeling of operation similar to that of a conventional scroll wheel, the user can use the protrusion 123 and the protrusion 124 structure. The position of the scroll wheel can be easily recognized, and the start and end points can be clearly recognized by the user when scrolling, providing accuracy and convenience in scrolling. In addition, the structure of the protrusions 124 formed on the surface of the switch panel 120 can increase the friction between the finger and the surface of the switch panel 120, providing a feeling of operation as if rotating a scroll wheel with the finger.

And, at the lower part of the switch panel 120, a touch electrode sheet 130 is provided with a plurality of electrodes 131 and 132 that can detect changes in capacitance of the touch point when the user's touch is input through the switch panel 120. ) is installed, and the touch electrode sheet 130 is connected to a touch controller IC (Touch Controller IC) 140 configured as a circuit on a printed circuit board (PCB) 170, so that the touch electrode sheet 130 and the touch controller IC At 140, the user's touch input may be recognized and touch coordinates may be extracted.

In addition, at the bottom of the touch electrode sheet 130, when a push or scroll input is applied to the switch panel 120 from the user, there is an electric actuator 150 that can provide the user with a feeling of operation according to the push or scroll input. is provided. At this time, the electric actuator 150 is connected to the electric actuator driver 160 circuit configured on the printed circuit board 170, and the operation can be controlled by the electric actuator driver 160.

The electric actuator 150 can generate push vibration of a specific vibration waveform when a user's push input is applied through the push input unit 121 of the switch panel 120, and a scroll input is applied through the scroll input unit 122. In this case, by generating scroll vibration of another specific vibration waveform, it is possible to provide the user with a unique operating feeling according to a push or scroll input.

The pressure sensor 180 is installed to detect the pressure applied to the switch panel 120 when a user pushes or scrolls. Additionally, the control unit, which will be described later, can determine whether the user intends a push function or a scroll function based on the pressure value detected through the pressure sensor 180.

That is, when a touch input is applied to the switch panel 120 by the user, the user's finger touch point is recognized through the touch electrode sheet 130 and the touch controller IC 140, and the user performs the push function through the coordinates of the touch point. It is determined whether the scroll function is intended or not, and this can be finally determined through the pressure value detected from the pressure sensor 180.

In addition, the control unit recognizes the confirmed user's intended operation and controls to generate scroll vibration through the electric actuator 150 in the case of a scroll input, and controls to generate push vibration in the case of a push input. . In this way, since it is possible to accurately recognize whether the user intends to make a scroll or push input using the electrostatic touch electrode sheet 130 and the pressure sensor 180, unintentional erroneous operation by the user can be reduced.

In addition, a damper ( Damper; 190) can be installed. The damper 190 can be applied as a structure that can effectively dampen vibration, such as a spring or rubber, and by installing the damper 190, the switch panel 120 moves from the case 110 when the electric actuator 150 is operated. ) can effectively suppress operating noise (noise) caused by vibration transmitted to the device.

In addition, unlike the above-described embodiment, in the switch device structure in which the switch panel 120 with the electric actuator 150 attached is supported on the lower side of the case 110, as shown in FIG. 11, the switch panel 120 is supported on the lower side of the case 110. Operating noise can be suppressed through the damper 190 installed in. In this way, the damper 190 is placed on the upper or lower side to suit the situation where the switch panel 120 to which the electric actuator 150 is attached is located on the upper or lower side of the case 110, so that the electric actuator 150 Operating noise generated during operation can be effectively suppressed through the damper 190.

In addition, the present invention can selectively provide a push operation sensation and a scroll operation sensation to the user through one electric actuator 150 installed inside the multi-switch device 100, thereby reducing the number of installed electric actuators 150. Not only can it achieve cost reduction, but it can also achieve the effect of miniaturization of the multi-switch device 100.

Meanwhile, Figure 6 is a plan view showing the electrode structure of the touch electrode sheet 130 provided in the multi-switch device 100 of the present invention, and Figures 7 and 8 show the actual electrode and virtual electrode in the touch electrode sheet 130. It shows the placement relationships and the weights given to these coordinates. Additionally, Figure 9 shows the algorithm formula applied when calculating touch coordinates, and Figure 10 shows coordinates output when a large change in capacitance is detected at a specific coordinate.

Previously, in order to detect the touch coordinates of a finger when a user electrostatically touches an input, a first-layer electrode sheet (for detecting Although an electrode sheet in which layered electrode sheets (for Y coordinate detection) are stacked in the vertical direction was used, the touch electrode sheet 130 of the present invention actually detects the user's touch as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. A touch electrode sheet 130 composed of a single layer (first layer) having a plurality of real electrodes 131 and a plurality of virtual electrodes 132 adjacent to the real electrodes 131 is used to respond to the user's touch input. It is configured to detect changes in capacitance and extract touch coordinates.

