touch screen

Abstract

A touch screen includes a touch panel having a plurality of touch blocks, and a knob disposed on a top surface of the touch panel, the knob being touch sensitive and rotatable. An area not covered by the knob is defined as a first area, an area covered by the knob is defined as a second area, and a touch block belonging to both the first area and the second area is defined as an overlapping block. A sensing signal associated with the overlapping block is suppressed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a touch screen, and more particularly to a touch screen with a knob. Background Technology

[0002] Touchscreens are widely used in in-vehicle applications as human-machine interfaces to assist drivers. Touchscreen panels, serving as input interfaces for in-vehicle devices, are gradually replacing traditional in-vehicle input interfaces such as rotary controllers, steering wheel controllers, and touchpads.

[0003] Despite their diversity and widespread availability, touchscreens inherently require visual focus, which can lead to adverse consequences for driving operations and vehicle control, thus increasing risks to drivers and road users. To mitigate this, traditional in-vehicle input devices, such as rotary controllers, can be used. However, improved touchscreens are susceptible to interference and inaccuracies, especially those controlled by single-chip drivers (i.e., Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI)).

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need to propose a novel mechanism to overcome the shortcomings of traditional in-vehicle touch screens. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the above, one of the objectives of this invention is to provide a touch screen with a knob that effectively reduces interference caused by touch-related sensing signals originating from outside the knob.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a touch screen includes a touch panel and a knob. The touch panel includes multiple touch areas. The knob is located on the top surface of the touch panel and is touch-sensitive and rotatable. The area not covered by the knob is defined as a first area, the area covered by the knob is defined as a second area, and the touch area belonging to both the first and second areas is defined as an overlapping area. Sensing signals associated with the overlapping area are suppressed. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 This diagram shows a side view of a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] Figure 2A and Figure 2B The following are side view illustrations of the touch screen.

[0009] Figure 3 A top view of a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Top-down views of the touchscreen are shown below.

[0011] Figure 5A A side view illustration of an example scenario showing a touch screen.

[0012] Figure 5B show Figure 5A A simplified diagram of the knob's touch, the three touch zones, and the associated sensing signals.

[0013] The reference numerals in the attached figures are explained as follows:

[0014] 100: Touchscreen

[0015] 11: Touch panel

[0016] 111: Touch Block

[0017] 112: Overlapping Blocks

[0018] 12: Knob

[0019] 13: Fingers

[0020] 13A: Finger

[0021] 13B: Finger

[0022] 131: Touch

[0023] 131A: Effective Contact

[0024] d: distance

[0025] a: angle Detailed Implementation

[0026] Figure 1 This is a side view of a touch screen 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch screen 100 is applicable to (but not limited to) in-vehicle applications as a human-machine interface to assist the driver.

[0027] The touch screen 100 may include a touch panel 11 (as an input interface) for sensing user touch. Although not specifically shown in the diagram, a display panel (not shown) may operate in conjunction with the touch panel 11 as an output interface to form the touch screen 100. In this embodiment, the touch panel 11 and the corresponding display panel are controlled by a single-chip driver, that is, touch and display driver integration (TDDI).

[0028] The touch panel 11 may include multiple touch areas (or sensors, electrodes, pixels) that can individually sense the user's touch to determine the touch coordinates. The touch screen 100 in this embodiment may include a knob 12 located on the top surface of the touch panel 11; this knob is touch-sensitive and rotatable / pushable. In one embodiment, the knob 12 can be used in a vehicle to adjust volume / temperature, for example, by rotating the knob 12 clockwise or counterclockwise, or by pressing the knob 12 to select a function.

[0029] Figure 2A A side view of the touchscreen 100 is shown, in which a knob 12 is touched by a finger 13. The touch position can be identified by determining the distance d between the central axis of the knob 12 and the touch. Figure 2B Another side view of the touch screen 100 is shown, in which the knob 12 is touched by the finger 13. The touch position can be identified by determining the angle α between the central axis of the knob 12 and the line of contact (which passes through the central line of the finger 13).

[0030] Figure 3 This is a top view of a touch screen 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, the area not covered by knob 12 is defined as the first area, and the area covered by knob 12 is defined as the second area.

[0031] Figure 4A A top-down view of the touchscreen 100. Figure 4A The display also shows a portion of the touch area 111 of the touch panel 11 and the (substantial) touch 131 of the knob 12. In this embodiment, the touch area 111 that belongs to both the first and second regions is defined as the overlapping area 112 (as shown by the diagonal line). In other words, the touch area 111 covered by the edge of the knob 12 is determined to be the overlapping area 112.

