Capacitive touch panel and capacitance sensing apparatus and method for the same

• US 8,514,199 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2009
• Issued: 08/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InnoLux Corporation
• Original Assignee: InnoLux Corporation
• Inventors: Yang, Kai-Chieh
• Primary Examiner(s): Haley, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): FRANK, EMILY J
• Application Number:
  US12/617,295
• Publication Number:
  US 20100117986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,377 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04182 Filtering of noise external to the device and not generated by digitiser components
• 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: H03K 17/9622 using a plurality of detectors, e.g. keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/96073 Amplitude comparison

Abstract

A capacitive touch panel and capacitance sensing apparatus and method for the same are disclosed. The capacitive touch panel includes a plurality of electrodes, a multiplexer and a capacitance sensing apparatus. The multiplexer selectively connects one of the electrodes to the capacitance sensing apparatus. The capacitance sensing apparatus includes a reference voltage source and a differential comparator, where the reference voltage source generates a modified reference voltage according to noise on stray capacitance of the capacitive touch panel. In a discharging process, the comparator compares an input voltage at the selected electrode and the modified reference voltage. The capacitance change in the electrode can be precisely detected because the noise is eliminated by differential comparison.

Claims

1. A capacitance sensing apparatus used for a capacitive touch panel and electrically connected to one electrode of the capacitive touch panel through a connection node to measure a capacitance on the electrode, the capacitance sensing apparatus comprising:

a first discharging current source electrically connected the connection node to provide a first discharging current;

a second discharging current source electrically connected the connection node to provide a second discharging current, where the first discharging current is larger than the second discharging current;

a differential comparator comprising a first input end electrically connected to the connection node and a second input end;

a reference voltage source electrically connected to the second input end, wherein the reference voltage source receives a predetermined reference voltage and a DC common voltage of an liquid crystal display to generate a modified reference voltage, wherein the DC common voltage is also electrically connected to the capacitive touch panel;

wherein the differential comparator generates a pulse width modulation signal by comparing the modified reference voltage and an input voltage, which is present at the connection node and resulted from a touch on the capacitive touch panel;

wherein the pulse width modulation signal indicates the capacitance on the electrode.

2. The capacitance sensing apparatus in claim 1, wherein the reference voltage source comprises a plurality of first switching capacitors, a plurality of second switching capacitors, and a storage capacitor, wherein the first switching capacitors and the second switching capacitors are controlled by non-overlapping first timing clock and second timing clock, respectively such that the predetermined reference voltage is superimposed with the DC common voltage to generate the modified reference voltage.

3. The capacitance sensing apparatus in claim 1, wherein the first discharging current source comprises a plurality of thin film transistor pairs in serial connection, whereby the first discharging current has fixed value at the connection node.

4. The capacitance sensing apparatus in claim 1, further comprising a first low pass filter electrically connected between the connection node and the first input end, and a second low pass filter electrically connected between the modified reference voltage and the second input end.

5. The capacitance sensing apparatus in claim 4, wherein each of the first low pass filter and the second low pass filter comprises a plurality of serially-connected resistors and capacitors.

6. A method for measuring capacitance for a capacitive touch panel, the method measuring a capacitance on an electrode of the capacitive touch panel and comprising:

a. charging the electrode through a connection node and then discharging the electrode with a first discharging current;

b. discharging the electrode with a second discharging current, where the first discharging current is larger than the second discharging current;

c. providing a modified reference voltage being a superimposition of a predetermined reference voltage and a DC common voltage of an liquid crystal display, wherein the DC common voltage is electrically connected to the capacitive touch panel;

d. during the discharging of the second discharging current, judging the value of the capacitance by comparing the modified reference voltage and an input voltage present at the connection node.

7. The method in claim 6, wherein the step c further comprises:

providing a plurality of first switching capacitors, a plurality of second switching capacitors, and a storage capacitor;

wherein the first switching capacitors and the second switching capacitors are controlled by non-overlapping first timing clock and second timing clock, respectively, such that the predetermined reference voltage is superimposed with the DC common voltage to generate the modified reference voltage.

8. The method in claim 6, wherein the step d further comprises:

performing low pass filtering for the modified reference voltage and the input voltage.

9. The method in claim 8, wherein the low pass filtering is performed by a plurality of serially-connected resistors and capacitors.

10. The method in claim 6, wherein the step d further comprises:

during the discharging of the second discharging current, generating a plurality of pulse width modulation signals by successively comparing the modified reference voltage and the input voltage; and

calculating the value of the capacitance by averaging the plurality of pulse width modulation signals.

