JPH11143624A - Optical scanning touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an optical scanning type touch panel capable of improving the accuracy of the calculation result when calculating the position and size of an indicator such as a finger or a pen by calculation from directly obtained data. SOLUTION: An optical transmission / reception unit 1a, 1b for optically scanning an indicator S located on a display screen 10, a calculator 51 for calculating a position and a size of the indicator S based on a result of scanning by the units. Calculation means 51 smoothes a predetermined number of series of numerical values for calculating the position and size of the pointer S, and uses the result of the smoothing process to position the pointer S. And the size are calculated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical scanning type touch panel for optically detecting the position and size of an indicator on a display screen of a display device on which information is displayed by a computer system or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of computer systems such as personal computers, new information is obtained by pointing a display screen of a display device on which information is displayed by the computer system with a human finger or a specific indicator. For example, a device for inputting an instruction or giving various instructions to a computer system is used.

When an input operation is performed on information displayed on a display screen of a display device such as a personal computer by a touch method, a contact position (pointed position) on the display screen is determined with high precision. Need to be detected. As a method of detecting a pointed position on a display screen serving as such a coordinate plane, a “Carroll method” (U.S. Pat.
No. 43) is known. In this method, a light matrix is formed on the front surface of the display screen by arranging a light emitting element and a light receiving element in a frame on the front surface of the display screen to detect a light blocking position due to contact of a finger or a pen. . In this method, a high S / N can be obtained and the application to a large display device can be extended. However, since the detection resolution is proportional to the arrangement interval of the light emitting element and the light receiving element, the detection resolution is increased. Therefore, it is necessary to narrow the arrangement interval. Therefore, even when a large screen is touched by a thin object such as a pen tip, in order to accurately detect the contact position, the number of light emitting elements and light receiving elements to be arranged increases, and the configuration is large. There is a problem that the signal processing becomes complicated and signal processing becomes complicated.

[0004] Another optical position detecting method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-211637. In this method, a focused light such as a laser beam is angularly scanned from the outside of a display screen, and an angle at which a dedicated pen is present is obtained from two timings of reflected light from a dedicated pen having reflecting means. By applying the angle to the principle of triangulation, the position coordinates are detected by calculation. With this method, the number of parts can be significantly reduced, and high resolution can be achieved. However, there is a problem in operability such as the necessity of using a dedicated reflecting pen, and the position of a finger, an arbitrary pen, or the like cannot be detected.

[0005] Still another optical position detecting method has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-5428. This method
Light retroreflectors are arranged on both side frames of the display screen, and the light returned by the light retroreflectors of the angularly scanned light beams is detected. Is found, and the position coordinates are detected from the found angle by the principle of triangulation. in this way,
Since the number of parts is small, the detection accuracy can be maintained, and the position of a finger, an arbitrary pen or the like can be detected.

[0006]

However, in any of the methods, the position and size of an indicator such as a finger or a pen are obtained by calculation from directly obtained data. However, the calculation is more accurate. It needs to be expensive. Further, when it is expected that a result that should be clearly regarded as an error is obtained, or when such a result is obtained, an erroneous result will be output if the operation is continued as it is.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when calculating the position and size of a pointing object such as a finger or a pen from directly obtained data by calculation, the calculation is more accurate. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical scanning type touch panel that can be made expensive.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a position and / or position of an indicator.
Or, when it is expected that an operation result that should be clearly regarded as an error in magnitude is obtained, or when such an operation result is obtained, the arithmetic processing is stopped, or the obtained operation result is An object of the present invention is to provide an optical scanning type touch panel that can be disposed of.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical scanning type touch panel, comprising: an optical scanning unit for optically scanning an indicator located in a predetermined area; and a scanning result by the optical scanning unit. A light scanning type touch panel comprising: a calculating unit configured to calculate a position and a size of the indicator, wherein the calculating unit performs a predetermined number of processes at a specific stage during a process of calculating the position and the size of the indicator. It has smoothing processing means for smoothing a series of numerical values, and is adapted to calculate the position and size of the pointer using a result of the smoothing processing by the smoothing processing means. I do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the first aspect, the optical scanning means is substantially parallel to the light retroreflecting means provided outside the predetermined area and the predetermined area. Light scanning means for angularly scanning light in a plane,
And at least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means having light receiving means for receiving light reflected by the light retroreflecting part of a portion irradiated by light, a scanning angle by the light scanning means, and a light receiving result by the light receiving means And measuring means for measuring a blocking range of the scanning light in the predetermined area formed by the pointer based on

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the first or second aspect, the smoothing processing means performs a smoothing process on a result of the latest series of predetermined number of scans by the optical scanning means. The calculation means is adapted to calculate the position and size of the pointer based on the result of the smoothing processing by the smoothing processing means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the first or second aspect, the optical scanning means determines a position of the indicator and a position of the pointing object based on a result of one optical scanning by the optical scanning means. The size is calculated, and the smoothing processing means is configured to perform a smoothing process on a series of predetermined numbers of calculation results in the most recent past by the light calculation means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the third or fourth aspect, the smoothing processing means selects a numerical value satisfying a predetermined condition from a series of numerical values to be smoothed and performs a smoothing process. It is characterized by what it does.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the third or fourth aspect, the smoothing processing means increases a value in a m (m is a natural number of 1 or more) numerical value sequence to be smoothed. The remaining numerical values excluding n1 from the order and n2 from the ascending order are smoothed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the third or fourth aspect, the smoothing processing means smoothes a predetermined number of numerical values having a small standard deviation in a numerical value sequence to be smoothed. There is a feature.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the third or fourth aspect, the smoothing processing means is configured to determine a maximum standard deviation of a predetermined number of numerical values having a small standard deviation in a numerical value sequence to be smoothed. When the numerical value is larger than a predetermined value, a predetermined error processing is performed.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the first or second aspect, the calculating means determines that a predetermined error occurs when a result of scanning by the optical scanning means is out of a predetermined reference range. It is characterized in that processing is performed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the first or the second aspect, the calculating means may obtain a calculation result indicating that the indicator is located outside the predetermined area. It is characterized in that predetermined error processing is performed.

