JPH0685200B2 - Conductive electrode array and resistive element array used in a touch panel and for creating an electric field - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for determining the position of a selected contact point (touch point) is an array of two or more electrical contact (touch) members constituted by conductive electrodes or impedance elements. have. The electrical contact member is connected to a circuit such that current as an algebraic sum of the separate currents through the contact member will flow at selected contact points. The amplitude associated with the electric current is 2 at the selected contact point.
It is converted into at least two signals corresponding to the locations in one axis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention involves an apparatus for providing information in the form of electrical signals about the location of a current source or sink associated with two or more current carrying electrodes. More particularly, the present invention is for converting selected contact points or locations (responsive to hand movements) on a surface into electrical signals to provide an interface between humans and machines. Related to the device.
It also involves a system for creating an electric field with predetermined properties.

This invention is disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,293,734 entitled "TOUCH PANEL SYSTEM AND METEOD" to William Pepper, Jr. on October 6, 1981; April 15, 1980. By date,
William Pepper, Jr., "A system for creating an electric field of predetermined characteristics and the end limits for its resistance plane (SYSTEM FOR PRODU
-CING ELECTIC FIELD WITH PREDETERMINED CHARACTERIS
-TICS AND EDGE TERMINATIONS FOR RESISTANCE PLANES
THEREFOR) ", US Patent No. 4,198,593; and" EDGE TERMINATIONS FOR IMPEDANCE PLANES "granted to William Pepper, Jr.
It is an improvement on U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,746 entitled.

In one form of the invention, the aforementioned US Pat. No. 4,293,734.
The resistive element or impedance layer described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,097 is replaced by a flat conductive element to achieve a simpler and less costly touch panel. In another aspect, the invention provides for two-dimensional applications,
Make touch panel systems and methods practical. There, the length of one of the touch panels is much smaller than the other. It also provides a means to make a touch panel that has good linearity in two dimensions using resistive materials that have good uniformity in only one dimension. Thus, the present invention is directed to improvements in the technology of human-machine interfaces.

The present invention also applies to "NAND-HELD MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AND SYSTEMS INC filed by William Pepper, Jr. on Aug. 22, 1979.
LUDING A MEN-MACHINE INTERFACE APPARATUS) ”is also an improvement on pending patent application 068,802. It adds a second dimension of control to the pitch determining element of that patent application, thus It is an improvement in electronic musical instruments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 4,293, incorporated by reference.
In No. 734, the resistance element or impedance layer is 1
Required as part of the device to produce one or more output signals corresponding to the position of the finger in one or more axes. The resistive element or impedance layer divides the current flowing through the user's finger into elements that are inversely proportional to the distance from the selected contact point to the resistive element or impedance layer boundary.

The small touch panel is based on the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,734.
It was found to be made by using four closely spaced conductive electrodes connected to the same circuit arrangement used in the issue. When the user's finger is placed on these groups of electrodes, the current flowing through the electrodes in each quadrant is proportional to the portion of the fingertip placed on the electrodes in that quadrant. By moving the finger from one side to the other and top to bottom, the X and Y axis outputs will change continuously over their full range.

Also, by changing the part of the fingertips placed on some resistance elements, the output is changed for one axis and the output is changed for the other axis along the length direction of the resistance element. 2 connected to change as a function of finger position
By using one or more resistive elements, a hybrid device can be made. This combination has many practical advantages in any of its methods. For example, in the aforementioned patent application No. 068,802,
The resistive element is used as a one-dimensional touch panel that controls musical notes. Making the resistive element sensitive to finger movements from one side to the other (across the pitch-determining axis), changing the amplitude or other characteristics of the tone as desired by the performer. By using this second dimension of control to modify, it is desirable to increase the expressive power of the instrument. Means for adding a second dimension of control (and also a third pressure sensitive dimension) are described in the aforementioned patent 4,293,734. However, it is difficult to apply the technique of creating a resistive surface for a two-dimensional touch panel as described in US Pat. No. 4,198,539 to a small width resistive surface.

The present invention achieves the desired effect by placing two electrical contact members, such as two linear resistive elements that are narrower than the width of the finger, apart so that they are bridged by the finger. The four ends of these two resistance elements are connected to the same circuit arrangement as in the above-mentioned patent 4,293,734. Although there is no electrical connection between two such resistive elements, they will function the same as the linearized resistive surface in US Pat. No. 4,293,734.

