Knob on touch screen and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a knob and a control method thereof, and the knob is located on a touch screen and comprises a rotating wheel, a common gasket, at least one sensing gasket, a plurality of connectors and a conductive ring. The rotating wheel is attached to the touch screen. The common pad is disposed on the touch screen. The at least one sensing pad is disposed on the touch screen. Each of the plurality of connectors is coupled between the rotating wheel and one of the at least one sensing pad and the common pad for controlling whether each of the at least one sensing pad is coupled to the common pad through the rotating wheel according to an operation of the knob. The conducting ring is arranged on the surface of the rotating wheel and used for detecting a touch object.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a knob sensing technology, and in particular to a knob sensing technology that can be used for a knob on a touch screen. Background Art

[0002] Touch functions are becoming increasingly popular in the vehicle's central information display (CID) system. When the car's environmental settings (such as air conditioning temperature and car audio volume) need to be adjusted, the driver must pay more attention to the touch position and the related setting values ​​displayed on the screen, thus affecting driving safety.

[0003] To improve driving safety, a knob on a touch display can be used in a central information display system, which is a physical knob set on the touch screen, which can communicate with the sensor circuit of the touch screen. Therefore, the driver can easily adjust the setting by controlling the knob without being distracted by looking at the displayed value.

[0004] However, in the prior art, the knob does not have a finger detection function. Unless rotation or pressing is detected, the sensing circuit cannot know whether the user is operating the knob. In addition, the conductor voltage in the knob is provided by the touch sensing unit through coupling rather than actual short circuit. Therefore, the signal amount used for knob sensing may be insufficient, resulting in reduced reliability and efficiency of the system. Summary of the invention

[0005] Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a new type of knob on a touch screen and a related control method thereof to solve the above problems.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention discloses a knob, which is located on a touch screen. The knob includes a rotating wheel, a common pad, at least one sensing pad, a plurality of connectors and a conductive ring. The rotating wheel is mounted on the touch screen. The common pad is disposed on the touch screen. The at least one sensing pad is disposed on the touch screen. Each of the plurality of connectors is coupled between the rotating wheel and a pad of the at least one sensing pad and the common pad, and is used to control whether each of the at least one sensing pad is coupled to the common pad through the rotating wheel according to an operation of the knob. The conductive ring is disposed on the surface of the rotating wheel and is used to detect a touch object.

[0007] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling a knob on a touch screen. The knob has a common pad corresponding to a plurality of touch sensing units on the touch screen. The method comprises the following steps: outputting a touch driving signal to the plurality of touch sensing units to detect a touch object on the knob; and selectively outputting the touch driving signal or a reference voltage to the plurality of touch sensing units to detect an operation of the knob. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a knob according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] Figure 2 A side view of the knob and touch screen is shown.

[0010] Figure 3 A side view of the knob and touch screen is shown when the knob is pressed.

[0011] Figure 4 A side view of a knob disposed on another touch screen is shown.

[0012] Figure 5 The operation of detecting a touch object on the knob is shown.

[0013] Figure 6 The operation of the rotation detection of the knob is shown.

[0014] Figure 7 The operation of the knob press detection is shown.

[0015] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a knob according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Fig. 9 A side view of the knob and touch screen is shown.

[0017] Fig.10 A side view of the knob and touch screen is shown when the knob is pressed.

[0018] Fig.11 The operation of detecting a touch object on the knob is shown.

[0019] Fig.12 The operation of the rotation detection of the knob is shown.

[0020] Fig.13 The operation of the knob press detection is shown.

[0021] Fig.14 The diagram is a schematic diagram of a knob on a touch screen scanning in a normal scanning sequence.

[0022] Fig.15A schematic diagram of a knob on a touch screen being scanned in a knob scanning sequence.

[0023] Figures 16 to 18 It shows that the operation of the knob and the touch screen switches between the normal scanning timing and the knob scanning timing.