An optical scanning touch panel according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is an optical scanning type touch panel, comprising: an optical scanning unit for optically scanning an indicator located in a predetermined area; and a characteristic amount of the indicator based on a result of the scanning by the optical scanning unit. A light scanning type touch panel, comprising: a measuring unit that measures the position of the pointer based on the characteristic amount measured by the measuring unit; and a calculating unit that calculates a position and a size of the pointer based on the feature amount measured by the measuring unit. And a first smoothing process for smoothing a series of numerical values of a predetermined number of feature amounts determined to be within the predetermined range. Unit, a position / size calculation unit that calculates the position and size of the pointer using the smoothing feature amount obtained in the first smoothing processing unit, and a calculated number of a series of positions and / Or a numeric sequence of sizes A second smoothing processing section for smoothing, characterized in that using the results of the smoothing process by the second smoothing processing unit are no order to calculate the position and size of the indicator substance.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the eleventh aspect, the optical scanning means is substantially parallel to the light retroreflecting means provided outside the predetermined area and the predetermined area. At least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means having light scanning means for angularly scanning light in a plane, and light receiving means for receiving light reflected by the light retroreflecting part of a portion irradiated by light; and Measuring means for measuring a scanning light blocking range in the predetermined area formed by the indicator based on a scanning angle of the scanning means and a light receiving result of the light receiving means.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning touch panel according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect, the first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit stores a predetermined number of series of numerical values. And performing a smoothing process by selecting a numerical value satisfying a predetermined condition from a numerical sequence stored in the storage unit.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the thirteenth aspect, the first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit may include at least one of a series of m numerical values stored in the storage unit. The remaining m− (n1 + n2) numerical values excluding n1 from the larger value and n2 from the smaller value are selected and the average value thereof is obtained.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the thirteenth aspect, the first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit may be configured such that: The remaining m− (n1 + n2) numerical values excluding n1 from the larger value and n2 from the smaller value are selected to obtain the median value.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the thirteenth aspect, the first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit may include a standard deviation from a numerical sequence stored in the storage unit. Is selected so as to select a predetermined number of numerical values and to calculate an average value thereof.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the thirteenth aspect, the first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit includes a standard deviation from a numerical sequence stored in the storage unit. Is selected in order to obtain a median value of the selected predetermined numerical values.

In the optical scanning type touch panel according to the present invention, it is preferable that the determination unit determines that one or a plurality of characteristic amounts measured by the measuring unit are not within a predetermined range. Is characterized in that a predetermined error processing is performed.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect, the first smoothing processing unit has a storage unit for storing a series of a predetermined number of numerical values, and the storage unit has When a numerical value of the feature amount equal to or more than the number is not stored, a predetermined error process is performed.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect, the second smoothing processing section has a storage section for storing a predetermined number of series of numerical values, and the storage section has a predetermined number. If a numerical value of the position and / or size of the pointing object is not stored, the predetermined error processing is performed.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the first to twentieth aspects, it is determined whether or not the pointer is in contact with the predetermined area based on a calculation result of the calculation means. It is characterized by further comprising a contact determining means.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the twenty-first aspect, the contact determining means determines that the position and size of the pointer by the calculating means are within a predetermined range. It is characterized in that it is determined that the pointer is in contact with the predetermined area.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the twenty-first aspect, the calculating means determines whether or not the calculation result of the position and the size of the pointing object is within a predetermined range at predetermined time intervals. Determining, outputting the calculation result if the calculation result is within the predetermined range, and outputting an error signal if the calculation result is not within the predetermined range, and outputting the error signal over a predetermined number of times. In this case, the contact determination means is configured to determine that the pointer is away from the predetermined area.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the twenty-first aspect, the calculating means determines whether or not the calculation result of the position and the size of the pointer is within a predetermined range, and the calculation result is determined. If the calculation result is not within the predetermined range, the calculation result is output.If the calculation result is not within the predetermined range, the calculation result is not output. Is
The present invention is characterized in that it is determined that the pointer is away from the predetermined area.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the light scanning type touch panel according to the twenty-first aspect, the indicator is separated from the predetermined area by the contact determination means from the state in which the indicator is in contact with the predetermined area. Is determined, the sequence of numerical values stored in the storage unit associated with the first smoothing processing unit and the second smoothing processing unit is erased and initialized. And

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the optical scanning means optically scans the predetermined area to set a cutoff range of the scanning light by the indicator. It has at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means for measuring numerical values represented, and the calculating means performs a process of calculating the size of the indicator based on each numerical value obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means. It is characterized in that a maximum value or a minimum value among the results is set as a calculation result.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the optical scanning means optically scans the predetermined area to set a cut-off range of the scanning light by the indicator. It has at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means for measuring numerical values represented, and the calculating means performs a process of calculating the size of the indicator based on each numerical value obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means. It is characterized in that an average value of the results is used as a calculation result.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the optical scanning means optically scans a predetermined area to indicate a range in which scanning light is blocked by the pointer. The apparatus has at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means for measuring numerical values, and the calculating means performs a process of calculating the size of the indicator based on each numerical value obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means. When at least a value selected as the position or size of the pointer is larger than a predetermined range, a predetermined error process is performed.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the optical scanning means optically scans a predetermined area to indicate a range in which scanning light is blocked by the pointer. The apparatus has at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means for measuring numerical values, and the calculating means performs a process of calculating the size of the indicator based on each numerical value obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means. If the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value is out of a predetermined range, a predetermined error processing is performed.

According to a thirtieth aspect of the present invention, in the optical scanning touch panel according to any one of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the smoothing processing means may include a predetermined number of values outside a predetermined range in a series of numerical values to be smoothed. In this case, a predetermined error process is performed.

According to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention, in the light-scanning touch panel according to any one of the first to thirty aspects, the smoothing processing means performs subsequent smoothing in accordance with the position of the pointer calculated by the calculation means. It is characterized in that the number of the series of powers is changed.

In the optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention, a predetermined number of a series of characteristic amounts of the pointer necessary for calculating the position and the size of the pointer, and / or an instruction calculated based on the characteristic amount. Smoothing processing is performed on a predetermined number of series of positions and sizes of an object, and the position and size of the pointer are calculated based on the result of the smoothing processing. Therefore, since a plurality of data are smoothed, the accuracy of the calculated result of the position and the size of the pointer to be calculated is high.

[0041]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical scanning type touch panel according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1
0 is C in electronic equipment such as a personal computer.
RT or flat display panel (PDP, LC
D, EL, etc.), a display screen of a projection type video display device or the like. In the present embodiment, it is 92.0 cm in the horizontal direction × 5 in the vertical direction.
P with 1.8 cm diagonal 105.6 cm display dimensions
It is configured as a display screen of a DP (plasma display). As will be described later, a light emitting element, a light receiving element, a polygon mirror, and the like are provided outside both short sides (one side on the right side in this embodiment) of this rectangular display screen 10 serving as a first coordinate plane. Light transmission / reception units 1a and 1b each including an optical system including the light transmission / reception unit are provided. The retroreflective sheet 7 is provided on three sides of the display screen 10 except for the right side, that is, outside the upper and lower sides and the left side.

The light transmitting and receiving units 1a and 1b are each composed of a light emitting element 1 composed of a laser diode for emitting infrared laser light.
1a, 11b, light receiving elements 13a, 13b for receiving light reflected from the retroreflective sheet 7, and light emitting elements 11a, 1b.
In the present embodiment for angularly scanning the laser beam from 1b, the main components are quadrangular polygon mirrors 16a and 16b. The light receiving elements 13a, 13b
Functions as light receiving means, and the light emitting elements 11a and 11b and the polygon mirrors 16a and 16b function as light scanning means. The two sets of light transmitting / receiving units 1a and 1b, their signal processing systems, the retroreflective sheet 7, and the like function as measuring means.