The hybrid or hybrid configuration as described above is 2
It can be extended to columns of more than one resistive element. Resistive materials are made by a continuous web process with excellent uniformity along the length of the web, but it is difficult to maintain sufficient uniformity of resistivity across the web. Therefore, this is quite useful. If a number of parallel resistive elements whose ends are interconnected via a suitable resistive network, U.S. Pat.
If the linearized resistive surface in 293,734 were replaced, the linearity of the touch panel orthogonal to the length of its resistive element would be determined by its resistive network, but linearly parallel to that element. The nature will be largely determined by the uniformity within each element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a two-axis touch panel incorporating the present invention; FIG. 2 is the third in Pepper's patent application 068,802.
FIG. 3 is a copy of the drawing; FIG. 3 shows FIG. 2 modified to incorporate the present invention; FIG. 4 shows the two resistive elements of FIG. 3 and their associated circuit arrangement. FIG. 5 is a combined block diagram; FIG. 5 illustrates a row of resistive elements whose ends are interconnected by a resistive network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The block diagram of FIG. 1 is the fourth diagram of US Pat. No. 4,293,734.
An array of four quadrant conductive electrodes has been added, corresponding to the figure and replacing the linearized resistive surface shown therein. In the following description, it is assumed that there is no ohmic contact with the user's finger because the quadrant electrodes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are covered by an insulating film (shown at 5). However, the insulating film is not necessary originally. When the user's finger (not shown) is placed in the center of the row so that the capacitance between the finger and each of the quadrant electrodes 1, 2, 3 and 4 is equal, an equal current flow is applied to all four electrodes. Flow through the three connections A, B, C and D, and the X and Y axis outputs will occur in the middle of their range. When you move your finger upwards, quadrant electrodes 1 and 2
Current in A and B increases, but quadrants 3 and 4 and connections C and D
The current at decreases. This increases the Y-axis output but does not change the X-axis output. Thus, both outputs will be continuously varied as the finger is moved over its quadrant electrode array.

When the quadrant electrode surface is touched by the user, a small current will flow through the four terminals A, B, C and D. The voltage proportional to the current is applied to the four input amplifiers 116, 117, 118.
And 119 generated across feedback resistors 111, 112, 113 and 114, whose amplifiers track the output of oscillator 120. The amplifier output has four high-pass filters 121, 122,
Applied to 123 and 124, respectively. These filters are not critical to the operation of this device, but may be picked up by the user's body from the power cord.
It is given to remove the Hz signal. Filter 12
1-124 attenuates the 60 Hz signal while passing the frequency of oscillator 120, which is typically at 20 KHz. However, 60 Hz (or any radiative ambient energy field) may be used as the energy source of the position signal to the touch panel surface.

Subtraction of the oscillator signal component from the filter output first shifts the phase of the oscillator signal by about 180 ° in phase shifter 126,
Then, the phase-shifted signal is added to the adder circuits 127, 12
This is accomplished by adding to the filter output at 8,129 and 130. The resulting signal is an alternating current (a-
c) Rectified in rectifiers 131, 132 and 134 to give a direct current (dc) level proportional to the signal amplitude. The levels corresponding to the two terminals A and B of resistive surface 110 are summed by Y-axis summer 136, the levels corresponding to two terminals B and C are summed by X-axis summer 137, and all four The two levels A, B, C and D provide denominator inputs to the two dividers 139 and 140,
All channels are added by the adder 138. Dividers 139 and 140 operate on the sum of the X and Y axes to perform the division of equation (10) in the previously mentioned patent and output amplifiers 141 and 144 with adjustable offsets 143 and 144. 1
42 provides the desired X and Y axis outputs. Level detector
The 145 monitors the total channel summer 138, and when the user's finger touches the linearized resistive surface 110,
Switch the state.

As pointed out earlier, there is no need for the user's finger to make ohmic contact with its linearized resistive surface,
A thin insulating layer has been deposited over the resistive material for protection, and electrostatic coupling through the insulating layer will provide adequate current for operation of the device.

FIG. 2 is a copy of FIG. 3 in Pepper's patent application No. 068,802, showing resistive element 13 disposed between substrate ridges 40 and 41. The notches 42-1, 42-2 and 43-1, 43-2 provide tactile information to the user, musician or performer, who may put his finger on the resistive element 13
Allows you to place at the exact scale spacing above.

FIG. 3 illustrates an improvement applying the present invention to Pepper's patent application No. 068,802. The two resistive elements 6 and 7 are spaced less than the width of the finger by the ridges 8, 9 and 10 of the substrate so that the player can move his finger from one element to another. ing. The lateral dimension control is called X-axis control. Notches 8-1, 8-2… 9
-1,9-2 ... and 10-1,10-2 ... give tactile information to the musician.

FIG. 4 shows two resistance elements of FIG. 3 and US Pat. No. 4,29.
Figure 4 shows a block diagram in combination with their moving circuitry corresponding to Figure 4 of 3,734. Its operation is the same as previously described with respect to FIG.

When the performer touches the resistive element on the left in FIG. 3, current will only flow through connections A and D in FIG. The Y-axis output is proportional to the location of the player's finger along the length of the left resistive element. The X-axis output is at one end of the range.

If the musician or performer now moves his finger from the left resistive element 6 toward the right resistive element 7, the Y-axis output will be that of the fingers along the length of those resistive elements. It remains proportional to the location. When current begins to flow through the right resistance element 6, its X-axis output will change to be proportional to the total current in each of the two resistance elements 6 and 7. When the current ceases to flow through the left resistive element 6, the X-axis output is at the opposite end of its range. Thus, the performer can separately control the two outputs by moving the two different fingers.

