JPH0353324Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a touch panel type input device that is attached to the front of the display surface of a display device such as a CRT display device and performs input operations.

[Background of the idea]

Generally, touch panel input devices are constructed by attaching a transparent input surface to a frame.
It is designed to be attached to the front of the display surface of a display device such as a CRT display device. When an input operation is performed on the input surface, the input position is
The position in the axial direction and the Y-axis direction is detected, and data etc. can be displayed on the display surface of the display device at a position corresponding to the input position on the input surface based on the detection signal. .

Incidentally, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of display devices that are placed horizontally or vertically depending on the processing content of the computer. For example, when a horizontally long touch panel input device is connected to a vertical display device with a vertically long display surface, if the input device is used in the horizontally arranged state, the display device and the input device will be connected to each other. The non-overlapping portions become invalid spaces, resulting in inconveniences such as the display range being narrowed and undisplayable portions occurring. For this reason, when using a vertically elongated display device, it is necessary to also use a touch panel type input device in a vertically elongated manner. However, if the input device is used vertically as it is, its coordinate origin will be out of phase by 90 degrees, making it impossible to correspond to the coordinate origin of the display device. When the input device is mounted on a vertical display device, the coordinate axes on the input device side are converted using control signals from a host computer. For this purpose, it is necessary to install a traffic light between the host computer and the input device to send and receive these control signals, and both the host computer and the input device must be provided with an interface circuit for sending and receiving control signals. However, there was a drawback that the device configuration was complicated.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed in view of the above points, and has a simple configuration that allows the coordinate axes of a touch panel input device to be easily converted between when it is placed horizontally and when it is placed vertically. Its purpose is to provide a touch panel type input device.

[Summary of the idea]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the touch panel type input device according to the present invention has two types of touch panel type input devices: when attached to a display device having a horizontally elongated display surface on a frame, and when mounted with the input surface horizontally elongated; A changeover switch is provided to automatically convert the coordinate axis consisting of the coordinate origin and axis of the input surface, and to switch between when the input surface is installed in a vertically elongated state on a display device having an elongated display surface. It is characterized by:

[Example of idea]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

First, in FIG. 1, a touch panel 1 has an input surface 2 made of a transparent member and a frame 3 attached to surround the input surface 2. The touch panel 1 and the CRT display device 4 are connected to each other via a host computer 5. The input surface 2 has a substantially rectangular shape, and terminal electrodes 6 forming the X axis are provided on both left and right sides of the input surface 2.
Further, terminal electrodes 7 forming the Y-axis are provided on both upper and lower sides, and in order to detect the input position when an input operation is performed on the input surface 2, each of the terminal electrodes 6, 7, it is possible to detect the position in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction from the coordinate origin set in advance on the input surface 2.

Here, the touch panel 1 of the present invention not only has a display device 4 having a horizontally elongated display surface 4a as shown in FIG. 1, but also has a vertically elongated display surface 4a as shown in FIG. , it can also be attached to a display device 4' having a so-called vertical display surface 4a'. For this purpose, it is necessary to convert the coordinate axes on the input surface 2 when the touch panel 1 is attached to the display device 4 and the coordinate axes on the input surface 2 when the touch panel 1 is attached to the display device 4'. A mercury switch 8 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is attached to the frame 3 as a switching device. The mercury switch 8 is provided with contacts 10, 10 facing one side of a cavity 9 extending in a diagonal direction in the frame 3, and has a switch movable in the longitudinal direction within the cavity 9. It is constructed by enclosing mercury 11 as a switching means, so that when the touch panel 1 is placed horizontally, the mercury switch 8 is opened, and when the touch panel 1 is placed vertically, the mercury switch 8 is closed. It's getting old. Then, due to the signal from this mercury switch 8, when the touch panel 1 is placed horizontally, the coordinate origin becomes the position O,
When placed vertically, the coordinate origin is converted to a position O' with a phase shift of 90 degrees, and the system is configured so that axis conversion between the X axis and the Y axis can be performed.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above, and the touch panel 1 is arranged on the horizontally long display surface 4a shown in FIG.
It can also be attached to a CRT display device 4 having
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, it can also be attached to a CRT display device 4' having a vertical display surface 4a'.

When the touch panel 1 is attached to the display device 4 by an appropriate connection means, the mercury switch 8
As shown in FIG. 3, the mercury 11 in the cavity 9 is displaced by its own weight to the end on the side where the contact 10 is not attached, and the mercury switch 8 becomes open, which causes the coordinate origin of the touch panel 1 to will be set at the O position.

Therefore, when an input operation is performed on the input surface 2, the terminal electrodes 6 and 7
The axial position is detected. Since this position is detected as the potential between the terminal electrodes, this detection signal is an analog signal, so it is converted into a digital signal by an interface circuit (not shown) built into the touch panel 1. This signal is sent to the CRT display device 4 via the host computer 5 on the display surface 4a of the CRT display device 4 at the input section of the input surface 2 described above. displayed in the position corresponding to

Next, when attaching the touch panel 1 to the vertical display device 4', in order to make it correspond to the display surface 4a', in contrast to when attaching it to the display device 4 described above,
Rotate it 90 degrees and install it vertically. As a result, in the mercury switch 8, as shown in FIG.
As a result, the coordinate origin on the input surface 2 is converted from the aforementioned position O to the position O', and at the same time, the terminal electrode 7 is moved to the X axis. , the terminal electrode 6 is converted to the Y axis.

In this state, if you perform an input operation on input surface 2,
When the input data is displayed on the display surface 4a',
will be displayed at the position corresponding to the input section.

As mentioned above, the touch panel 1 can be attached to both the display device 4 and the display device 4'.
When the touch panel 1 is shared with the touch panel 4', the necessary coordinate axes conversion is performed by the mercury switch 8, which changes depending on whether the touch panel 1 is placed horizontally or vertically. , it is convenient because the coordinate axes consisting of the Y axis can be easily and reliably converted, but in addition to the above-mentioned switching means, it is also possible to use a changeover switch, etc. whose contacts are switched by the weight of the weight. .

[Effect of idea]

As detailed above, the touch panel type input device according to the present invention is configured to convert the coordinate axes using a changeover switch that automatically switches the contact points between a state in which the input surface is placed horizontally and a state in which it is placed vertically. Therefore, it is now possible to convert the coordinate axes easily and reliably with a simple configuration without providing a signal line or interface circuit for converting the coordinate origin, and it is also possible to convert the coordinate axes easily and reliably. ,
It becomes possible to connect an input device to a vertically long display device and write data thereto.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing a state in which a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a horizontally elongated display device; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the switching device showing different operating states. 1...Touch panel, 2...Input surface, 3...Frame, 4, 4'...CRT display device, 4a, 4
a'...Display surface, 8...Mercury switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It is formed by attaching a substantially rectangular transparent input surface to a frame, and is attached to the front surface of the display surface of a display device, and input to the input surface is performed in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction from the coordinate origin provided on the input surface. In a touch panel type input device that detects a position and inputs the detected signal to a computer connected to the display device, the frame is provided with a switch that is automatically turned on and off depending on its orientation. and, based on the switching signal of the changeover switch, when the input surface is installed in a horizontally elongated state on a display device having a horizontally elongated display surface, and when the vertically elongated display surface is attached to a display device having a horizontally elongated display surface. A touch panel type input device, characterized in that the touch panel type input device is configured to automatically convert the coordinate axes between when the input surface is attached to a display device having a vertical orientation.