[0032] According to one feature of this embodiment, the sensing signal associated with the overlapping block 112 is suppressed (or de-emphasized). In this embodiment, the sensing signal associated with the overlapping block 112 is suppressed by weighting. For example, the weight of the sensing signal associated with the overlapping block 112 is less than the weight of the touch area 111 within the second region (or only within the second region). In a preferred embodiment, the weight of the sensing signal associated with the overlapping block 112 is between 0 and 50%, and the weight of the sensing signal associated with the touch area 111 within the second region (or only within the second region) is greater than 100%. It is worth noting that, depending on some specific applications, the weight of the sensing signal associated with the touch area 111 within the first region (or only within the first region) may be between 0 and 100%.

[0033] In one embodiment, suppressing the sensing signals associated with the overlapping block 112 (and weighting the sensing signals associated with other touch blocks 111) can be performed by a weighting table, which acts as a (digital) weighted filter to suppress the sensing signals associated with the overlapping block 112.

[0034] like Figure 4A As shown, the (actual) touch 131 occupies the adjacent overlapping block 112. Because the sensing signal associated with the overlapping block 112 is suppressed, a situation like... Figure 4B The valid touch 131A shown does not occupy the adjacent overlapping block 112.

[0035] Figure 5A This is a side view of an example scenario showing the touch screen 100, in which finger 13A touches the knob 12 and another finger 13B touches the touch panel 11 near the knob 12. Figure 5B show Figure 5A A simplified schematic diagram of the touch 131 on the knob 12, the three touch blocks 111, and the associated sensing signals A to C. When determining the touch position (of finger 13A), the sensing signal associated with touch 131 is affected by the sensing signal B associated with overlapping block 112 (i.e., touch block B), where the sensing signal associated with overlapping block 112 is provided jointly by finger 13A and finger 13B. In other words, the sensing signal associated with finger 13A cannot be distinguished from the sensing signal associated with finger 13B. According to the above embodiment, the sensing signal B associated with overlapping block 112 is suppressed, for example, by using a lower weight. This significantly reduces interference and allows the sensing signal associated with finger 13A to be distinguished from the sensing signal associated with finger 13B.

[0036] like Figure 5B As shown, when the overlapping region 112 is suppressed, the sensory signal associated with touch 131 (of finger 13A) is also reduced. Therefore, in one embodiment, this can be compensated for by normalization. In this context, the second region (i.e., only belonging to the second region, such as...) Figure 3 The sensing signals associated with the touch block 111 (shown) can be fully normalized by applying a gain (the value of which can be based on the peak / maximum signal level). In one embodiment, the gain can be obtained based on the peak signal level and its adjacent (e.g., eight adjacent) signal levels.

[0037] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the claims of the present invention; any equivalent changes or modifications made without departing from the spirit disclosed in the invention should be included in the following claims.

Claims

1. A touch screen, comprising: A touch panel containing multiple touch areas; and A knob is located on the top surface of the touch panel. This knob is touch-sensitive and rotatable. The area not covered by the knob is defined as the first area, the area covered by the knob is defined as the second area, and the touch block that belongs to both the first area and the second area is defined as the overlapping block. The sensing signals associated with the overlapping block are suppressed. The sensing signals associated with the overlapping area are suppressed by weighting, wherein the weight of the sensing signals associated with the overlapping area is less than the weight of the sensing signals associated with the touch area in the second region. The sensing signals related to the touch area within the second region are compensated.

2. The touch screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch screen is controlled by a single-chip driver.

3. The touch screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch screen is controlled by a touch and display driver integrated driver.

4. The touch screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein the knob is pressable.

5. The touch screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch position of the knob is identified by determining the distance between the central axis of the knob and the touch.

6. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the touch position of the knob is identified by determining the angle between the central axis of the knob and the through line of touch.

7. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the weighting is performed by means of a weight table.

8. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the weight of the sensing signal associated with the overlapping area is between 0 and 50%.

9. The touch screen as claimed in claim 1, wherein the weight of the sensing signal associated with the touch block in the second region is greater than 100%.

10. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the weight of the sensing signal associated with the touch block in the first region is between 0 and 100%.

11. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the sensing signals associated with the touch blocks in the second region are compensated by normalization.

12. The touch screen of claim 11, wherein all sensing signals related to the touch block in the second region are given amplification for normalization.

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