JP5880932B2 - Touch input device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch input device.

  In recent years, research on tactile sensation has been actively conducted, and much research on tactile interface has been seen. However, the operation surface is often smooth and there are few operation surfaces that give a tactile sensation. For example, the inventions of Patent Documents 1 and 2 are disclosed with respect to an operation surface that gives a touch feeling.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-194863 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-194472

  In the devices disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, since the protrusions of a certain size are arranged at a certain pitch, it is tactilely perceived as to which position is being traced with a finger. It cannot be recognized.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above matters, and an object of the present invention is to provide a touch-type input device capable of tactilely recognizing the position of the finger on the operation surface when the finger is traced. It is in.

The touch input device according to the present invention is:
A surface plate having a plurality of convex portions or concave portions on the operation surface, the area changing as the convex portions or the concave portions go in a predetermined direction,
Wherein disposed on the back surface plate, e Bei a sensor the user's finger to detect the position of the operation surface is touched, and
The area of the convex part or the concave part changes logarithmically,
It is characterized by that.

  Moreover, the said convex part or the said recessed part may be arrange | positioned at fixed intervals toward the said predetermined direction.

  Moreover, the said convex part or the said recessed part may be divided into a some area | region toward the said predetermined direction, and the area of the said convex part or the said recessed part in each area | region may be equal.

  With the touch input device according to the present invention, it is possible to perceive perceptually the position of the finger on the operation surface when the finger is traced.

It is a perspective view of a touch type input device. It is a top view of a touch type input device. It is A-A 'sectional drawing of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of a touch-type input device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism of a pressure-sensitive sensor, showing the A-A ′ cross section of FIG. 4. It is a top view explaining the use condition of a touch type input device. It is sectional drawing explaining the use condition of a touch-type input device. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the touch type input device concerning other forms. It is a fragmentary perspective view of the touch type input device which concerns on another form. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a dot area | region and a dot diameter in an Example. In an Example, FIG. 11 (A) is a figure explaining the result of having calculated | required the psychological scale using sample 1A-1D, FIG.11 (B) has shown the result of having calculated | required the psychological scale using sample 2A-2D. It is a figure explaining. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a dot area | region and the displacement of a dot diameter in an Example.

  The touch input device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a touch input device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a surface plate (hereinafter simply referred to as a plate) 10 that is arranged on the surface and is operated by a user touching with a finger, and a back surface of the plate 10. A sensor 20 is provided.

  The plate 10 has a plurality of convex portions 11 on an operation surface touched by a user's finger. The plate 10 is formed of various materials such as hard resin and soft resin, and is appropriately set according to the use application of the touch input device 1. The convex portions 11 are arranged in a grid pattern on the operation surface of the plate 10. The convex portion 11 is formed by various means such as screen printing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the convex portion 11 has a larger area as it goes from one end of the plate 10 to the other end (from the left to the right in the drawing).

  In the present embodiment, the convex portion 11 has a cylindrical shape. And it is divided into 10 areas of area | region a-area | region j, and the diameter of the convex part 11 in one area | region is formed in the column shape with which all are equal. And the area of the convex part 11 becomes large gradually as it goes to the area | region j from the area | region a.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, the period (space | interval P of the convex parts 11 in the longitudinal direction of the plate 10) of the convex part 11 arrange | positioned is constant. Moreover, the height H of the convex part 11 is formed equally.

  As the sensor 20, a known sensor capable of detecting the position of the finger touched by the user is used. Examples of the sensor 20 include a pressure-sensitive sensor and a capacitive sensor.

  Here, an example in which the sensor 20 is a pressure-sensitive sensor 20 is shown in the exploded view of FIG. 4 and the cross-sectional view of FIG. As an example, the pressure-sensitive sensor 20 has a structure in which two conductive films 21 and 23 made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or the like are stacked and bonded to each other on a fixed substrate 26. A small insulating spacer 25 is disposed between the conductive films 21 and 23, and a gap is formed between the conductive films 21 and 23. In addition, electrodes 22a, 22b, 24a, and 24b are connected to both ends of the respective conductive films 21 and 23. In the present embodiment, the electrodes 22 a and 22 b are disposed at both ends in the X-axis direction of the conductive film 21, and the electrodes 24 a and 24 b are disposed at both ends in the Y-axis direction of the conductive film 23. A voltage is applied between the electrodes 22a and 22b and between the electrodes 24a and 24b.

  The control unit 30 is connected to the sensor 20 and is connected to a driving device (not shown). The control unit 30 sends a command to the driving device or the like based on the position information of the user's finger 40 detected by the sensor 20.

  FIG. 6 shows a usage state of the touch input device 1 when the pressure-sensitive sensor 20 is used. The touch-type input device 1 shown in FIG. 6 relates to temperature control of an air conditioner or the like in a vehicle, for example. The smaller the area of the convex part 11 is Cold, and the larger the area of the convex part 11 is Hot. .