In such a configuration, the light emitting element 11
a, 11b is angularly scanned in a plane substantially parallel to the display screen 10 by the rotation of the polygon mirrors 16a, 16b, and the retroreflective sheet 7 is rotated.
Is projected to Then, the reflected light from the retroreflective sheet 7 is reflected by the polygon mirrors 16a and 16b, and then enters the light receiving elements 13a and 13b. However, when an indicator (blocking object) S such as a finger or a pen exists in the optical path of the projection light, the projection light is blocked, and the reflected light is reflected by the light receiving element 1.
No light is incident on 3a, 13b. The rotation of the polygon mirrors 16a and 16b realizes angular scanning of the laser light of 90 degrees or more.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an M which measures and calculates the position and size of the pointer S and controls the operation of the entire apparatus.
A calculation unit 51 that is a PU and functionally calculates the position and size of the pointer S from the measurement result by the measurement unit;
The display device 6 based on the calculation result by the calculation means 51
And an image control means 52 for controlling information to be displayed on the display. Although the display device 6 is shown independently in FIG. 1, the display screen 10 is also used in practice.

In such an optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, the light transmitting / receiving unit 1b will be described.
Is scanned counterclockwise in FIG. 1,
First, it reaches the position (Ps) where the light is reflected by the leading end of the retroreflective sheet 7 and becomes the scanning start position. The light is reflected by the retroreflective sheet 7 up to the position (P1) reaching one end of the pointer S, but is blocked by the pointer S up to the position (P2) reaching the other end of the pointer S. The light is reflected by the retroreflective sheet 7 until reaching the subsequent scanning end position (Pe).

However, in the light transmitting / receiving unit 1a, light is scanned clockwise in FIG. Here, the light transmission / reception unit 1a sets the lower side of the display screen 10 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 as the scanning start direction, and conversely, the light transmission / reception unit 1b sets the upper side of the display screen 10 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. Will be described as the scanning start direction.

For example, in the case of the light transmitting / receiving unit 1b, either the upper side or the left side of the display screen 10 may be the scanning start direction, but when viewed from the light transmitting / receiving unit 1b,
The amount of reflected light is large because the upper side of the display screen 10 is closer in distance than the lower side, and the amount of reflected light is large because the reflecting surface of the retroreflective sheet 7 is almost perpendicular to the upper side of the display screen 10. Due to the large size, the upper side of the display screen 10 is set as the scanning start direction. In other words, in the case of the light transmitting / receiving unit 1b, if the lower side of the display screen 10 is the scanning start direction, the lower side of the display screen 10 is farther from the upper side in terms of distance, so that the amount of reflected light at the start of scanning becomes smaller. Further, since the reflection surface of the retroreflective sheet 7 is curved, the amount of reflected light is small. However, the curvature of the retroreflective sheet 7 is not an essential problem, and it is of course possible to adopt a configuration in which the sheet is not curved.

As shown in FIG. 1, the retroreflective sheet 7 has an opening at the side where the two light transmitting / receiving units 1a and 1b are disposed, and surrounds the display screen 10 in a “U” shape. Are located in Further, reference numeral 7
a, 7b, both light transmitting and receiving units 1
a, 1b, where the light projection angle of the light from the retroreflective sheet 7 to the retroreflective sheet 7 is reduced, specifically, the two light transmitting / receiving units 1a, 1b.
On both sides (upper side and lower side in FIG. 1) orthogonal to the side on which the is disposed, the retroreflective sheet is installed in a sawtooth shape at a portion far from both light transmitting / receiving units 1a and 1b. .

With the sawtooth portions 7a and 7b of the retroreflective sheet, for example, the projection light from the light transmitting / receiving unit 1b scans from the scanning start position Ps to the position P3 of one end of the sawtooth portion 7b of the retroreflective sheet. The angle of incidence on the retroreflective sheet 7 gradually decreases with the progress of, and the amount of reflected light also decreases accordingly. However, between the position P3 at one end of the serrated portion 7b of the retroreflective sheet and the position P4 at the other end, the light is incident on the serrated portion 7b of the retroreflective sheet at a substantially right angle. A drop is avoided.

Next, the operation of detecting the position on the coordinate plane by the optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG. However, in FIG. 2, components other than the light transmitting / receiving units 1a and 1b and the display screen 10 are not shown. In the following description, the light transmitting / receiving unit 1b side is referred to as channel 1 (Ch1), and the light transmitting / receiving unit 1a side is referred to as channel 2 (Ch2).

By controlling the polygon control circuit, the MPU 5 rotates the polygon mirrors 16a and 16b in the light transmitting and receiving units 1a and 1b, thereby turning on the light emitting elements 11a and 11b.
The laser beam from b is scanned angularly. As a result, the reflected light from the retroreflective sheet 7 enters the light receiving elements 13a and 13b. In this way, the amount of light received on the light receiving elements 13a and 13b is obtained as a light receiving signal which is an output of a signal processing circuit (not shown). The change in the level of the received light signal is detected as a scanning angle by both optical scanning means 12a and 12b, and is processed by the following method.

The information provided to the calculating means 51 of the MPU 5 is mainly the following four types of information shown in FIG. theta _1-1: Ch1 (light transmitting and receiving unit 1b) of the scanning start from indicator S angle to the detection theta _1-2: Ch1 detection width angle of the indicator S of the (light transmitting and receiving unit 1b) theta _2-1: Ch2 ( The angle from the start of scanning of the light transmitting / receiving unit 1a) to the detection of the indicator S θ _2-2 : the detection width angle of the indicator S of Ch2 (light transmitting / receiving unit 1a)

The coordinates (x,
The calculation of y) and the calculation of the radius r of the pointer S are performed by the following equations (1) to (6). However, both light transmitting and receiving units 1
When a and 1b are installed along the short side on the left side in FIG. 1, equations (4), (5) and (6) are obtained by equations (4 '), (5') and (6), respectively. ')become that way.

Θ ₁ = θ _1-1 + θ _1-2 / 2 (1) θ ₂ = θ _2-1 + θ _2-2 / 2 (2) y = L × tan θ ₁ / (tan θ) ₁ + tan θ ₂ ) (3) x = W−y × tan θ ₂ (4) r1 = {(W−x) ² + y ² ｝ ^1/2 × sin (θ _2-2 / 2) ... (5) or r2 = {(W-x) ² + (L-y) ² } ^1/2 × sin (θ _1-2 / 2) ・ ・ ・ (6) x = y × tan θ ₂ · .. (4 ′) r1 = (x ² + y ² ) ^1/2 × sin (θ _2-2 / 2) (5 ′) or r2 = (x ² + (L−y) ² ) ^{1 / 2} × sin (θ _1-2 / 2) (6 ')

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the calculating means 51. As described above, the calculating means 51
5, and the functional block diagram shown here also shows the software functions executed by the MPU 5. However, it is of course possible to realize as dedicated hardware for realizing the same function, in which case the processing speed can be increased.

The calculating unit 51 includes a smoothing processing unit 511 for performing a smoothing process on the output (feature amount) from the measuring unit, a storage unit 512 for storing the output (feature amount) from the measuring unit,
A position calculation unit 513 that calculates the position of the pointer S based on an output from the smoothing processing unit 511, and a smoothing processing unit 511
And a size calculation unit 514 that calculates the size of the pointer S based on the output from.

The smoothing processing unit 511 is provided for measuring means, specifically, for the outputs θ _1-1 , θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 and θ _2-2 output from the light transmitting and receiving units 1a and 1b. Perform smoothing processing. Outputs θ _1-1 , t, θ _1-2 , t, θ _2-1 , t, θ _2-2 , t at a certain time t are input to the smoothing processing unit 511.

