Method of driving touch panel, capacitance-type touch panel, and display apparatus with detection function

• US 9,977,535 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2017
• Issued: 05/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Japan Display Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Japan Display Incorporated
• Inventors: Noguchi, Kouji, Harada, Tsutomu, Kida, Yoshitoshi, Nakanishi, Takayuki, Ishizaki, Koji, Takeuchi, Takeya
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Sanghyuk
• Application Number:
  US15/468,114
• Publication Number:
  US 20170315660A1
• Time in Patent Office: 424 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• 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 3/04184 Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally
• 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 2310/06 Details of flat display driving waveforms
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3614 Control of polarity reversal in general
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3696 Generation of voltages supplied to electrode drivers

Abstract

A capacitance-type touch panel, allowing disturbance noise and touch detection time to be reduced and having a simple configuration, is provided. The capacitance-type touch panel including: a plurality of drive electrodes each having a strip shape; a drive control circuit performing control such that a drive signal for touch detection is selectively applied to the drive electrodes; a plurality of touch detection electrodes arranged to intersect with the drive electrodes in such a manner that capacitance is formed in each intersecting part, and each outputting a detection signal in synchronization with the drive signal; and a detection circuit detecting an external proximity object based on the detection signal. The drive control circuit controls application of the drive signal in such a manner that the detection signal is a polarity-alternating signal including a positive-negative asymmetrical signal component which is due to presence of the external proximity object.

Claims

1. A capacitance-type touch panel comprising:

a plurality of drive electrodes;

a drive control circuit which selectively applies a drive signal for touch detection to the drive electrodes;

a plurality of touch detection electrodes which form capacitance with the drive electrodes, each of the touch detection electrodes outputting a detection signal in synchronization with the drive signal; and

a detection circuit which detects an external proximity object based on the detection signals, wherein the drive control circuit applies the drive signal such that a positive drive signal is selectively applied to a first one of the drive electrodes having a first width that is a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to a first group, in a first period wherein a negative drive signal is applied to a second group of drive electrodes in a second period different from the first period, the second group being divided into discretely arranged sub groups and each of the sub groups having a second width that is a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to each of the sub groups of the second group,

wherein the first width is greater than the second width, and wherein the detection circuit detects the external proximity object based on a shift of the time-average level of the detection signal both in the first period and the second period with respect to a center voltage of the detection signal.

2. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the drive signal is a signal having a periodical waveform including a period of a first voltage and a period of second voltage different from the first voltage, wherein the first group of the drive electrodes and the second group of the drive electrodes are selected from the plurality of drive electrodes in such a manner that a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to the first group of drive electrodes within a base width corresponding to size of the external proximity object is different from a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to the second group at any position in a region where the drive electrodes are arranged.

3. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the first group of drive electrodes is a single strip region which shifts.

4. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein a total width of all drive electrodes belonging to the first group is equal to a total width of all drive electrodes belonging to the second group.

5. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the drive signal is a signal having a periodical waveform including a period of a first voltage and a period of second voltage different from the first voltage, and the drive electrodes form a single strip region, and the drive signal is applied to the first group of drive electrodes and that the second voltage is not applied to any drive electrode.

6. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the detection circuit has an analog filter performing high-band cutoff for cutting frequencies equal to or higher than a predetermined frequency.

7. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the positive drive signal is selectively applied to predetermined regions of the display touch panel in the first period, and the negative drive signal is applied to predetermined regions of the display touch panel in the second period such that there is a difference in surface area of the drive electrodes receiving the positive and negative drive signals for contact detection thereby causing a time-average level of the detection signal both in the first period and the second period to be shifted with respect to a center voltage of the detection signal when a portion of the touch panel is contacted or approached due to a difference in capacitance between the first period and the second period.

8. A display apparatus with a touch detection function comprising:

a pixel substrate;

an opposite substrate opposed to the pixel substrate;

a plurality of pixel electrodes included in the pixel substrate;

a plurality of drive electrodes included in the pixel substrate;

a drive control circuit selectively applying a drive signal for touch detection to the drive electrodes, the drive signal for touch detection also serving as a drive signal for driving the display and a plurality of touch detection electrodes arranged to form capacitance with the drive electrodes, each outputting a detection signal in synchronization with the drive signal;

a detection circuit detecting an external proximity object based on the detection signal; and

a display section displaying an image based on an image signal, wherein the drive control circuit controls application of the drive signal such that a positive drive signal is selectively applied to display a first group of drive electrodes having a first width that is a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to a first group, in a first period, wherein a negative drive signal is applied to display a second group of drive electrodes in a second period different from the first period, the second group being divided into discretely arranged sub groups, and each of the sub groups having a second width that is a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to each of the sub groups of the second group;

wherein the first width is greater than the second width and wherein the detection circuit detects the external proximity object based on a shift of the time-average level of the detection signal both in the first period and the second period with respect to the a center voltage of the detection signal.

9. The display apparatus with a touch detection function according to claim 8, wherein the display apparatus is a liquid crystal display.

10. The display apparatus with a touch detection function according to claim 9, wherein the display drive signal includes a pixel signal based on the image signal and a common drive signal, the display section performs display operation by means of polarity-inversion driving where a polarity of an applied voltage is defined by the pixel signal and the common drive signal and is applied to each of the liquid crystal elements time-divisionally inverted, and the drive signal for touch detection also serves as the common drive signal.

11. The display apparatus with a touch detection function according to claim 8, wherein a positive-negative asymmetric variation appearing in the detection signal associated with drive of the display section is compensated based on the image signal.

12. The display apparatus with a touch detection function according to claim 8, wherein the drive signal is a signal having a periodical waveform including a period of a first voltage and a period of second voltage different from the first voltage, and the drive control circuit applies the drive signal to a group of drive electrodes forming a strip region, and controls application of the drive signal such that the first voltage of the drive signal is applied to the group of drive electrodes, and a second voltage is not applied to any drive electrode.

13. The display apparatus with a touch detection function according to claim 8, wherein

the detection circuit performs compensation for a variation due to display noise through eliminating a positive-negative asymmetric display noise component from the detection signal based on the image signal.

14. The capacitance-type touch panel according to claim 8, wherein the positive drive signal is selectively applied to predetermined regions of the display in the first period, and the negative drive signal is applied to predetermined regions of the display in the second period different from the first period so that there is a difference in surface area of the drive electrodes receiving the positive and negative drive signals for contact detection thereby causing a time-average level of the detection signal both in the first period and the second period to be shifted with respect to a center voltage of the detection signal when a portion of the display is contacted or approached due to a difference in capacitance between the first period and the second period.

15. A method of driving a touch panel, comprising steps of:

selectively applying a drive signal for touch detection to a plurality of drive electrodes;

outputting a detection signal in synchronization with the drive signal from each of a plurality of touch detection electrodes for an external proximity object, the touch detection electrodes being arranged to form capacitance with the drive electrodes;

applying the detection signal such that a positive drive signal is a drive signal that is selectively applied to a first group of drive electrodes having a first width that is a total width of drive electrodes belonging to the first group, in a first period and a negative drive signal is applied to a predetermined second group of drive electrodes in a second period that is different from the first period, the second group being divided into discretely arranged sub groups, each of the sub groups having a second width that is a total width of the drive electrodes belonging to each of the sub groups of the second group; and

detecting the external proximity object based a shift of the time-average level of the detection signal both in the first period and the second period with respect to the center voltage of the detection signal.