  The user traces the operation surface of the touch-type input device 1 with the finger 40 in the Cold-Hot direction (for example, from Cold to Hot (from left to right on the drawing)). Since the area of the convex portion 11 of the plate 10 is gradually increased, the user can perceive the desired position between Cold and Hot with the finger 40 by tracing with the finger 40. In this state, since the space between the conductive films 21 and 23 is maintained, no current flows.

  Then, the user presses the desired position of the plate 10 with the finger 40. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, in the sensor 20, the upper and lower conductive films 21 and 23 come into contact with each other, and a current flows. The voltage applied between the electrodes 22a and 22b connected to the upper and lower conductive films 21 and 23 and between the electrodes 24a and 24b varies depending on the contact position. By measuring this voltage, the distance from the position where the conductive films 21 and 23 are in contact to each side of the touch input device 1 is obtained, and the coordinates of the position pressed with the finger 40 are detected. Then, a command is sent from the control unit 30 to a drive device such as a compressor that adjusts the blowing temperature based on the detected position information.

  In this way, the touch input device 1 includes an operation surface in which the plurality of convex portions 11 gradually change in area, so that the user can locate any position on the operation surface with the finger 40 without looking at the operation surface. You can recognize if you are touching. You can easily recognize how much temperature you set.

  The touch input device 1 according to the present embodiment is applied to the air conditioner adjusting device in the vehicle as described above, the sound volume adjustment of the acoustic device, the temperature adjustment in the electromagnetic cooking appliance, the pad type input device in the personal computer, etc. The present invention can be applied to various devices that can be operated by a user tracing with a finger.

  In the above description, the pressure-sensitive sensor 20 is used. However, when the capacitance sensor is used, the finger 40 functions as a capacitor, and electrostatic coupling is performed at the position of the finger 40 that contacts the operation surface. Since the current value changes, the movement of the finger 40 and the stopped position information can be detected without pressing with the finger 40. In the above description, the two-axis type for detecting the XY coordinates has been described as the sensor 20. However, when the touch input device 1 is applied to various devices that need to be adjusted only one-dimensionally, a single-axis type sensor is used. In the above example, the length in the X-axis direction may be detected.

  The pattern of change in the area of the convex portion 11 may be any pattern as long as it gradually changes, and may change based on a function. Examples of the change based on the function include various patterns such as a change in proportional function, a change in exponential function, and a change in logarithmic function. Especially, it is preferable that the area of the convex part 11 is changing logarithmically. From the examples described later, it is easy to perceive a natural feeling when the user traces the touch input device 1 with a finger. Here, the natural sensation is, for example, the touch-type input device 1 that can be adjusted in 10 steps, in which the convex portion 11 is divided into 10 regions and the area changes in order with respect to the plate 10 having a length of 10. In this case, for example, when the convex portions 11 in the third and eighth step regions are perceived, the feeling corresponds to the plate lengths of 3/10 and 8/10, respectively.

  In the above description, a pattern is described in which the area is divided into a plurality of areas in a predetermined direction, the areas of the protrusions 11 in each area are equal, and the area of the protrusions 11 changes in the order of the areas. Without doing so, the area of the convex portion 11 on the plate 10 may change along the function.

  Moreover, the front-end | tip part of the convex part 11 may be planar, and may have a curvature as shown in FIG.

  Moreover, the shape of the convex part 11 may be various shapes such as a prismatic shape and a polygonal prism shape in addition to a cylindrical shape such as a true cylinder or an elliptical cylinder.

  Moreover, if the height of the convex part 11 is equal, there will be no restriction | limiting of the height of the convex part 11. FIG.

  Moreover, although the example in which the convex part 11 was arrange | positioned at the operation surface of the plate 10 was demonstrated above, as shown in FIG. 9, the form by which the recessed part 12 was formed in the operation surface of the plate 10 may be sufficient. In this case, the shape of the recess 12 may be various shapes such as a prismatic shape and a polygonal prism shape in addition to the cylindrical shape.

  Further, pressure-sensitive sensors, capacitance sensors, and the like generally include a protective sheet on the surface, but the protective sheet may be substituted for the plate 10.

  A plate on which convex portions or concave portions (hereinafter, also referred to as dots) having various area change patterns was prepared, and a subject test was performed on the change in the dot area.

  A plurality of cylindrical convex or concave dots were formed on a colorless and transparent resin plate by silk screen printing. The dots were divided into 10 regions (regions are referred to as dot regions) along the longitudinal direction of the plate, and formed so that the diameter (area) of the dots changed in order. The dot period (interval between dots in the longitudinal direction of the plate) was fixed at 1 mm. Tables 1 and 2 show change patterns of dot diameters (areas) of the prepared eight types of plates (samples 1A to 1D and samples 2A to 2D), respectively.