[0024] Fig.19 The figure is a flow chart of a control process according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Fig. 20 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Fig.21 A configuration of a gasket on a knob for avoiding noise according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0027] Fig. 22 Another configuration of the gasket on the knob for avoiding noise according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0028] The reference numerals are described as follows:

[0029] 10, 80, 140, 202, 210, 220 knobs

[0030] 100, 400, 800, 1400, 204 touch screen

[0031] A, B, C sensing pads

[0032] PRE Press Gasket

[0033] COM common gasket

[0034] 102, 802 rotating wheel

[0035] 104, 804 conductive ring

[0036] 112, 812 conductive area

[0037] 114, 814 insulation area

[0038] C_A, C_B, C_COM, C_PRE, C_A1, connector

[0039] C_A2, C_B1, C_B2, C_C1, C_C2

[0040] 120, 820 fingers

[0041] DP display period

[0042] TP1~TP4 touch period

[0043] ND Noise Detection

[0044] ST Self-Test

[0045] KP knob period

[0046] DIFF touch sensing signal

[0047] N1, N2 thresholds

[0048] DMY dummy time slot

[0049] 190 Control Flow

[0050] 1902~1904 Step 200 Control circuit

[0051] 2002 Output Driver

[0052] 2004Sensor Circuit

[0053] 2006 processor DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a knob 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The knob 10 may be a physical knob disposed on a touch screen 100. The touch screen 100 includes a touch sensing unit array, wherein: Figure 1 Each square in the figure may represent a touch sensing unit (or a touch sensing electrode), which may be used as a unit for performing touch sensing. The knob 10 includes two sensing pads A and B, a pressing pad PRE, and a common pad COM. Each pad may be coupled to the conductive material in the knob 10 through a connector, and the connector may include a switching component or utilize a switching mechanism to control the corresponding pad to be coupled to the conductive material. According to the connection method, the sensing pads A and B may be coupled or not coupled to the common pad COM according to the rotation state of the knob 10, and the pressing pad PRE may be coupled or not coupled to the common pad COM according to the pressing operation performed on the knob 10, thereby realizing the pressing and rotating functions of the knob 10.

[0055] The sensing pads A and B, the pressing pad PRE and the common pad COM are included in the cylinder of the knob 10 and are disposed on the touch screen 100 carrying the knob 10. Regardless of the state of the knob 10, each pad can be fixed on the cover glass of the touch screen 100 to be disposed above one or more touch sensing units of the touch screen 100. For example, the positions of these pads do not change due to the rotation of the knob 10. More specifically, the rotation of the knob 10 will change the connection relationship between these pads to achieve the operation of the knob 10, but the pads are still located in a fixed position.

[0056] Figure 1A top view of an exemplary arrangement of the gasket included in the knob 10 is shown, and the knob 10 is in the shape of a hollow cylinder and is composed of a peripheral knob body and a hollow area. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the knob may also have a solid structure without holes and / or have any other shape. In one embodiment, the touch screen 100 carrying the knob 10 may be a touch screen of the vehicle's central information display (Center Information Display, CID) system, but is not limited to this.

[0057] Figure 2 1 shows a side view of the knob 10 and the touch screen 100. Figure 2 As shown, the sensing pads A and B, the pressing pad PRE and the common pad COM are disposed on the glass cover of the touch screen 100, and therefore are not electrically connected to the touch sensing unit below. Since the pads and the touch sensing unit below them are close to each other but not electrically connected, the signals can be coupled through the parasitic capacitance between the two to implement various knob sensing operations.

[0058] The knob 10 further includes a rotating wheel 102, a conductive ring 104, and a plurality of connectors. The rotating wheel 102 can be used to form the rotating portion of the knob 10, which can be mounted on the touch screen 100. The conductive ring 104 can be disposed on the surface of the rotating wheel 102.

