INFORMATION INPUT DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, POSITION DETERMINATION METHOD, AND POSITION DETERMINATION PROGRAM

• US 20100231553A1
• Filed: 03/05/2010
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Nagumo, Kensuke, Enami, Eiji, Yabuuchi, Masayuki, Matsuzawa, Junji
• Granted Patent: US 8,508,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00411 the display also being used for user input, e.g. touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0091 Digital copier; digital 'photocopier' H04N2201/0093 and H04N2201/0094 take precedence

Abstract

Disclosed is an information input device including a touch panel in which a display screen for displaying operations information is integrated with a sensor unit and to which the operations information is input when the display screen is touched with a predetermined unit, the sensor unit having plural sensors, which are capable of measuring a capacitance at a front surface of the display screen, arranged in a staggered manner such that three of the plural sensors adjacent to each other are arranged at positions corresponding to apices of a regular triangle; and a position determination unit that determines a position touched with the predetermined unit on the display screen in accordance with levels of the capacitances detected with the three adjacent sensors in a region of the regular triangle formed by the three adjacent sensors among the plural sensors constituting the sensor unit.

Claims

1. An information input device comprising:

a touch panel in which a display screen for displaying operations information is integrated with a sensor unit and to which the operations information is input when the display screen is touched with a predetermined unit, the sensor unit having plural sensors, which are capable of measuring a capacitance at a front surface of the display screen, arranged in a staggered manner such that three of the plural sensors adjacent to each other are arranged at positions corresponding to apices of a regular triangle; and

a position determination unit that determines a position touched with the predetermined unit on the display screen in accordance with levels of the capacitances detected with the three adjacent sensors in a region of the regular triangle formed by the three adjacent sensors among the plural sensors constituting the sensor unit.

2. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the position determination unit includes a central position determination unit that determines a center of the three adjacent sensors as the touched position when the capacitances are detected with the three adjacent sensors and the levels of the capacitances detected with the three adjacent sensors are approximately the same.

3. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the position determination unit includes a first inter-sensor position determination unit that determines the touched position between the three adjacent sensors in accordance with a comparison result of comparing the levels of the capacitances detected with the three adjacent sensors with each other when the capacitances are detected with the three adjacent sensors and the level of the capacitance detected with at least one of the three adjacent sensors is different from the levels of the capacitances detected with the other sensors.

4. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the position determination unit includes a second inter-sensor position determination unit that determines, when the capacitances are detected with two of the three adjacent sensors, the touched position between the two adjacent sensors in accordance with a comparison result of comparing the levels of the capacitances detected with the two adjacent sensors with each other.

5. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the position determination unit includes a right-above position determination unit that determines, when the capacitance is detected with one of the three adjacent sensors, a position right above the one sensor as the touched position.

6. The information input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an input determination unit that uses as a threshold the capacitance detected when an intersection point, at which a median line extending from the position of the sensor corresponding to the apex of the regular triangle formed by the three adjacent sensors intersects with an opposite side, is touched, and determines that the display screen is touched and the operations information is input when detecting the sensor that detects the level of the capacitance greater than or equal to the threshold.

7. The information input device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a threshold comparison unit that compares the levels of the capacitance detected with the adjacent sensors with the threshold relative to the one sensor that detects the level of the capacitance greater than or equal to the threshold.

8. The information input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an operations information processing unit that has a storage region storing operating position corresponding information in which a component image constituting a display of the display screen is associated with position information indicating a position of the component image and operations information input when the component image is specified, and specifies the position information including the touched position determined by the position determination unit and inputs the operations information associated with the position information by referring to the operating position corresponding information.

9. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the touch panel further includes:

a switching unit that selectively switches one of the plural sensors arranged in the sensor unit and acquires a value of the capacitance measured with the sensor; and

a conversion unit that converts the capacitance acquired by the switching unit into a digital value.

10. An image forming apparatus equipped with an information input device to which operations information is input through operations on a touch panel, the information input device comprising a display screen for displaying the operations information integrated with a sensor unit in the touch panel, the sensor unit having plural sensors capable of measuring a capacitance at a front surface of the display screen arranged in a staggered manner such that three of the plural sensors adjacent to each other are arranged at positions corresponding to apices of a regular triangle, the information input device further comprising a position determination unit that determines a position touched with a predetermined unit on the display screen in accordance with levels of the capacitances detected with the three adjacent sensors in a region of the regular triangle formed by the three adjacent sensors among the plural sensors constituting the sensor unit.

11. A position determination method in which a computer determines an operated position on a touch panel in an information input device having the computer to which operations information is input through operations on the touch panel, the information input device comprising a display screen for displaying operations information integrated with a sensor unit in the touch panel, the sensor unit having plural sensors capable of measuring a capacitance at a front surface of the display screen arranged in a staggered manner such that three of the plural sensors adjacent to each other are arranged at positions corresponding to apices of a regular triangle, the computer executing

an input determination step of determining that the display screen is touched and the operations information is input when detecting the sensor that detects a level of the capacitance greater than or equal to a threshold;

a threshold comparison step of comparing the levels of the capacitances detected with the adjacent sensors with the threshold relative to the one sensor that detects the level of the capacitance greater than or equal to the threshold; and

a position determination step of determining the touched position on the display screen in accordance with the level of the capacitance detected with the one sensor and the levels of the capacitances detected with the two adjacent sensors based on a comparison result in the threshold comparison step.

12. The position determination method according to claim 11, wherein

the threshold is the capacitance detected when an intersection point, at which a median line extending from the position of the sensor corresponding to the apex of the regular triangle formed by the three adjacent sensors intersects with an opposite side, is touched.