TOUCH SENSOR-EQUIPPED DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20130002597A1
• Filed: 03/03/2011
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nishimura, Tomohiko, Miyazawa, Jin
• Granted Patent: US 8,723,828 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• 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: G09G 3/3614 Control of polarity reversal in general
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3655 Details of drivers for counter electrodes, e.g. common electrodes for pixel capacitors or supplementary storage capacitors

Abstract

Provided is a touch sensor-equipped display device that is not susceptible to the effect of noise caused by the reversal of polarity of the common voltage of the display device, without using special circuits. The touch sensor-equipped display device includes: a touch sensor unit 7 having a plurality of sensor electrodes; a sensor output read circuit 21 that is sequentially connected to the respective sensor electrodes and that outputs a signal voltage corresponding to the electrical characteristics of the sensor electrode connected thereto; a sensor control circuit 23 that supplies a control signal to the sensor output read circuit 21; and a coordinate calculation circuit 22 that detects a contact position on the basis of the signal voltage. The coordinate calculation circuit 22 includes: an averaging circuit 221 that calculates an average value for the signal voltage values outputted from the sensor output read circuit 21 over two cycles of the vertical synchronizing signal; and a contact position detection circuit 222 that detects the contact position on the basis of the average value.

Claims

1. A touch sensor-equipped display device, comprising:

a display panel that has an active matrix substrate having a plurality of pixel electrodes, a display medium layer, and an opposite substrate having an opposite electrode that faces the plurality of pixel electrodes;

a display panel driver circuit that supplies a display signal voltage to the plurality of pixel electrodes, the display panel driver circuit also supplying a common voltage that exhibits a periodic polarity reversal to the opposite electrode;

a touch sensor part that is disposed on a surface of the display panel on a side of the opposite substrate, the touch sensor part having a plurality of sensor electrodes that exhibit a change in electrical characteristics when a contacting body comes into contact;

a sensor output read circuit that is sequentially connected to the sensor electrodes, the sensor output read circuit outputting a signal voltage based on the electrical characteristic of the sensor electrode connected thereto;

a sensor control circuit that supplies a control signal to the sensor output read circuit; and

a coordinate calculation circuit that detects a position where the contacting body has come into contact in the touch sensor part based on the signal voltage outputted from the sensor output read circuit,

wherein the control signal includes a signal that sequentially connects each of the sensor electrodes in the touch sensor part to the sensor output read circuit during one period of a vertical synchronization signal supplied to the display panel driver circuit, and

wherein the coordinate calculation circuit comprises;

an averaging circuit that calculates an average value of signal voltage values outputted from the sensor output read circuit over two periods of the vertical synchronization signal; and

a contact coordinate position detection circuit that detects the position where the contacting body has come into contact in the touch sensor part based on said average value.

2. The touch sensor-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the averaging circuit calculates the average value between a signal voltage outputted from the sensor output read circuit during a first period of the two periods of the vertical synchronization signal, and a signal voltage outputted from the sensor output read circuit during a second period of the two periods of the vertical synchronization signal.

3. The touch sensor-equipped display device according to claim 2, wherein the averaging circuit calculates the average value every two periods of the vertical synchronization signal.

4. The touch sensor-equipped display device according to claim 2, wherein the averaging circuit calculates the average value every one period of the vertical synchronization signal.

5. The touch sensor-equipped display device according to claim 1,

wherein the sensor electrodes include a first sensor electrode group in which a plurality of sensor electrodes are lined up in a first axis direction of coordinates in the touch sensor part, and a second sensor electrode group in which a plurality of sensor electrodes are lined up in a second axis direction of the coordinates in the touch sensor part, and

wherein the coordinate calculation circuit determines a first axis direction coordinate of the position where the contacting body has come into contact, based on the signal voltage outputted by the sensor output read circuit when a sensor electrode belonging to the first sensor electrode group is connected thereto, and determines a second axis direction coordinate of the position where the contacting body has come into contact, based on the signal voltage outputted by the sensor output read circuit when a sensor electrode belonging to the second sensor electrode group is connected thereto.

6. The touch sensor-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the polarity of the common voltage reverses every one horizontal period.

7. The touch sensor-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the polarity of the common voltage reverses every two horizontal periods.