JPH0451403Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a touch panel for various control devices.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Conventionally, in order to improve the operability of various AV equipment such as televisions, video decks, VD (video disc) players, CD (compact disc) players, tuners, and cassette decks, wireless remote control devices have generally been adopted. This allows you to perform various operations such as turning the power on/off, increasing/decreasing the volume, changing channels, fast forwarding and rewinding the tape, etc., without affecting other devices. Furthermore, infrared type devices are often used because the device configuration is relatively simple.

However, in order to enable a variety of operations, this type of infrared remote control device has a large number of switches corresponding to each function arranged on its panel surface. In some cases, it becomes difficult to determine which switch to operate, and even though these infrared remote control devices were adopted to improve the operability of various AV devices, they actually make operation more cumbersome. There was a problem that the problem occurred.

For this reason, a display section displaying each operation function is provided on the panel surface, and the desired operation can be performed by operating a switch provided on or adjacent to the display section while looking at the display on the display section. An operation panel is known that allows the user to perform the following operations, but in such an operation panel, the operating status of each switch is generally checked using, for example, an indicator lamp provided for each switch. It is not easy to immediately recognize the operating state of the switch by the lighting or extinguishing of the indicator lamp, and also to confirm the operating state to be performed by the switch. Therefore, when it is desired to operate the above-mentioned various AV devices as one system, it has not been possible to realize a suitable remote control device.

[Purpose of invention]

In view of the above points, the present invention forms the panel surface with a liquid crystal display element having a display section, so that operations displayed on the display section can be performed simply by touching the display section, and further, It is an object of the present invention to provide a touch panel in which the display section displays an operating state by switching the driving state.

[Means and actions for solving problems]

The above object, according to the present invention, includes a liquid crystal display element having at least one display section, preferably a two-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element, and a light shielding material disposed below the liquid crystal display element and provided with a light shielding material on the lower surface. A display panel section is constituted by a flat light guide attached thereto, and an illumination light source such as a cold cathode tube disposed opposite to the end face of the one or both sides of the light guide, and further includes a flat light guide of the liquid crystal display element. A set of optical fibers that are inserted into holes that pass through the light guide provided opposite to the display section, and one end surface of which is located near the back surface of the liquid crystal display element, and the other end surface of the optical fibers. This is achieved by an optical touch panel comprising an infrared receiving/emitting element disposed opposite to the optical touch switch section.

According to this invention, various displays on the touch panel are performed by the display section of the liquid crystal display element according to its driving state, so a larger display can be obtained compared to conventional ones, and the GH type liquid crystal display is used as the liquid crystal display element. Since the entire surface of the liquid crystal display element is illuminated almost uniformly by light from the illumination light source via the light guide, the display panel section provides an extremely highly visible display. By simply touching each display part of the display element with your finger, infrared light enters from the infrared light emitting element through the other end surface of the optical fiber, passes through the optical fiber, and exits from the one end surface of the optical fiber. The light passes through the display element, is reflected on the surface of the finger, enters the optical fiber again from one end face, and reaches the infrared light receiving element, allowing the infrared light receiving element to detect the touch of the finger. In this way, the switch operation is easily performed by the optical touch switch section,
Further, by switching the driving state of the display unit in accordance with this detection operation, a display can be performed in accordance with the switch operation.

Furthermore, if a two-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element is used as the liquid crystal display element, the display using the dye in the first layer of the liquid crystal display element and the display using the dye in the second layer of the liquid crystal display element can be switched depending on the operating state. Therefore, visibility is further improved.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which a touch panel according to the present invention is applied to an infrared remote control device for an AV system, and this infrared remote control device 1 is equipped with a touch panel 2 according to the present invention on its panel surface 1a. , and further includes various switches 3 such as a power switch.

As shown in FIG. 2, the touch panel 2 includes a display panel section A and a display panel section A as described later.
The optical touch switch part B is incorporated in the optical touch switch section B. The display panel section A includes a liquid crystal display element 4, a transparent plate 5 disposed below the liquid crystal display element 4,
Further, there is a flat light guide 6 disposed below the light guide 6 and having a suitable light shielding material attached to the lower surface thereof, and an illumination light source 7 such as a cold cathode tube provided opposite to the above-mentioned both end surfaces of the light guide 6. It is composed of.

The liquid crystal display element 4 can be uniformly illuminated by the illumination light from the illumination light source 7 being repeatedly reflected within the light guide 6 and then emitted from the upper surface and diffused through the transmissive plate 5. The light guide 6 is formed as flat as possible to make the entire device thinner,
As shown in the figure, if the thickness increases from approximately the center toward both sides, and two illumination light sources 7 are disposed facing each other on both end surfaces, the illumination efficiency for the liquid crystal display element 4 can be improved. Although this is preferable, it may be formed so that the thickness gradually increases toward one side, and one illumination light source 7 may be disposed on the end face thereof.

Although the liquid crystal display element 4 can be a single-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element, according to this embodiment, a two-layer structure is used.
It consists of a GH type liquid crystal display element, and uses a negative display type that blocks light when turned off and transmits light when turned on. Further, in this example, the display section 4a of the liquid crystal display element 4 has a configuration of 5×5 rectangular segments, for example, as shown by chain lines, and each segment indicates the input area of a touch switch.
It becomes a. Each display section 4a is labeled with letters and symbols (ON, OFF, ■, etc.) indicating various operating functions.