That is, the touch electrode sheet 130 of the present invention includes five actual electrodes 131 having a cross (+)-shaped arrangement structure, and four corner portions adjacent to the actual electrodes 131 to form square coordinates. The user's touch input can be detected using only the single-layer (first layer) touch electrode sheet 130 composed of four virtual electrodes 132, and touch coordinates can be extracted using this.

In this case, extraction of touch coordinates using the touch electrode sheet 130 includes an actual electrode 131 that detects the amount of change in capacitance generated at an actual touch point upon a user's touch input, and the actual electrode 131. Touch coordinates are calculated through a specific algorithm formula (shown in FIG. 9) using weights assigned to the coordinates of the virtual electrode 132 and each of these electrodes 131 and 132, where the capacitance change value is calculated based on the amount of change in capacitance detected. can be extracted.

At this time, unlike the real electrode 131, the virtual electrode 132 is a virtual electrode that cannot actually detect the user's touch input, so the capacitance change value detected at the virtual electrode 132 is the actual electrode adjacent to it. It may be set to the average value of the electrostatic capacity change values detected from the fields 131. In this way, in order to extract the By applying weights for each touch coordinate, the X and Y coordinates can be calculated from the capacitance change value read from each touch coordinate and the weight set for each touch coordinate through the algorithm formula shown in FIG. 9.

At this time, the calculation of ) + … + (weight of electrode n × electrostatic change amount of electrode n × resolution)]/ [electrostatic change amount of electrode 1 + electrostatic change amount of electrode 2 + … + static change amount of n electrode].

For example, when weights of 0, 10, and 20 are assigned to the X1, X2, and As shown in Figure 10, the capacitance at the electrode given the weight of 10 where the user's touch input is applied changes significantly (capacitance change amount 200), and the capacitance change (capacitance change amount 10) of the surrounding electrode adjacent to it changes significantly. Since it is small, the influence of the electrode given a weight of 10 is large, so coordinates of 10 can be output. In this case, when the finger's touch point is moved, the X, Y coordinates can change in real time, affecting the change in capacitance of the left and right electrodes.

As described above, the multi-switch device 100 of the present invention assigns weights to the actual electrodes 131 and the virtual electrodes 132 of the touch electrode sheet 130, respectively, and calculates touch coordinates in real time through a specific algorithm formula. Because this can be done, electrostatic touch coordinates can be easily extracted using only one touch electrode sheet 130 composed of a single layer. Therefore, it becomes possible to extract touch coordinates without using a plurality of electrode sheets consisting of one and two layers to extract touch coordinates as before, thereby suppressing the increase in cost for additional installation of electrode sheets and reducing the cost of the touch electrode sheet. There is an advantage in that a more compact multi-switch device 100 can be implemented by reducing the overall thickness.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, a single electrode is composed of five real electrodes 131 having a cross (+)-shaped array structure and four virtual electrodes 132 disposed at corners adjacent to the real electrodes 131. Although the structure of the touch electrode sheet 130 is described as an example, various switch arrangement structures can be implemented by changing the installation number and arrangement structure of the actual electrodes 131 and virtual electrodes 132 provided on the touch electrode sheet 130. Of course, it is possible to implement the multi-switch device 100.

Meanwhile, Figure 12 is a flowchart sequentially showing a series of processes for generating push vibration or scroll vibration by determining a user's push or scroll input.

First, when a touch input (S202) is made by the user through the push input unit 121 or the scroll input unit 122 of the switch panel 120 in the touch input standby state (S201), the touch controller IC 140, which is a control unit, In , the touch coordinates are calculated by applying the capacitance change value detected at each coordinate where the real electrode 131 and the virtual electrode 132 are located and the weight assigned to each electrode to the algorithm formula shown in FIG. 9. (S203)

Then, when the touch coordinates are calculated from step S203, a step of comparing the current touch coordinates with the previous coordinates is performed to determine whether the current touch coordinates have been moved (S204).

Next, in step S205, it is determined whether the current touch coordinates have been moved (S205), and if the current touch coordinates have not been moved, whether the pressure value detected through the pressure sensor 180 is greater than or equal to the set value (Threshold). is determined (S210), and if the touch pressure value is greater than the set value, it is determined to be a push input (S211), and push vibration is generated through the electric actuator 150 (212).

Meanwhile, in order to reduce the possibility of misoperation of the multi-switch device 100 by the user, it is necessary to check whether the touch coordinates have been moved by the user's intended operation. That is, if it is determined that the current touch coordinates have been moved from step S205, it is determined (S206) whether the moving speed of the current coordinates is greater than the maximum set value (Max Threshold), and the moving speed of the current coordinates is determined by the minimum set value (Min Threshold) or less (S207), and when these two conditions are simultaneously satisfied, it is determined (S208) whether the touch pressure value is more than the set value, and if this is satisfied, it is judged as the scroll input intended by the user. And, scroll vibration is generated through the electric actuator 150 (S209).