The storage unit 512 stores the output data θ _1-1 , θ
Data of m-1 steps from time t-1 to t- (m-1) before the current time t regarding _1-2 , θ _2-1 and θ _2-2 are stored. In the smoothing processing unit 511, the storage unit 5
The values of θ for these m−1 steps are read out from 12 and the average value of each of the m pieces of data including the value of θ at the current time t is calculated. The resulting θ _1-1 ,
θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 , θ _2-2 average value θ _a1-1 , θ
_a1-2, theta _a2-1, the position calculation section 513 by using the theta _a2-2 is the position of the indicator S, the magnitude calculator 514 calculates the size of the indicator S, respectively. The storage unit 512 discards the oldest data, that is, the data at the time t- (m-1) every time the averaging processing by the smoothing processing unit 511 is performed once, and replaces the data at the current time t with the data at the time t-1. The data is updated sequentially at each time.

In the above example, the smoothing processing section 511
In, the average value of the m data is calculated, but the median value of the m data may be obtained.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing another example of the configuration of the calculating means 51. In the example shown in FIG. 3 described above, the position and size of the pointer S are calculated after the smoothed value of the output data from the measuring unit is first obtained by the smoothing processing unit 511. In the example shown in FIG.
First, the position and size of the pointer S are calculated, and then their smoothed values are obtained.

4 includes a position calculating section 513 for calculating the position of the pointer S, a smoothing processing section 511a for performing a smoothing process on a plurality of position calculation results, and a plurality of position calculation results. A storage unit 512a for storing the size of the pointer S, a smoothing processing unit 511b for performing a smoothing process on a plurality of calculation results of the size,
A storage unit 512b for storing a plurality of calculation results of the size.

The output data θ _1-1 from the measuring means,
θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 , and θ _2-2 are first input to the position calculator 513. The position calculation unit 513 calculates the position (x, y) of the pointer S in accordance with the input output data θ _1-1 , θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 , and θ _2-2 from the measuring means. The result is stored in a size calculation unit 514, a smoothing processing unit 511a, and a storage unit 51.
2a. In the size calculation unit 514, the position calculation unit 51 is used.
The size r of the pointer S is calculated in accordance with the output from No. 3 and the result is given to the smoothing processing unit 511b and the storage unit 512b.

The smoothing units 511a and 511b perform averaging on the calculation result of the position calculation unit 513 and the calculation result of the size calculation unit 514. Position of the indicator S at a certain time _{n (x n, y n)} , the size r _n smoothing processing section 511a, is input to 511b.

[0065] The storage unit 512a is the calculation result of the current n the position calculation section 513 (x _n, y _n) and the present time n previous time n-1~n- (m-1) of m-1 steps of data Is stored. In the smoothing processing unit 511a, the storage unit 512
The position of the indicator S for m-1 steps stored in a is read out, and the position (x _n , y _n ) of the indicator S at the current time n is read out.
Calculate the average of m data including. The average position (x _an , y _an ) of the pointer S, which is the result of this calculation, is the output of the calculating means 51.

On the other hand, the storage unit 512b stores the size calculation unit 5
The calculation result r _n of the current time n of 14 and the time n before the current time n
-1 to n- (m-1) data for m-1 steps are stored. In the smoothing processing unit 511b, the storage unit 512b
Reads the size of the indicator S (m-1) step amount stored in, it calculates the average of the m data indicated was including the size r _n of S at the present time n. The average size r _an, of the indicator S is the calculation result is output calculating means 51.

In each of the storage units 512a and 512b, the oldest data, that is, the time n− (m−), is executed each time the averaging process is performed in the both smoothing processing units 511a and 511b.
The data of 1) is discarded, and the data of the current n is replaced with the time n-1.
, And the data at each time is sequentially updated.

In the above example, both smoothing processing units 51
In 1a and 511b, the average value of m pieces of data is calculated, but the median value of m pieces of data may be calculated.

The smoothing processing units 511, 511a, 511b
, An average value (or a median value) of m consecutive data in time is calculated as described above. However, if the m data contains data that is significantly different from the normal value due to noise or other error factors of the touch panel, the resulting average value (or median value) is also originally required. May significantly differ from the value of. Therefore, the m pieces of data to be subjected to the smoothing process are rearranged in the order of the size, and n1 from the larger value is used.
M- (n1 + n2) (where m> n1 + n2) excluding n data and n2 data from the smaller value
Smoothing processing is performed only for. As a result, even if an extremely large value or an extremely small value is included in the m numerical values to be subjected to the smoothing processing, it is possible to reduce the influence on the average value (or the median value).

Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Although the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 shows an example applied to the configuration of FIG. 4 described above, it goes without saying that the basic concept can be applied to the configuration shown in FIG. No.

First, when one set of data is output from the measuring means, the position and size of the pointer S are calculated by the position calculating unit 513 and the size calculating unit 514 (step S11), and both storage units are used. The contents of 512a and 512b are updated (step S12). Then, both smoothing processing units 511a and 511b are stored in storage units 512a and 512, respectively.
m data strings are obtained from b (step S13), the m data pieces are rearranged in descending order of value (step S14), and n1 with larger values and n2 with smaller values are discarded. (Steps S15 and S16), the remaining m-
An average of (n1 + n2) pieces is obtained (step S17), and this result is represented by the position (x _an , y _an ) and the size r _{an of the} pointer S.
(Step S18).

By the way, in the above-mentioned example, when all of the numerical values that are significantly different from the others are significantly smaller than the original value, for example, there is a possibility that the numerical value that is larger but closer to the original value may be discarded. is there. Therefore, the standard deviation of m numerical values to be subjected to the smoothing processing is obtained, and the smoothing processing is performed only on the mn data excluding the n data having the large standard deviation, as described above. To solve various problems.

If the largest of the standard deviations of the remaining mn data is larger than a predetermined value,
It is determined that these mn data also include data different from the original values. In this case, a predetermined error value is output without performing the normal position and size calculation processing of the pointer S. This notifies that the normal position and size cannot be detected due to noise or another error factor of the touch panel.

Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 6, steps S21 and S2
2 and S23 are steps S11, S12, and S in FIG.
13 is the same processing as that in FIG. Both smoothing processing units 511a, 5
11b calculates the average value after acquiring the m data strings from both storage units 512a and 512b in step S23 (step S24). At the same time, both smoothing processing units 511a and 511b calculate the standard deviation of the m data (step S25), and rearrange the m data in descending order of the standard deviation (step S26). Are discarded (step S2
7) It is checked whether or not the maximum value of the standard deviation in the remaining mn data is larger than a predetermined value (step S2)
8).

If the standard deviation is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value (S28: NO), the two smoothing processing units 511a and 511b
Calculates the average of mn data (step S29),
The result is represented by the position (x _an , y _an ) and the size r of the pointer S.
_It is determined as an (step S30). On the other hand, if the standard deviation is larger than the predetermined value (S28: YES),
The two smoothing processing units 511a and 511b do not perform the averaging process, and the error value is determined as the position and the size of the indicator S (Step S31), and the position and the size of the indicator S are determined.
(Step S30). This allows the operator to recognize that the normal position and size of the pointer S have not been detected.