Furthermore, the touch panel 2 incorporates an optical touch switch section B, and the optical touch switch section B is constructed as follows. That is,
Each display section 4a of the liquid crystal display element 4 of the display panel section A
Transparent plate 5 and light guide 6 provided for
A pair of optical fibers 8 are inserted into the holes 5a and 6a passing through the holes 5a and 6a, one end 8a of the optical fiber 8 is opposed to the back surface of the liquid crystal display element 4, and the other end 8b of the optical fiber 8 is Infrared receiving and emitting elements 9 are arranged to face each other.

The infrared receiving/emitting element 9 is composed of an infrared emitting element 9a and an infrared receiving element 9b, but it is of course possible to use an infrared photointerrupter in which these are integrally formed.

In the case of FIG. 2, a pair of optical fibers 8 ₁ and 8 ₂ are used as the optical fiber ₈ , and an infrared light emitting element 9a and an infrared light receiving element 9b are respectively connected to each optical fiber 8 1 and 8 ₂ . Although they are arranged to face each other, it is also possible to use only one optical fiber by preventing the infrared light from the infrared light emitting element 9a from directly entering the infrared light receiving element 9b. .

The infrared remote control device equipped with a touch panel according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and an appropriate display is performed on the display panel section A by driving the liquid crystal display element 4 by a drive device (not shown). At this time, since the liquid crystal display element 4 is uniformly back-illuminated by the illumination light source 7 through the transmissive plate 5, a very easy-to-read display can be obtained. When a desired display section 4a of the plurality of display sections 4a of the liquid crystal display element 4 where display is performed in this manner is touched with a finger, light emitted from the infrared light emitting element 9a of the infrared light emitting element 9 to the end surface 8b of the optical fiber 8 The infrared light that enters the optical fiber 8, passes through the optical fiber 8, and emerges from the end face 8a has a high transmittance for infrared light when the liquid crystal display element 4 is off, as well as when it is on. The light passes through the section 4a, is reflected on the surface of the finger, passes through the display section 4a again, passes through the optical fiber 8, and reaches the infrared light receiving element 9b. By detecting this incident infrared light, the infrared light receiving element 9b detects the touch of a finger on the display section 4a, and causes a control circuit (not shown) to perform an appropriate switching operation to perform a desired switching operation. Perform operations.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the optical touch panel of the present invention, the display panel section is composed of a liquid crystal display element having at least one display section, preferably a two-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element, and a liquid crystal display element having a two-layer structure. a flat light guide disposed below, preferably formed so that its thickness increases toward one side or both sides, and with a light shielding material attached to the lower surface; and one or both sides of the light guide. and an illumination light source such as a cold cathode tube arranged opposite to the end face of the
Further, the optical touch switch section is inserted into a hole penetrating the light guide provided opposite each display section of the liquid crystal display element, and one end surface is located near the back surface of the liquid crystal display element. Since it is composed of a pair of optical fibers and an infrared receiving/emitting element disposed opposite to the other end of the optical fiber, various displays on the touch panel can be displayed by the display section of the liquid crystal display according to its driving state. GH-type liquid crystal display element is used as the liquid crystal display element, and almost the entire surface of the liquid crystal display element is illuminated by light from the illumination light source via the light guide. Since the illumination is uniform, the display panel section provides display with extremely high visibility. Furthermore, by simply touching the display section of the liquid crystal display element with a finger, infrared light enters from the infrared light emitting element through the other end surface of the optical fiber, passes through the optical fiber, and exits from the one end surface. The light passes through the liquid crystal display element, is reflected on the surface of the finger, enters the optical fiber again from one end face, and reaches the infrared light receiving element, which allows the infrared light receiving element to detect the touch of the finger. can.

Thus, according to the present invention, a switch operation can be easily performed using the optical touch switch section, and furthermore, by switching the driving state of the display section in accordance with this detection operation, a display can be performed in accordance with the switch operation.

In addition, if a two-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element is used as the liquid crystal display element, the display by switching between the display using the dye in the first layer of the liquid crystal display element and the display using the dye in the second layer according to the operating condition. , visibility will further improve.

Although the present invention has been explained by taking a guest-host type liquid crystal display element as an example, it is obvious that similar effects can be obtained not only in this but also in other types of liquid crystal display elements.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of an infrared remote control device equipped with a touch panel according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the touch panel. 1...Infrared remote control device, 2...
...Touch panel, 3...Power switch, 4...Liquid crystal display element, 5...Transparent plate, 6...Light guide, 7...Illumination light source, 8...Optical fiber, 9a
...Infrared light emitting element, 9b...Infrared light receiving element, A...
...Display panel section, B...Optical touch switch section.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A liquid crystal display element having at least one display section, a flat light guide disposed below the liquid crystal display element and having a light shielding material attached to the lower surface;
a display panel section comprising an illumination light source such as a cold cathode tube disposed opposite to one or both end faces of the light guide; and the above-mentioned display panel section disposed opposite the display section of the liquid crystal display element A set of optical fibers inserted into a hole penetrating the light guide and having one end surface located near the back surface of the liquid crystal display element, and an infrared light fiber disposed opposite to the other end surface of the optical fiber. An optical touch panel comprising: an optical touch switch section composed of a light receiving and emitting element; (2) Claim 1 of the utility model registration, characterized in that the light guide is formed so that its thickness increases toward one or both sides thereof.
Optical touch panel described in section.