Meanwhile, Figure 13 shows a flowchart showing a scroll event generation algorithm including an internal filter for filtering touch noise during a user's scroll operation.

As shown in FIG. 13, when the user's touch is input (S302) through the scroll input unit 122 of the switch panel 120 in the touch input standby state (S301), momentary noise and ON/OFF phenomenon occur at the time of touch. Debouncing is performed to eliminate repeated bouncing (S303).

Then, the touch controller IC 140 applies the electrostatic capacity change value detected at each coordinate where the real electrode 131 and the virtual electrode 132 are located and the weight assigned to each of these electrodes to the algorithm formula to determine the touch coordinates. Calculate (S304)

Next, a weight filter (S305) is applied to remove the white noise phenomenon of the coordinates. Next, it is a system in which the movement of coordinates appears in only one direction. Once the directionality is determined, the movement of coordinates continues only in the forward direction. To prevent reverse movement of coordinates due to noise, if movement of coordinates in the reverse direction occurs, the movement of coordinates continues in the forward direction only. A hysteresis filter is applied sequentially to correct the movement path according to the touch so that it can be determined that the coordinates have moved only after crossing a section or more (S306).

Next, it is determined (S307) whether the amount of change in capacitance according to the touch is greater than the set value (Threshold), and if the amount of change in capacitance is more than the set value, whether there are basic coordinates to determine whether the user's finger, etc. has moved. is determined (S308), and if basic coordinates exist, the distance between the current touch coordinates and the previous touch coordinates is calculated (S309).

Next, in order to reduce the driver's misoperation, it is determined (S310) whether the distance between the current coordinate and the previous coordinate calculated from step S309 is more than the set value, and if the distance between the current coordinate and the previous coordinate is more than the set value, the coordinate It is determined whether the moving distance and pressure between coordinates are appropriate by comparing them with each internally set value (S311).

At this time, if the moving distance and touch pressure between coordinates are within the set standard values and are judged to be appropriate, the basic coordinates are updated (S312) and scroll vibration is generated (S313).

Preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art will be able to understand the invention appropriately within the scope described in the claims of the present invention. change will be possible

100: Multi-switch device 110: Case
120: switch panel 121: push input unit
122: scroll input unit 123: protrusion
124: Protrusion 130: Touch electrode sheet
131: real electrode 132: virtual electrode
140: Touch controller IC 150: Electric actuator
160: Electric actuator driver 170: Printed circuit board (PCB)
180: Pressure sensor 190: Damper

Claims (9)

A switch panel installed on one side of the case and through which the user's touch operation is input;
a touch electrode sheet installed below the switch panel and provided with a plurality of electrodes to detect a user's touch input;
An electric actuator installed below the touch electrode sheet and generating different vibration waveforms corresponding to the user's push operation and scroll operation to provide the user with a push operation sensation and a scroll operation sensation;
a pressure sensor installed at the bottom of the switch panel and detecting pressure applied to the switch panel by a user;
Determine whether the user intends to push and scroll from the information detected through the touch electrode sheet and the pressure sensor, and generate different vibration waveforms corresponding to the push and scroll operations through the electric actuator. a control unit that controls;
Including,
The control unit detects a touch that moves coordinates from the touch electrode sheet, and determines that a scroll operation is intended when the moving speed of the coordinates is greater than the maximum set value and less than the minimum set value.
The multi-switch device according to claim 1, wherein a damper is installed between the case and the switch panel.
The multi-switch device according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion having a gently curved surface and a structure protruding convexly upward is formed on the surface of the switch panel as an area where the user scrolls.
The multi-switch device according to claim 3, wherein a protrusion is formed on the surface of the protrusion to provide a user with a feeling of scrolling.
The multi-switch device according to claim 1, wherein the touch electrode sheet is a single-layered touch electrode sheet having a plurality of real electrodes and a plurality of virtual electrodes adjacent thereto.
The multi-switch device of claim 5, wherein the real electrodes have a cross (+)-shaped array structure, and the virtual electrodes are disposed at corners adjacent to the real electrodes.
The multi-switch device of claim 5, wherein when extracting the coordinates of a user's touch using the touch electrode sheet, a predetermined weight is given to each coordinate where the real electrode and the virtual electrode are located.
The multi-switch device of claim 7, wherein the amount of electrostatic change of the virtual electrode is set to an average value of the amount of electrostatic change of actual electrodes adjacent to it.
The method of claim 8, wherein when extracting the user's touch coordinates using the touch electrode sheet, the electrostatic change amount of the real electrode and the virtual electrode and the weight assigned to each of these electrodes are applied to a predetermined coordinate extraction algorithm formula to extract the touch coordinates. A multi-switch device characterized in that.

Images