Noise or other error required on touch panel
Explain other processing to eliminate abnormal values due to factors.
You. First, θ which is the input data from the measuring means_1-1, Θ
_1-2, Θ _2-1, Θ_2-2Are not within the specified range.
In this case, the position and the size of the pointer S without performing the normal calculation process
Is set to a predetermined error value. Also,
The position (x, y) of the issued pointer S is not within the predetermined range
The same processing is performed in the case. As a result of these processes,
An error value is set for the value of the position and size of the
When the data is stored, the data stored in the storage
Data. Thus, the data stored in the storage unit 512
The number of error values, and if the number is
Does not perform the averaging process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in such a smoothing processing unit 511. First, a measurement result is obtained from the measurement means (step S41), and it is determined whether each of the measurement results is within a predetermined value (step S4).
2) If at least one is outside the predetermined value (S42: N
O), the position and size of the pointer S are taken as error values
(Step S49).

If all the measured values are within the predetermined value, (S
42: YES), the position and size of the pointer S are calculated
(Step S43), it is determined whether or not the result is within a predetermined range (Step S44). If the result is not within the predetermined range (S44: NO), the position and size of the pointing object S are set as error values (S49). If the result is within the predetermined range (S44: YES), the contents of the storage unit 512 are updated and a data string of the past calculation result is obtained (step S45).

Then, it is determined whether or not the number of error values of the data at the position of the pointer S in the past calculation results obtained from the storage unit 512 is smaller than a predetermined number (step S46). If the number of error values is greater than
(S46: NO), the position and the size of the pointer S are set as error values (S49). If the number of error values is smaller than the predetermined number (S46: YES), it is further determined whether the number of error values of the data of the size of the indicator S in the past calculation results is smaller than the predetermined number. (Step S47). If the number of error values is equal to or more than the predetermined number (S47: N
O), the position and size of the pointer S are taken as error values
(S49). If the number of error values is less than the predetermined number
(S47: YES), the averaging process is performed by the smoothing processing unit 511 (step S48), the position and the size of the pointer S are determined (step S50), and the storage unit 512 is set.
Is updated (step S51).

When the position and the size of the pointer S are set to an error value (S49), this is determined as the position and the size of the pointer S (S50), and the content of the storage unit 512 is updated (S49). S51).

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of another optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention. In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 8, the internal configuration of the MPU 5 is different from that illustrated in FIG. 1, and the MPU 5 calculates the position and the size of the pointer S based on the calculation result by the calculation unit 53. The display device 10 includes a contact determination unit 54 that determines whether the pointer S is in contact with the display screen 10 and an image control unit 52 that controls the display device 6. Other configurations are the same as those of the above-described optical scanning type touch panel of FIG. 1, and the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the calculating means 53. The calculation means 53 is realized as a function of the MPU 5 as described above, and the functional block diagram shown here also shows software functions executed by the MPU 5. However, it is of course possible to realize as dedicated hardware for realizing the same function, in which case the processing speed can be increased.

The calculating means 53 determines whether or not the output (feature amount) of the measuring means is within a predetermined range. The calculating means 53 performs a smoothing process on data of a series of a plurality of feature quantities. 1 smoothing processing unit 532, a first storage unit 533 for storing a series of data of a plurality of feature amounts, and a position for calculating the position and size of the indicator S based on the output of the first smoothing processing unit 532 A size calculating unit 534 for performing a smoothing process on the data of the calculated series of a plurality of positions and sizes;
It has a smoothing processing unit 535 and a second storage unit 536 that stores data of a series of a plurality of calculated positions and sizes.

Measuring means, specifically, the light transmitting / receiving unit 1
a, feature quantity theta _1-1 is output from the 1b, θ _1-2, θ
_2-1 and θ _2-2 are input to the feature value discriminating unit 531, and it is discriminated whether each angle thereof and θ ₁ and θ ₂ measured therefrom are within a predetermined range. If any of them is not within the predetermined range, the error flag is turned on. The details of the processing operation of the feature amount discrimination unit 531 will be described later.

First smoothing processing section 532 and first storage section 5
33 includes outputs θ _1-1 , t, θ _1-2 ,
t, θ _2-1 , t, θ _2-2 , t are input. First storage unit 53
3 includes output data θ _1-1 , θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 , θ _2-2
Times t-1 to t- (m
-1) m-1 steps of data are stored,
The first smoothing processing unit 532 reads the values of θ for these m−1 steps from the first storage unit 533, and calculates the average value of each of the m data including the value of θ at the current time t. Then, the calculation result is output to the position / size calculation unit 534. In the first storage unit 533, each time the averaging process by the first smoothing processing unit 532 is performed once,
The oldest data, that is, the data at the time t- (m-1) is discarded, the data at the current time t is used as the data at the time t-1, and the data at each time is sequentially updated.

The position / size calculation section 534 calculates θ _1-1 , θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 , θ θ obtained as a result of the averaging process.
_2-2 Average value of each θ _a1-1 , θ _a1-2 , θ _a2-1 , θ _a2-2
Is used to calculate the position (x, y) and the size r of the pointer S, and the calculation result is referred to as the second smoothing processing unit 53.
5 and the second storage unit 536. That is, a certain time n
The indicator position of the S (x _n, y _n) in and the sized r _n is input to the second smoothing processing section 535 and the second storage unit 536.

The second storage unit 536 stores the position and the position of the pointer S.
Time n-1 to n- (m
-1) m-1 steps of data are stored,
The second smoothing processing unit 535 stores the information in the second storage unit 536.
Read the position of the pointer S for m-1 steps
Then, the position (x_n, Y_n)
The average of the m pieces of data is calculated, and the second storage unit 5
The size of the pointer S for m-1 steps stored in 36
The magnitude is read and the size r of the pointer S at the current time n is read out. _nAlso
The average of the m pieces of data is calculated. Such calculations
The average position (x_an, Y_an) And instructions
Average size r of object S_anIs the output of the calculating means 53. What
In the second storage unit 536, the second smoothing processing unit 53
5 each time the averaging process is performed,
That is, the data at the time n- (m-1) is discarded,
Data is time n-1 data, and data at each time is
Update to feed.

In the example described above, the average value of m pieces of data is calculated in the first smoothing processing section 532 and the second smoothing processing section 535, but the median value of the m pieces of data is calculated. You may ask for it.

Next, calculation means 53 shown in FIG. 9 (characteristic amount discriminating section 531, first smoothing processing section 532, first storage section 53
3, position / size calculation unit 534, second smoothing processing unit 53
5 and the second storage unit 536) and the contact determination means 54 will be described.

The first smoothing processing unit 532 and the second smoothing processing unit 535 calculate the average value (or the median value) of the m successive data as described above.
If individual data contains data that is significantly different from the normal value due to noise or other error factors on the touch panel, the resulting average value (or median value) will also differ from the original value. There is a risk that they will differ significantly. Therefore, the m pieces of data to be subjected to the smoothing process are rearranged in the order of the size, and n1 from the larger value is used.
M- (n1 + n2) excluding n pieces of data and n2 pieces of data having smaller values (where m> n1 + n
Smoothing processing is performed only for 2). As a result, even if an extremely large value or an extremely small value is included in the m numerical values to be subjected to the smoothing process, it is possible to reduce the influence on the average value (or the median value). Such a processing procedure in the first smoothing processing unit 532 and the second smoothing processing unit 535 is the same as the processing procedure (the flowchart in FIG. 5) in the above-described smoothing processing units 511, 511a, and 511b. Therefore, the detailed description is omitted.

