Touch detection device, display device with touch detection function, and electronic apparatus

• US 9,760,220 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Japan Display Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Japan Display Incorporated
• Inventors: Tanaka, Toshihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Adams, Carl
• Application Number:
  US14/500,083
• Publication Number:
  US 20150091861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• 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 3/04166 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 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• 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 2310/0264 Details of driving circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3696 Generation of voltages supplied to electrode drivers

Abstract

According to an aspect, a touch detection device, includes drive electrodes arranged in parallel in a predetermined direction; touch detection electrodes arranged in parallel in a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction; an operation drive unit applying a touch detection drive signal to the drive electrodes; and a touch detection unit. The drive electrodes are divided into a plurality of drive signal application blocks. Each of the drive signal application blocks has a drive block overlapped portion on which an arrangement order of the drive electrodes is changed such that an area of at least one of the drive electrodes at an end side in the predetermined direction is swapped for an area of at least one of the drive electrodes in an adjacent drive signal application block at an end side in the predetermined direction.

Claims

1. A touch detection device comprising:

a plurality of drive electrodes arranged in parallel in a predetermined direction;

a plurality of touch detection electrodes arranged in parallel in a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction and forming electrostatic capacitances between the touch detection electrodes and the drive electrodes;

an operation drive unit applying a touch detection drive signal to the drive electrodes in a touch detection operation of detecting whether an external object makes contact with or is in proximity to the touch detection electrodes; and

a touch detection unit detecting a position of the external object that makes contact with or is in proximity to the touch detection electrodes based on touch detection signals detected from the touch detection electrodes in the touch detection operation, wherein

the drive electrodes are divided into a plurality of drive signal application blocks,

each of the drive signal application blocks contains equal to or more than three drive electrodes that are electrically connected and has a drive block overlapped portion on which an arrangement order of the drive electrodes is changed such that an area of at least one of the drive electrodes at an end side in the predetermined direction is swapped for an area of at least one of the drive electrodes in an adjacent drive signal application block at an end side in the predetermined direction, and

the operation drive unit is configured to;

switch an electric connection state among the respective drive electrodes between a first mode and a second mode;

executes, in the first mode when the touch detection unit detects a touch on the touch detection electrodes of a first detection number that is equal or more than a predetermined number, a touch detection for each drive signal application block by electrically connecting the drive electrodes constituting the same drive signal application blocks and sequentially applying the touch detection drive signal to each of the drive signal application blocks; and

executes, in the second mode when the touch detection unit detects a touch on the touch detection electrodes of a second detection number that is less than the predetermined number, a touch detection for one or more drive electrodes by changing the number of the drive electrodes that are connected together in at least one of the drive signal application blocks according to the second detection number.

2. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein the numbers of drive electrodes constituting the respective drive signal application blocks are the same, and drive signal application blocks other than drive signal application blocks arranged at end sides in the predetermined direction out of the drive signal application blocks have a uniform electrode pattern of the drive electrodes that are contained in the respective drive signal application blocks.

3. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein drive electrodes other than drive electrodes on the drive block overlapped portion in each of the drive signal application blocks are the drive electrodes adjacent in the predetermined direction.

4. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein the drive block overlapped portion includes drive electrodes adjacent to each other in the predetermined direction that are contained in the same drive signal application block.

5. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein the drive electrodes constituting the drive signal application blocks are electrically connected outside the operation drive unit.

6. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein

the touch detection electrodes are divided into a plurality of touch detection signal detection blocks,

each of the touch detection signal detection blocks contains equal to or more than three touch detection electrodes that are electrically connected and has a detection block overlapped portion on which an arrangement order of the drive electrodes is changed such that an area of at least one of the touch detection electrodes at an end side in the intersecting direction is swapped for an area at least one of the drive electrodes in an adjacent touch detection signal detection block at an end side in the intersecting direction, and

the touch detection unit detects the touch detection signal on each of the touch detection signal detection blocks.

7. The touch detection device according to claim 6, wherein the numbers of touch detection electrodes constituting the respective touch detection signal detection blocks are the same, and touch detection signal detection blocks other than touch detection signal detection blocks at end sides in the intersecting direction have a uniform electrode pattern of the touch detection electrodes that are contained in the respective touch detection signal detection blocks.

8. The touch detection device according to claim 6, wherein touch detection electrodes other than touch detection electrodes on the detection block overlapped portion in each of the touch detection signal detection blocks are touch detection electrodes adjacent in the intersecting direction.

9. The touch detection device according to claim 6, wherein the detection block overlapped portion includes the touch detection electrodes adjacent to each other in the intersecting direction that are contained in the same touch detection signal detection block.

10. The touch detection device according to claim 6, wherein the touch detection unit has a switching function of arbitrarily switching the electric connection state among the touch detection electrodes, and the switching function electrically connects the touch detection electrodes constituting the same touch detection signal detection blocks.

11. The touch detection device according to claim 10, wherein the touch detection unit changes at least one of the number of touch detection electrodes constituting each of the touch detection signal detection blocks and an electrode pattern of the touch detection electrodes based on the external object detected.

12. The touch detection device according to claim 6, wherein the touch detection electrodes constituting the touch detection signal detection blocks are electrically connected outside the touch detection unit.

13. The touch detection device according to claim 6, wherein each of the touch detection signal detection blocks contains four touch detection electrodes.

14. A display device with a touch detection function comprising:

the touch detection device according to claim 1;

a plurality of pixel electrodes to which a pixel signal for causing pixels to execute a display operation is applied; and

a display drive unit that applies the pixel signal to the pixel electrodes and executes the display operation, wherein

the operation drive unit applies a display drive signal synchronized with the pixel signal to the drive electrodes in the display operation.

15. The display device with the touch detection function according to claim 14, wherein the drive electrodes include a plurality of first drive electrodes to which the display drive signal is applied in the display operation and a plurality of second drive electrodes to which the touch detection drive signal is applied in the touch detection operation.

16. The display device with the touch detection function according to claim 14, further comprising a controller controlling the display drive unit and the operation drive unit, wherein

the controller performs control for alternately repeating a display operation period in which the display operation is executed and a touch detection period in which the touch detection operation is executed.

17. An electronic apparatus comprising:

the display device with the touch detection function according to claim 14; and

a control device executing processing corresponding to an operation detected by the display device with the touch detection function and supplying a video image signal to the display device with the touch detection function.

18. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein

the operation drive unit is configured to executes, in the second mode, the touch detection for the respective drive electrode.

19. The touch detection device according to claim 1, wherein the operation drive unit is configured to:

switch an electric connection state among the respective drive electrodes between the first mode when the touch detection unit detects a touch on the touch detection electrodes of a first detection number that is equal or more than a predetermined number and the second mode when the touch detection unit detects a touch on the touch detection electrodes of a second detection number that is less than the predetermined number.

20. The touch detection device according to claim 19, wherein the operation drive unit is configured to:

execute, in the second mode, the touch detection for one or more drive electrodes by reducing the number of the drive electrodes that are connected together in at least one of the drive signal application blocks according to the second detection number and sequentially applying the touch detection drive signal to each of the drive signal application blocks.