Touch sensor system

• US 8,937,609 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2013
• Issued: 01/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yoshida, Shinichi, Morishita, Takahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): GUPTA, PARUL H
• Application Number:
  US13/903,558
• Publication Number:
  US 20130321334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 602 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/174
• 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 3/04186 Touch location disambiguation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• 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

Abstract

A detecting section of a touch sensor system detects a hand placing region in accordance with (i) a strength threshold for determining a strength of an electrostatic capacitance signal in a detection region so as to determine whether or not a touch input is carried out by a finger and (ii) a peripheral threshold which is lower than the strength threshold and is set so as to determine strengths of electrostatic capacitance signals in a plurality of peripheral regions surrounding the detection region.

Claims

1. A touch sensor system comprising:

detecting means for detecting, in accordance with an electrostatic capacitance signal indicative of a change in electrostatic capacitance, a hand placing region indicative of a region in which a hand is placed so as to carry out a touch input with respect to a touch panel which includes a plurality of electrostatic capacitances provided in a matrix pattern;

replacing means for replacing, by a non-value indicative of a state in which no touch input is carried out, a value of an electrostatic capacitance signal which value corresponds to an electrostatic capacitance provided in the hand placing region detected by the detecting means; and

touch input recognizing means for supplying a coordinate value of the touch input to a host device in accordance with (i) the electrostatic capacitance signal whose value has been replaced by the non-value by the replacing means and (ii) an electrostatic capacitance signal corresponding to an electrostatic capacitance provided outside the hand placing region,

the detecting means detecting the hand placing region in accordance with (i) a strength threshold for determining a strength of an electrostatic capacitance signal in a detection region so as to determine whether or not the touch input is carried out by a finger and (ii) a peripheral threshold which is lower than the strength threshold and is set so as to determine strengths of electrostatic capacitance signals in a plurality of peripheral regions surrounding the detection region.

2. The touch sensor system as set forth in claim 1, wherein, in a case where (i) the strength of the electrostatic capacitance signal in the detection region exceeds the strength threshold and (ii) the number of peripheral regions in each of which a strength of an electrostatic capacitance signal exceeds the peripheral threshold exceeds a predetermined area threshold, the detecting means determines that the detection region is the hand placing region.

3. The touch sensor system as set forth in claim 1, wherein an intermediate region is provided between the detection region and the plurality of peripheral regions.

4. The touch sensor system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the detecting means detects the hand placing region in accordance with a pen input threshold for determining whether or not the touch input is carried out by a pen.