In the above-described processing, if all of the numerical values that are significantly different from the others are, for example, significantly smaller than the original values, the numerical values that are larger but closer to the original values may be discarded. Therefore, the standard deviation of m numerical values to be subjected to the smoothing processing is obtained, and an average value (or a median value) is obtained only for mn data excluding n data having a large standard deviation. To solve such a problem.

Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Although FIG. 10 shows the processing procedure in the second smoothing processing unit 535, the processing procedure in the first smoothing processing unit 532 is the same. The position and size of the pointer S calculated by the position / size calculation unit 534 are the second and
The data is input to the smoothing unit 535 and the second storage unit 536 (step S61), and the contents of the second storage unit 536 are updated (step S62). The second smoothing processor 535 obtains m data rows each having a position and a size from the second storage section 536 (step S63), and calculates an average value (or a median value) of each of the m data. (Step S6
4).

Also, the second smoothing processing unit 535
The standard deviation of the m data is calculated (step S65),
Sort each m data in descending order of standard deviation
E (step S66), n each of the larger deviations
Are discarded (step S67), and the remaining
Calculate the average (or median) of (mn) data
Yes (step S68). Then, indicate the calculation result
Position of object S (x_an, Y _an) And size r_anDecide as
(Step S69).

[0094] theta _1-1 is inputted to the calculating means 53 (characteristic amount determination unit 531) as the feature _{amount, θ 1- 2, θ 2-1,} θ 2-2
Does not exceed the scanning angle range of the optical scanning means. If a value exceeding the scanning angle range is measured, the value may be an abnormal value affected by noise or the like or an abnormal value in a state where the pointer S is not in contact with the display screen. Conceivable. Also, the above-described equations (1),
Θ ₁ and θ ₂ calculated in (2) do not exceed this scanning angle range. Therefore, when the values of these angles are output beyond the scanning angle range, the error flag is turned on, and the fact that the input feature amount is abnormal is reflected in the subsequent processing.

The processing procedure in the feature amount discriminating unit 531 will be described below.
This will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
You. First, the characteristic amount θ_1-1, Θ_1-2,
θ_2-1, Θ _2-2Is input (step S71). Soshi
And these feature values θ_1-1, Θ_1-2, Θ_2-1, Θ_2-2But
Determine sequentially whether it is within a predetermined range (within the scanning angle range)
(Steps S72, S73, S74, S75). what
If any of them is not within the predetermined range (S72, S73, S
74, S75: NO), turns on the error flag
(Step S81).

If all are within the predetermined range (S7
2, S73, S74, and S75: YES), and θ ₁ and θ ₂ are calculated according to equations (1) and (2) (step S76). It is sequentially determined whether the calculated θ ₁ and θ ₂ are within a predetermined range (within a scanning angle range) (step S7).
7, S78). If any of them is not within the predetermined range (S
77, S78: NO), the error flag is turned on (S81). If all are within the predetermined range (all of S77 and S78: YES), the error flag is turned off (step S79). Then, the set error flag is sent (step S80).

The indicator S comes into contact with a predetermined area of the display screen 10, and the characteristic amount discriminating unit 531 calculates a regular characteristic amount from the calculating means 5.
3, until the predetermined number of data strings are stored in the first storage unit 533 or the second storage unit 536, the first smoothing unit 532 or the second smoothing unit 535 performs the smoothing process. Can not do. Therefore, the calculating unit 53 constantly monitors the number of data strings in the first storage unit 533 and the second storage unit 536, and when a predetermined number of data strings are not stored, the final normal In this case, predetermined error data is output in place of the position and the size, and the fact that the normal position and size cannot be output is reflected in the subsequent processing. This error data is also output when the error flag is on.

Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the feature amount is input together with the error flag from the feature amount determination unit 531 (step S91). It is determined whether or not the input error flag is off (step S92).
If the error flag is ON (S92: NO),
The error data is output (step S101).

If the error flag is off (S9
2: YES), the content of the first storage unit 533 is updated (step S93), and it is determined whether a predetermined number of data strings are stored in the first storage unit 533 (step S9).
4). If the number is less than the predetermined number (S94: NO), error data is output (S101). If the number has reached the predetermined number (S94: YES), the first smoothing processing unit 53
In step 2, a smoothing process is performed on the feature amount (step S9).
5) The position and size of the pointer S are calculated by the position / size calculation unit 534 based on the result of the smoothing process (step S96), and the contents of the second storage unit 536 are updated (step S97). .

It is determined whether a predetermined number of data strings are stored in second storage section 536 (step S98).
If the number is less than the predetermined number (S98: NO), error data is output (S101). If the number has reached the predetermined number (S98: YES), the second smoothing processing unit 535 performs a smoothing process on the position and size of the pointer S (step S99), and normalizes the smoothing result. Is output as the position and size of the pointer S (step S10).
0).

As described above, in this example, the calculating means 5
3, the output signal is always output at predetermined time intervals. In other words, when the indicator S is properly detected, the regular position and size are output, and when the indicator S is not properly detected, error data is output. The contact determination unit 54 determines that the indicator S is in contact with a predetermined area of the display screen 10 when a normal position and size are input, and turns on a contact flag. Further, even if the indicator S is in contact, error data may be output due to the influence of noise or the like. Therefore, when error data is continuously input for a predetermined number of times or more, the contact determination unit 54 Then, it is determined that the pointer S is separated from the display screen 10 without touching the predetermined area, and the contact flag is turned off. When the contact flag changes from on to off, the first
All data strings in the storage unit 533 and the second storage unit 536 are deleted, and the respective smoothing processes are initialized.

Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 13 showing a processing procedure in the contact determination means 54. First, an output signal from the calculating means 53 is input (step S111), and it is determined whether or not the output signal is error data (step S112). If it is not error data, that is, if it is regular data (S11
2: NO), the contact flag is turned on (step S11)
7) The input data is output as the position and size of the pointer S (step S118).

On the other hand, if the data is error data (S1
12: YES), it is determined whether or not the contact flag is on (step S113). If not on (S11
3: NO), the contact flag is turned off (step S)
119). If the contact flag is on (S11
3: YES), it is determined whether or not a predetermined number k or more of error data has been continuously input (step S114). k
If not more than this number has been input continuously (S114: N
O), the contact flag is turned on (step S120).

On the other hand, if k or more error data are continuously input (S114: YES), the contact flag is turned off (step S115), and the data in the first storage unit 533 and the second storage unit 536 are deleted. Erase (step S1
16).

By the way, in the optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention, as described above, the size of the pointer S is Ch
It is possible to obtain two values, r1 calculated from the numerical value θ _1-2 output from the optical transmission / reception unit 1b of No. 1 and r2 calculated from the numerical value θ _2-2 output from the optical transmission / reception unit 1a of Ch2. .