11. A capacitive touch panel comprising:

a plurality of first electrodes in longitudinal direction and having a first number M;

a plurality of second electrodes in transversal direction and having a second number N;

a capacitance sensing apparatus electrically connected a selected electrode at a connection node, wherein the selected electrode is selected from the first electrodes and the second electrodes, the capacitance sensing apparatus comprising;

a first discharging current source electrically connected the connection node to provide a first discharging current;

a second discharging current source electrically connected the connection node to provide a second discharging current, where the first discharging current is larger than the second discharging current;

a differential comparator comprising a first input end electrically connected to the connection node and a second input end;

a reference voltage source electrically connected to the second input end, wherein the reference voltage source receives a predetermined reference voltage and a DC common voltage of an liquid crystal display to generate a modified reference voltage, wherein the DC common voltage is also electrically connected to the capacitive touch panel;

wherein the differential comparator generates a pulse width modulation signal by comparing the modified reference voltage and an input voltage, which is present at the connection node and resulted from a touch on the capacitive touch panel;

wherein the pulse width modulation signal indicates the capacitance on the electrode.

12. The capacitive touch panel in claim 11, further comprising a multiplexer, the multiplexer comprising a plurality of switches corresponding to and electrically connected to the first electrodes and the second electrodes, wherein the multiplexer generate a third number of control signals and the third number is equal to one plus the larger of the first number M and the second number N;

wherein the multiplexer controls the switches by the control signal to select the selected electrode from the first electrodes and the second electrodes, whereby the capacitance sensing apparatus measures the capacitance for the selected electrode.

13. The capacitive touch panel in claim 12, wherein each of the switches comprises four transistors, two transistors being serially connected between the capacitance sensing apparatus and one of the first electrodes and the second electrodes, the other two transistors being parallel connected between a ground and one of the first electrodes and the second electrodes.

14. The capacitive touch panel in claim 13, wherein the control signals comprises one XY control signal and a plurality of switch control signals with a number being the larger of the first number M and the second number N, the XY control signal is electrically connected to each of the switch to select the first electrodes or the second electrodes;

wherein the switch control signals are electrically connected to respective switches to select the selected electrode.

15. The capacitive touch panel in claim 14, wherein M and N are integer larger than one.

16. The capacitive touch panel in claim 11, wherein the reference voltage source comprises a plurality of first switching capacitors, a plurality of second switching capacitors, and a storage capacitor, wherein the first switching capacitors and the second switching capacitors are controlled by non-overlapping first timing clock and second timing clock, respectively, such that the predetermined reference voltage is superimposed with the DC common voltage to generate the modified reference voltage.

17. The capacitive touch panel in claim 11, wherein the first discharging current source comprises a plurality of thin film transistor pairs in serial connection, whereby the first discharging current has fixed value at the connection node.

18. The capacitive touch panel in claim 11, further comprising a first low pass filter electrically connected between the connection node and the first input end, and a second low pass filter electrically connected between the modified reference voltage and the second input end.

19. An image displaying system comprising:

a display module having a capacitive touch panel in comprising;

a plurality of first electrodes in longitudinal direction and having a first number M;

a plurality of second electrodes in transversal direction and having a second number N;

a capacitance sensing apparatus electrically connected a selected electrode at a connection node, wherein the selected electrode is selected from the first electrodes and the second electrodes, the capacitance sensing apparatus comprising;

a first discharging current source electrically connected the connection node to provide a first discharging current;

a second discharging current source electrically connected the connection node to provide a second discharging current, where the first discharging current is larger than the second discharging current;

a differential comparator comprising a first input end electrically connected to the connection node and a second input end;

a reference voltage source electrically connected to the second input end, wherein the reference voltage source receives a predetermined reference voltage and a DC common voltage of an liquid crystal display to generate a modified reference voltage, wherein the DC common voltage is also electrically connected to the capacitive touch panel;

wherein the differential comparator generates a pulse width modulation signal by comparing the modified reference voltage and an input voltage, which is present at the connection node and resulted from a touch on the capacitive touch panel;

wherein the pulse width modulation signal indicates the capacitance on the electrode, and

an input module electrically connected to the display module for sending an input signal to the display module, whereby the display module displays an image for the input signal.

20. The image displaying system in claim 19, wherein the image displaying system is personal digital assistant (PDA), a display, a notebook computer, a digital camera, a car display, a panel computer, a television, a global positioning system (GPS), an avionics display, a digital photo frame, a portable DVD player or a mobile phone.