  FIG. 10 shows the diameter of the dots formed in each dot area. As shown in FIG. 10, the dot diameter increases in order from the dot region 1 to the dot region 10 (the dot area increases).

  The subjects were 10 right-handed men aged 21 to 22 years, and they were instructed to perform a tracing operation with the index finger of the right hand and evaluate four types of plates (samples 1A to 1D). Each subject was traced from the larger dot diameter to the smaller dot diameter. Similarly, samples 2A to 2D were also used.

  Ranking was performed by Scheffe's paired comparison method as to whether the irregularities naturally changed. In the experiment, in order to block the visual information of the unevenness, the plates were arranged in two rows in a box covered with a white styrene board, the back side as the reference plate when viewed from the subject, +3 (natural ) To -3 (unnatural) and evaluated verbally.

  The order of presenting the plates was random, and a break of 5 minutes or more was taken in the middle to avoid tactile adaptation.

  The results of obtaining psychological scales for samples 1A to 1D and samples 2A to 2D are shown in FIGS. 11 (A) and 11 (B). 11A shows the results of samples 1A to 1D, and FIG. 11B shows the results of samples 2A to 2D.

  It was found that the change pattern of the dot area felt naturally differs depending on the dot type. However, in any case, the change pattern of the dot area that is felt most naturally is a logarithmically changed pattern. In the samples 2A to 2D, the logarithm and exponent (1.5) and the logarithm and linearity are 0. A significant difference of .5% was observed.

  Subsequently, the dot discrimination threshold was verified. Four types of plates (samples 3A to 3D) having different dot area change patterns were prepared in the same manner as described above. Here, in order to verify the discrimination threshold in more detail, the number of dot areas is set to 24. Table 3 shows dot diameter change patterns and the like of the four types of prepared plates.

  Using four types of plates as stimuli, the dot discrimination threshold was examined. The tracing direction was an ascending series traced from the smaller dot diameter to the larger one, and a descending series traced from the larger dot diameter to the smaller one, and the subject was presented with four types of plates at random three times in each series. . Then, the test subject stopped answering at the position where the unevenness was felt and answered and recorded the position where the finger stopped. Then, the discrimination threshold values (the diameter of the dot at the position of the plate where the finger stopped) indicated by the ascending series and the descending series were added and averaged.

  The discrimination threshold values obtained by averaging are 0.82 mm for sample 3A, 0.53 mm for sample 3B, 0.75 mm for sample 3C, and 0.90 mm for sample 3D. The discrimination threshold was different for each dot diameter change pattern.

  Therefore, paying attention to the change amount of the dot diameter, the relationship between the number of dot regions and the displacement amount of the dot diameter of the samples 3A to 3D having the number of dot regions of 24 was graphed, and the obtained discrimination threshold was applied. . The result is shown in FIG. The displacement on the vertical axis in FIG. 12 represents the difference between the dot diameter in a certain area and the dot diameter in another area adjacent to that area.

  When the change pattern of the dot diameter is a linear change (sample 3A) and an exponent change (n = 0.7) (sample 3C), the diameter of the discrimination threshold is approximately 0.8 mm, and the displacement of the dot diameter is It was almost the same as about 0.05 mm. On the other hand, when the change pattern of the dot area is logarithmic change (sample 3B) and exponential change (n = 1.5) (sample 3D), the dot diameter of the discrimination threshold is greatly different from 0.5 mm and 0.9 mm, respectively. The displacement amount of the dot diameter was both about 0.05 mm. Therefore, for any change pattern, the same result was obtained when the amount of displacement of the dot diameter was about 0.05 mm. From this result, it was suggested that the discrimination threshold depends on the dot diameter, that is, the amount of displacement of the dot area.

  The touch-type input device according to the present invention is operated by a user tracing with a finger, such as an air conditioner adjustment device in a vehicle, a sound volume control device, a temperature adjustment device in an electromagnetic cooking appliance, a pad type input device in a personal computer, etc. The present invention can be applied to various devices that can perform the above.

1 Touch Input Device 10 Surface Plate (Plate)
11 Convex part 12 Concave part 20 Sensor (pressure-sensitive sensor)
21 conductive film 22a, 22b electrode 23 conductive film 24a, 24b electrode 25 spacer 26 fixed substrate 30 control unit 40 finger

Claims (3)

A surface plate having a plurality of convex portions or concave portions on the operation surface, the area changing as the convex portions or the concave portions go in a predetermined direction,
Wherein disposed on the back surface plate, e Bei a sensor the user's finger to detect the position of the operation surface is touched, and
The area of the convex part or the concave part changes logarithmically,
A touch-type input device. The convex portions or the concave portions are arranged at a constant interval in the predetermined direction.
The touch input device according to claim 1. The convex portion or the concave portion is divided into a plurality of regions in the predetermined direction, and the area of the convex portion or the concave portion in each region is equal.
The touch input device according to claim 1, wherein the touch input device is a touch input device.