However, there is a possibility that either r1 or r2, or both, may be significantly different from a normal value due to noise or other error factors of the touch panel. Therefore, first, it is determined whether or not r1 and r2 are each within a predetermined normal numerical range, and further, r1 and r2 are compared to determine whether or not the difference between the two is within a predetermined range. I do. If these are outside the predetermined range, a predetermined error value is output without performing normal processing. As a result, it is notified that the normal position / size cannot be detected due to noise or another error factor of the touch panel. On the other hand, if they are within the predetermined range, the average value of r1 and r2, or either the larger value or the smaller value is output as the size of the indicator S.

Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 14 showing a method of calculating the size of the pointer S by the calculation means 51 and 53 and a procedure of processing an error value. First, measurement results (θ _1-1 , θ _1-2 , θ _2-1 ,
θ _2-2 ) is obtained (step S121), the position of the indicator S is calculated (step S122), and the sizes r1 and r2 of the indicator S are calculated from θ _1-2 and θ _2-2 , respectively. (Steps S123 and S124).

Then, it is determined whether or not the size r1 of the pointer S calculated from θ _1-2 and the size r2 of the pointer S calculated from θ _2-2 are within predetermined ranges. Do
(Steps S125 and S126). If each of them is within the predetermined range (both S125 and S126: YES), it is determined whether or not the difference between the two is within the predetermined range (step S127). If the difference is within the predetermined range (S127: YES), the instruction is made by selecting either the larger one or the smaller one of r1 and r2, or calculating the average value of both (step S128). The size of the object S is determined (Step S130).

If at least one of r1 and r2 is outside the predetermined range (one of S125 and S126: NO), or the difference between them is outside the predetermined range (S127: NO), the predetermined error value is set. Is the size of the pointer S (step S129), and the size is determined (S130).
This allows the operator to recognize that the normal position and size of the pointer S have not been detected.

In the optical scanning touch panel according to the present invention, when calculating the position and size of the pointer S, the resolution on the display screen 10 is determined by the two light transmitting / receiving units 1a and 1b.
, The detection accuracy also changes greatly depending on the position of the display screen 10. This is due to the resolution of the scanning angle of the light and the geometric problems of triangulation.

Therefore, in such a region where the detection accuracy is reduced, the variation m of the detection result is made lower than other positions where the detection accuracy is good by increasing the number m of data used for the smoothing process. On the other hand, if the number m of data increases, the amount of calculation increases, and there is a trade-off relationship that other processes may be adversely affected. Therefore,
The number m of data according to the position of the pointer S on the display screen 10
Is appropriately changed to solve such a trade-off.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for changing the number m of data used for the smoothing processing in accordance with the position of the indicator S on the display screen 10, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between the position of the pointer S on the display screen 10 and the set number m of data used for the smoothing process.
This relationship is stored as table data in memories (not shown) in the calculation means 51 and 53.

First, the position of the pointer S is calculated based on the data output from the measuring means (step S131),
The smoothing process is performed with the number of data m determined at the time of the previous smoothing process (step S132). However, initially, the number m of data may be one. M is acquired from the table in the memory based on the position of the pointer S calculated in step S131 (step S133). Next, the data number m in the next smoothing process is updated to the data number m obtained from the table stored in the memory (step S13).
4).

The table for obtaining m is as follows:
The number m of data in each area divided into a plurality of substantially fan-shaped areas corresponding to the distance on the display screen 10 from the light transmitting and receiving units 1a and 1b as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. Are stored in the memory in advance in association with the data of the above. Of course, the contents of this table do not need to be so strict, and as long as it roughly corresponds to the measurement resolution of the light scanning angle and the geometrical problem of triangulation as described above.

[0115]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
When calculating the position and size of an indicator such as a finger or a pen by calculation based on directly obtained data, a smoothing process is performed, so that the calculation result can be highly accurate. It is possible.

When it is expected that a result that should be clearly regarded as an error is obtained, or when such a result is obtained, the arithmetic processing is stopped or the obtained result is Since it is discarded, it is possible to prevent an abnormal calculation result from being obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the principle of a position detection operation on a coordinate plane by the optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a calculation unit.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a calculating unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a smoothing processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a smoothing processing unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a smoothing processing unit.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical scanning type touch panel of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a calculating unit.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a smoothing processing unit.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a feature amount determination unit.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a calculating unit.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a contact determination unit.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of calculating the size of an indicator by a calculation unit and an example of an error value processing procedure;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in a smoothing processing unit.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the position of an indicator on a display screen and the set number of data used for smoothing processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b Light transmitting / receiving unit 5 MPU 6 Display device 7 Retroreflective sheet 10 Display screen 11a, 11b Light emitting element 12a, 12b Light scanning means 13a, 13b Light receiving element 16a, 16b Polygon mirror 51, 53 Calculation means 54 Contact discrimination means 511 , 511a, 511b Smoothing processing unit 512, 512a, 512b Storage unit 513 Position calculation unit 514 Size calculation unit 531 Feature amount determination unit 532 First smoothing processing unit 533 First storage unit 534 Position / size calculation unit 535 First 2 smoothing processing unit 536 second storage unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Fumihiko Nakazawa 4-1-1, Kamidadanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Yasushi Iida 4 Kamikadanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Fumitaka Abe 4-1-1 Kamikadanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Fujitsu Limited

Claims (31)

