OPERATION INPUT DEVICE, OPERATION INPUT METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20150054780A1
• Filed: 04/04/2013
• Published: 02/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2012
• 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: Manba, Osamu
• Granted Patent: US 9,575,604 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04186 Touch location disambiguation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means

Abstract

A touch pad outputs a detection signal indicating a coordinate corresponding to a contact state where a finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a detection signal indicating a coordinate corresponding to a proximity state where the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit. An operation input device detects, based on the detection signals, a contact region in which the finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a proximity region in which the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit. Then, the operation input device determines a pointed coordinate based on the contact region detected and the proximity region detected.

Claims

1. An operation input device comprising:

a coordinate detecting unit configured to output a detection signal indicating a coordinate corresponding to a contact state where a finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a detection signal indicating a coordinate corresponding to a proximity state where the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit;

a region detecting unit configured to, based on the detection signals, detect a contact region in which the finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a proximity region in which the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit; and

a pointed coordinate determining unit configured to determine a pointed coordinate pointed by the finger on the coordinate detecting unit, based on the contact region detected and the proximity region detected.

2. The operation input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a determining unit configured to determine, based on an area of the contact region detected, whether or not to use the proximity region to determine the pointed coordinate,

wherein the pointed coordinate determining unit is configured to, in a case that it is determined to use the proximity region, determine the pointed coordinate based on the contact region detected and the proximity region detected, and

the pointed coordinate determining unit is configured to, in a case that it is determined not to use the proximity region, determine the pointed coordinate based only on the contact region detected.

3. The operation input device according to claim 2, further comprising:

a sensitivity setting unit configured to set sensitivity of the coordinate detecting unit so that the coordinate detecting unit outputs detection signals corresponding to the contact state and the proximity state in the case that it is determined to use the proximity region, and outputs a detection signal corresponding only to the contact state in the case that it is determined not to use the proximity region.

4. The operation input device according to claim 2, wherein the pointed coordinate determining unit is configured to, in the case that it is determined to use the proximity region, determine to be the pointed coordinate, a coordinate corresponding to a fingertip in a combined detected region including the contact region detected and the proximity region detected.

5. The operation input device according to claim 2, wherein the pointed coordinate determining unit is configured to, in the case that it is determined not to use the proximity region, determine a center coordinate of the contact region detected to be the pointed coordinate.

6. The operation input device according to claim 2, wherein the determining unit is configured to set a threshold value to be compared with the area of the contact region for determination of whether or not to use the proximity region, based on an area of a thumb in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and an area of any one, but the thumb, of fingers which is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit.

7. The operation input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a proximity region detecting unit configured to detect the proximity region,

wherein the region detecting unit is configured to detect only the contact region based on the detection signal output from the coordinate detecting unit, and

the pointed coordinate determining unit is configured to determine the pointed coordinate based on the contact region detected by the region detecting unit and the proximity region detected by the proximity region detecting unit.

8. An operation input method comprising:

based on detection signals output from a coordinate detecting unit, detecting a contact region in which the finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a proximity region in which the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit, and the detection signals including a detection signal corresponding to a coordinate corresponding to a contact state where a finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a detection signal corresponding to a proximity state where the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit; and

determining a pointed coordinate pointed by the finger on the coordinate detecting unit, based on the contact region detected and the proximity region detected.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium including a computer program to have a computer execute:

based on detection signals output from a coordinate detecting unit, detecting a contact region in which the finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a proximity region in which the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit, and the detection signals including a detection signal indicating a coordinate corresponding to a contact state where a finger is in contact with the coordinate detecting unit, and a detection signal indicating a coordinate corresponding to a proximity state where the finger is in proximity to, without contact with, the coordinate detecting unit; and

determining a pointed coordinate pointed by the finger on the coordinate detecting unit, based on the contact region detected and the proximity region detected.