As also shown below, the operation of an electrical circuit arrangement with two resistive elements is described in Pepper's patent 4,293,734.
Is essentially equivalent to operation with a linearized resistive surface as described in No. U.S. Patent No. 4,
The pair of formulas, shown as (10) in 293,734, applies equally to the present invention. Ie: If the player's finger touches only the resistance element 6 on the left side, the currents i (B) and i (C) become zero, and the above equation becomes as follows.

Ie: The current ratio in the X-axis equation becomes zero, while the Y-axis current ratio follows the one-dimensional relationship given by equation (7) in Pepper's 4,293,734.

If the player's finger is touched equally on both resistive elements 6 and 7, i (A) = i (B) and i (C) = i (D)
Becomes symmetric. Therefore, the above equation is rewritten as follows. Ie: The x-axis current ratio is seen to be 1/2, and the y-axis current ratio is the same as before.

If the player's finger touches only the resistance element 7 on the right side,
The currents i (A) and i (D) are zero, and the previous equation becomes: Ie: As can be seen from the above equation, the X-axis current ratio is 1. If the finger does not change its location along the length of the resistive element, the Y-axis current ratio remains unchanged due to the symmetry of the two resistive elements.

For finger positions in the middle of the cases already discussed, the X-axis current ratio is proportional to the ratio of capacitance between the resistive elements and the finger. The relationship on the Y axis is independent of the position on the X axis.

The same technique can be used for other musical instrument applications with narrow control surfaces and in other fields. For example, the keys on a synthesizer keyboard are equipped with individual touch panels that allow the performer to change his finger position on those keys to separate the two characteristics of the scale being played. I am trying to fix it. The narrow, black key can be most conveniently fitted with two resistive elements.

FIG. 5 shows the resistance with a plurality or parallel resistance elements E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6 and E7, whose ends are interconnected by two resistor networks AD and BC respectively. touch·
The panel surface is illustrated.

The resistor networks AD and BC are identical, each containing a series of equal valued resistors R, the midpoints IAD and IBC are connected directly to the ends of the element E4, the elements for each side being shown. They are connected through resistance values that are parabolically balanced as shown.

The device starts with a polyester film or web of film with a resistive coating, starting from about 3.2 mm through the resistive coating.
It is conveniently created by notching or eroding (1/8 inch) apart and parallel to the length of the web. This column can be replaced by two resistance elements in the block diagram of FIG. Of course, the array of resistive elements may be formed on a transparent glass plate as an indium tin oxide layer and then eroded to form resistive lines. Further, the resistive line can be made from a thin resistive wire such as Nichrome wire that is either embedded in the resin matrix or held in the row by the resin matrix.

This array can also be used to create any desired substantially uniform electric field, as described in US Pat. No. 4,198,539. The uniformity of the electric field created is improved as the number of resistive elements in parallel is increased.

Other embodiments and modifications of the invention are as defined in the claims below.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued front page (56) References JP-A-58-106668 (JP, A) JP-A-56-33779 (JP, A) JP-B-1-19176 (JP, B2) US Pat. No. 4293734 (US) , A)

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. In a device for determining the position of a selected contact point and generating an electrical signal corresponding thereto: A row of spaced apart conductive quadrant electrodes, the row of conductive quadrant electrodes. Is composed of four quadrant electrodes, and the distance through which each quadrant electrode and its two adjacent quadrant electrodes can be bridged by a human finger so that the current passing through any quadrant electrode is proportional to the contact area at that quadrant electrode. have,
A row of electrically conductive electrodes; means for passing current to the selected contact points as an algebraic sum of the individual currents through the electrically conductive electrodes; Means for converting into at least one signal corresponding to the location of the selected contact point on the row of electrically conductive electrodes. 2. The position of a selected contact point according to claim 1, characterized in that the quadrant electrode constitutes a contact surface, on which a thin insulating coating is provided. Device to determine. 3. A position sensing device: a substrate having a surface on which at least three ridges are formed; at least a pair of linear resistance elements extending along parallel paths on the surface of the substrate. Each of the resistive elements is disposed in a space between the pair of ridges, and the linear resistive elements are spaced below the width of the finger so that they can be bridged by the finger; Circuit means coupled to all ends of the resistive element for deriving a contact position on any one or more of the linear resistive elements from a current flowing therethrough; tactile information to a user And a tactile means formed along the raised portion so as to be transmitted to the position detecting device. 4. The position detecting device according to claim 3, wherein the tactile means includes at least one notch. 5. The position detecting device according to claim 3, wherein the resistance element is transparent. 6. The resistive element on the transparent substrate by applying a uniform resistive layer to the surface of the transparent substrate and removing the resistive material to form the linear resistive element. The position detection device according to claim 5, wherein the position detection device is formed. 7. The position detecting device according to claim 5, wherein a transparent layer is included on the resistance element, and an electric current from a contact position flows through the transparent layer.