[Claims] An optical scanning means for optically scanning an indicator located in a predetermined area; and a calculating means for calculating a position and a size of the indicator based on a result of scanning by the optical scanning means. In an optical scanning type touch panel provided with
The calculation means has a smoothing processing means for smoothing a predetermined number of series of numerical values at a specific stage during the processing of calculating the position and size of the pointer, and the smoothing processing by the smoothing processing means. An optical scanning touch panel, wherein the position and size of the pointer are calculated using the result of the conversion process. 2. The optical scanning means according to claim 1, wherein said optical scanning means includes light retroreflecting means provided outside said predetermined area, and light scanning means angularly scanning light in a plane substantially parallel to said predetermined area. ,
And at least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means having light receiving means for receiving light reflected by the light retroreflecting part of a portion irradiated by light, a scanning angle by the light scanning means, and a light receiving result by the light receiving means 2. An optical scanning touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising: a measuring unit configured to measure a blocking range of the scanning light in the predetermined area formed by the pointing object based on the information. 3. The smoothing processing means performs a smoothing process on a result of a series of a predetermined number of scans in the latest past performed by the optical scanning means, and the calculating means performs a smoothing process by the smoothing processing means. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the position and the size of the pointer are calculated based on the result of (1). 4. The optical scanning means calculates a position and a size of the pointer based on a result of one optical scanning by the optical scanning means, and the smoothing processing means includes:
3. A smoothing process for a series of predetermined numbers of calculations in the latest past by said light calculation means.
The optical scanning type touch panel according to the above. 5. An optical scanning touch panel according to claim 3, wherein said smoothing processing means selects a numerical value satisfying a predetermined condition from a series of numerical values to be smoothed and performs a smoothing process. . 6. The smoothing processing means according to claim 1, wherein
5. A smoothing process for remaining numerical values excluding n1 from the largest value and n2 from the smallest value in a numerical value sequence (m is a natural number of 1 or more). The optical scanning type touch panel according to the above. 7. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 3, wherein said smoothing processing means smoothes a predetermined number of numerical values having a small standard deviation in a numerical value sequence to be smoothed. 8. The smoothing processing means performs a predetermined error process when a maximum standard deviation of a predetermined number of numerical values having a small standard deviation in a numerical sequence to be smoothed is larger than a predetermined value. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 3, wherein the operation is performed. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calculating unit is configured to determine whether or not a result of the scanning by the optical scanning unit is out of a predetermined reference range.
The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein predetermined error processing is performed. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said calculating means performs predetermined error processing when a calculation result indicating that said pointer is located outside said predetermined area is obtained. The optical scanning type touch panel according to the above. 11. An optical scanning means for optically scanning an indicator located in a predetermined area; a measuring means for measuring a characteristic amount of the indicator based on a result of scanning by the optical scanning means; Calculating means for calculating the position and size of the pointer based on the characteristic amount measured by the measuring means, wherein the calculating means determines that the characteristic amount measured by the measuring means is a predetermined value. A determining unit that determines whether the range is within a range, a first smoothing processing unit that smoothes a numerical sequence of a predetermined number of feature amounts determined to be within a predetermined range, and the first smoothing A position / size calculation unit that calculates the position and size of the pointer using the smoothing feature amount obtained by the processing unit, and a calculated series of numerical sequences of a predetermined number of positions and / or sizes Second to smooth
An optical scanning type touch panel, wherein a position and a size of the pointer are calculated using a smoothing processing unit and a result of the smoothing processing by the second smoothing processing unit. 12. The optical scanning means includes: a light retroreflecting means provided outside the predetermined area; and a light scanning means for angularly scanning light in a plane substantially parallel to the predetermined area. And at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means having light receiving means for receiving light reflected by the light retroreflecting part of a portion irradiated by light, scanning angle by the light scanning means, and light receiving by the light receiving means The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 11, further comprising: a measuring unit configured to measure a blocking range of the scanning light in the predetermined area formed by the pointer based on a result. 13. The first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit includes a storage unit that stores a predetermined number of a series of numerical values, and stores a predetermined number of numerical value sequences stored in the storage unit. 13. The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 11, wherein a smoothing process is performed by selecting a numerical value satisfying a predetermined condition from among the selected values. 14. The first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit may be configured to perform an order of increasing values from n values to n1 values and decreasing values from m numerical value sequences stored in the storage unit. 14. The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 13, wherein m- (n1 + n2) remaining numbers excluding n2 are selected from and the average value thereof is obtained. 15. The first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit may include an m number sequence stored in the storage unit, from the largest value to the smallest value n1 and the smallest value to the smallest value. 14. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 13, wherein m- (n1 + n2) remaining numbers excluding n2 are selected from and the median value thereof is obtained. 16. The first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit selects a predetermined number of numerical values having a small standard deviation from a numerical value sequence stored in the storage unit, and selects those numerical values. 14. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 13, wherein an average value is obtained. 17. The first smoothing processing unit and / or the second smoothing processing unit selects a predetermined number of numerical values having a small standard deviation from a numerical value sequence stored in the storage unit, and selects those numerical values. 14. The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 13, wherein a median value is obtained. 18. A predetermined error process is performed when the determination unit determines that one or a plurality of feature amounts measured by the measurement unit does not fall within a predetermined range. The optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the above. 19. The first smoothing processing unit has a storage unit that stores a predetermined number of series of numerical values, and when the storage unit does not store a numerical value of a feature amount equal to or more than a predetermined number, , A predetermined error processing is performed.
2. The optical scanning touch panel according to 2. 20. The second smoothing processing unit includes a storage unit that stores a predetermined number of series of numerical values, and stores a predetermined number or more of the position and / or size of the pointer in the storage unit. 13. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 11, wherein a predetermined error process is performed when is not stored. 21. Based on a calculation result of the calculation means,
21. The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising a contact determination unit configured to determine whether the pointer is in contact with the predetermined area. 22. The contact determining means determines that the indicator is in contact with the predetermined area when the calculation result of the position and size of the indicator by the calculator is within a predetermined range. 22. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 21, wherein the touch panel is provided. 23. The calculating means, at a predetermined time interval,
Determining whether the calculation result of the position and the size of the pointer is within a predetermined range, outputting the calculation result if the calculation result is within the predetermined range, and outputting the calculation result if the calculation result is not within the predetermined range; Output an error signal, and when the error signal is output a predetermined number of times or more, the contact determination unit is configured to determine that the pointer is away from the predetermined area. Item 22. An optical scanning type touch panel according to item 21. 24. The calculating means determines whether or not the calculation result of the position and size of the pointing object is within a predetermined range, and outputs the calculation result if the calculation result is within the predetermined range. If the calculation result is not within the predetermined range, the calculation result is not output, and if the calculation result is not output for a predetermined time or more, the contact determination unit includes:
22. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 21, wherein it is determined that the pointer is away from the predetermined area. 25. When the contact determining means determines that the state of the pointer changes from a state in which the pointer is in contact with the predetermined area to a state in which the pointer is away from the predetermined area, the first smoothing is performed. 22. The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 21, wherein a series of numerical sequences stored in a storage unit associated with the smoothing processing unit and the second smoothing processing unit are erased and initialized. 26. The optical scanning means has at least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means for optically scanning the predetermined area and measuring a numerical value representing a range of cutoff of scanning light by the pointer. The means is configured to perform a process of calculating the size of the indicator based on each of the numerical values obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means, and to determine a maximum value or a minimum value of the calculation results as a calculation result. The optical scanning type touch panel according to claim 1. 27. The optical scanning means includes at least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means for optically scanning the predetermined area and measuring a numerical value representing a range of cutoff of scanning light by the pointer. 26. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means performs a process of calculating the size of the pointer based on each of the numerical values obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means, and sets an average value of the calculation results as the calculation result. The optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the above. 28. The optical scanning means has at least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means for optically scanning a predetermined area and measuring a numerical value representing a range of cutoff of scanning light by the pointer.
The calculating means performs a process of calculating the size of the pointer based on each of the numerical values obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means, and at least a value selected as the position or size of the pointer in the calculation result is obtained. 26. The optical scanning touch panel according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined error process is performed when the error is larger than a predetermined range. 29. The optical scanning means includes at least two sets of light transmitting / receiving means for optically scanning a predetermined area and measuring a numerical value representing a range of cutoff of scanning light by the pointer.
The calculating means performs a process of calculating the size of the indicator based on each of the numerical values obtained by the at least two sets of light transmitting and receiving means, and a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of the calculation results is out of a predetermined range. The optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of claims 1 to 25, wherein a predetermined error process is performed in the case of (1). 30. The smoothing processing means according to claim 1, wherein when a series of numerical values to be smoothed includes a predetermined number or more of numerical values outside a predetermined range, predetermined error processing is performed. 26. The optical scanning touch panel according to any one of items 25 to 25. 31. The smoothing processing means according to claim 1, wherein the number of a series of numerical values to be smoothed thereafter is changed according to the position of the pointer calculated by the calculating means. The optical scanning type touch panel according to any one of the above.