Data input device of electronic device and input control method

• US 8,786,573 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2011
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Minebea Mitsumi, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Minebea Company Limited (MinebeaMitsumi Inc.)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Tsunehisa, Mizutani, Kosuke, Kitano, Takamichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhou, Hong
• Application Number:
  US13/282,821
• Publication Number:
  US 20120105368A1
• Time in Patent Office: 999 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-174, 178 1801- 1806, 324/658, 324/679, 324/686
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9622 using a plurality of detectors, e.g. keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94026 Automatic threshold calibration; e.g. threshold automatically adapts to ambient conditions or follows variation of input

Abstract

A data input device for an electronic device includes: a operation section having a plurality of capacitive touch sensors to detect a input operation; and a control circuit section that outputs output information corresponding to detected information of the input operation input from the operation section to the electronic device when it is determined that the input operation is performed, wherein the control circuit section is configured to configure arbitrarily a detection sensitivity of the touch sensor before determining whether the input operation is performed, wherein the control circuit section determines whether the input operation is performed in response to a magnitude of an input value of the detected information, based on the configured detection sensitivity, wherein, when it is determined that the input operation is performed, the control circuit section updates the detection sensitivity configured for the touch sensors based on the magnitude of the input value.

Claims

1. A data input device for an electronic device, comprising:

an operation section having a flat input operation surface and a plurality of capacitive touch sensors to detect a input operation onto the input operation surface; and

a control circuit section that outputs output information corresponding to detected information of the input operation input from the operation section to the electronic device when it is determined that the input operation is performed,

wherein the control circuit section is configured to configure arbitrarily detection sensitivity of the touch sensors before determining whether the input operation is performed,

wherein the control circuit section determines whether the input operation is performed in response to a magnitude of an input value of the detected information, based on the configured detection sensitivity, and

wherein, when it is determined that the input operation onto one of the touch sensors is performed, the control circuit section updates the detection sensitivity configured for said one of the touch sensors based on the magnitude of the input value of the input operation onto said one of the touch sensors,

wherein, the control circuit section is configured to configure separately a plurality of detection sensitivities, each of which is independent from the other detection sensitivities, for the plurality of the touch sensors, respectively, based on respective detected input values of each of the touch sensors, and

wherein, when it is determined that the input operation is performed based on the separately configured detection sensitivity of at least one of the touch sensors and the magnitude of the input value of the detected information, the control circuit section updates the separately configured detection sensitivity for the at least one of the touch sensors according to the magnitude of the input value of the detected information.

2. The data input device according to claim 1,

wherein the control circuit section invalidates a detection-sensitivity change request of an arbitrary touch sensor of the plurality of the touch sensors.

3. The data input device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit includes:

a memory section that has a table, in which information of configurations of the sensitivities of the plurality of the touch sensors are previously defined in association with magnitudes of the input values of detected information of the input operation, and stores detected information of input operation regarding determination when it is determined that the input operation is performed; and

a data processing section that updates the detection sensitivity configured for any given one of the touch sensors based on the input value of the detected information stored in the memory section, by selecting a value, which corresponds to the magnitude of the input value of the detected information stored in the memory section, from the information regarding the configuration of the sensitivities defined in the table of the memory section.

4. The data input device according to claim 3,

wherein, when the input value of the detected information of the input operation reaches a predetermined magnitude, the data processing section determines that the input operation is performed, and the data processing section outputs output information corresponding to the detected information of the input operation to the electronic device through the control circuit section.

5. The data input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an input-data detecting circuit that converts an analog value, which is detected information of input operation detected by the plurality of the touch sensors, into a digital value and outputs the digital value to the control circuit section,

wherein the control circuit section updates the detection sensitivities configured for the touch sensors according to the magnitude of the digital value.

6. An input control method of a data input device for an electronic device, which includes an operation section having a flat input operation surface and a plurality of capacitive touch sensors to detect an input operation onto the input operation surface;

and a control circuit section that outputs output information corresponding to detected information of the input operation input from the operation section to the electronic device when it is determined that the input operation is performed, the input control method comprising the steps of;

configuring arbitrarily a detection sensitivity of the touch sensors before determining whether the input operation is performed;

determining whether the input operation is performed in response to a magnitude of an input value of the detected information, based on the configured detection sensitivity; and

updating the detection sensitivity configured for one of the touch sensors based on the magnitude of the input value of the input operation onto said one of the touch sensors when it is determined that the input operation onto said one of the touch sensors is performed,

wherein the arbitrarily configuring step involves configuring separately a plurality of detection sensitivities, each of which is independent from the other detection sensitivities, for the plurality of the touch sensors, respectively, based on respective detected input values of each of the touch sensors, and

wherein the updating step involves updating the separately configured detection sensitivity for at least one of the touch sensors according to the magnitude of the input value of the detected information, when it is determined that the input operation is performed based on the separately configured detection sensitivity of the at least one of the touch sensors and the magnitude of the input value of the detected information.

7. The input control method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of:

invalidating a detection-sensitivity change request of an arbitrary touch sensor of the plurality of the touch sensors.

8. The input control method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the input operation is performed when the input value of the detected information reaches a predetermined magnitude; and

outputting output information corresponding to the detected information of the input operation to the electronic device through the control circuit section.

9. The input control method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

converting an analog value, which is detected information of input operation detected by the plurality of the touch sensors, into a digital value and outputting the digital value to the control circuit section, and

wherein the updating step involves updating the detection sensitivity configured for one of the touch sensors according to the magnitude of the digital value.

10. A data input device for an electronic device, comprising:

an operation section having a flat input operation surface and a plurality of capacitive touch sensors to detect a input operation onto the input operation surface; and

a control circuit section that outputs output information corresponding to detected information of the input operation input from the operation section to the electronic device when it is determined that the input operation is performed,

wherein the control circuit section is configured to configure arbitrarily detection sensitivity of the touch sensors before determining whether the input operation is performed,

wherein the control circuit section determines whether the input operation is performed in response to a magnitude of an input value of the detected information, based on the configured detection sensitivity, and

wherein, when it is determined that the input operation onto one of the touch sensors is performed, the control circuit section updates the detection sensitivity configured for said one of the touch sensors based on the magnitude of the input value of the input operation onto said one of the touch sensors,

wherein the control unit includes;

a memory section that has a table, in which information of configurations of the sensitivities of the plurality of the touch sensors are previously defined in association with magnitudes of the input values of detected information of the input operation, and stores detected information of input operation regarding determination when it is determined that the input operation is performed; and

a data processing section that updates the detection sensitivity configured for any given one of the touch sensors based on the input value of the detected information stored in the memory section, by selecting a value, which corresponds to the magnitude of the input value of the detected information stored in the memory section, from the information regarding the configuration of the sensitivities defined in the table of the memory section.

11. The data input device according to claim 10,

wherein the control circuit section invalidates a detection-sensitivity change request of an arbitrary touch sensor of the plurality of the touch sensors.

12. The data input device according to claim 10,

wherein, when the input value of the detected information of the input operation reaches a predetermined magnitude, the data processing section determines that the input operation is performed, and the data processing section outputs output information corresponding to the detected information of the input operation to the electronic device through the control circuit section.

13. The data input device according to claim 10, further comprising:

an input-data detecting circuit that converts an analog value, which is detected information of input operation detected by the plurality of the touch sensors, into a digital value and outputs the digital value to the control circuit section,

wherein the control circuit section updates the detection sensitivities configured for the touch sensors according to the magnitude of the digital value.