[0059] Each connector of the knob 10 is coupled between the rotating wheel 102 and a corresponding pad. More specifically, the connector C_A is coupled between the sensing pad A and the rotating wheel 102, the connector C_B is coupled between the sensing pad B and the rotating wheel 102, the connector C_COM is coupled between the common pad COM and the rotating wheel 102, and the connector C_PRE is coupled between the pressing pad PRE and the rotating wheel 102. Each connector may be a port, a wire, or a pogo pin, which may be made of a conductive material to provide an electrical connection between the rotating wheel 102 and the corresponding pad.

[0060] The rotating wheel 102 includes a conductive area 112 and an insulating area 114. The conductive area 112 and the insulating area 114 can be arranged on the rotating wheel 102 in an appropriate manner so that the connector can be selectively connected to the conductive area 112 or the insulating area 114 according to the operation of the knob 10. For example, regardless of the rotation state of the knob 10, the connector C_COM for the common pad COM is always connected to the conductive area 112. The connectors C_A and C_B for the sensing pads A and B can be connected to the conductive area 112 or the insulating area 114 respectively. If the connector C_A or C_B is connected to the conductive area 112, the corresponding sensing pad A or B will be electrically connected to the common pad COM (i.e., short-circuited to each other); if the connector C_A or C_B is connected to the insulating area 114, the corresponding sensing pad A or B will be electrically separated from the common pad COM.

[0061] In one embodiment, the operation of the knob 10 is a rotation operation. By rotating the knob 10, it can be determined that the knob 10 is in one of four different rotation states according to the connection relationship between the sensing pads A and B and the common pad COM, which can be achieved by an appropriate structural design inside the knob 10. In the first rotation state, the sensing pads A and B are electrically connected to the common pad COM at the same time. When the knob 10 is rotated to the second rotation state, the connection between the sensing pad A and the common pad COM is disconnected, and the connection between the sensing pad B and the common pad COM is maintained. When the knob 10 is rotated to the third rotation state, the connection between the sensing pad B and the common pad COM is disconnected, and the connection between the sensing pad A and the common pad COM is maintained. In the fourth rotation state, the connection between the sensing pads A and B and the common pad COM is disconnected at the same time. Figure 2 The knob 10 is shown in a third rotation state, wherein the connector C_A for sensing pad A is connected to the conductive region 112 , and the connector C_B for sensing pad B is connected to the insulating region 114 .

[0062] The rotating wheel 102 can also be used to implement the pressing operation of the knob 10, and the pressing pad PRE can be used to detect the pressing operation. Figure 2 The knob 10 is not pressed, so the connector C_PRE for the pressing pad PRE is not connected to the rotating wheel 102, so that the pressing pad PRE is not electrically connected to the common pad COM. Only when the knob 10 is pressed, the connector C_PRE will couple the pressing pad PRE to the rotating wheel 102. For example, Figure 3 As shown, when the knob 10 is pressed, the rotating wheel 102 is pushed to a lower position to contact the top of the connector C_PRE. In this case, the pressing pad PRE and the common pad COM are electrically connected, and the relevant control circuit can determine whether the knob 10 is pressed based on this.

[0063] The conductive ring 104 can be disposed on the surface of the rotating wheel 102 and physically connected to the rotating wheel 102 to detect a touch object, which can be a hand or finger of a user. Therefore, the conductive ring 104 is always electrically connected to the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102. Since the connector C_COM for the common pad COM is continuously turned on, the conductive ring 104 can be further electrically connected to the common pad COM. The user (such as a car driver) can operate the knob 10 with gloves or bare hands, and the hand or finger that touches the conductive ring 104 can be regarded as a touch object.

[0064] The conductive ring 104 may have any shape. Generally speaking, the conductive ring 104 should be provided on a surface area of ​​the knob 10 that can be touched by a touch object to perform knob operation, so that when the user operates the knob 10, the touch object (such as the user's finger) can contact the conductive ring 104. In one embodiment, the conductive ring 104 may cover the upper surface of the knob 10, or may extend to the outside of the knob 10, so as to ensure that during the operation of the knob 10, any gesture of the touch object can contact the conductive ring 104.

[0065] In one embodiment, the conductive ring 104 can receive a touch sensing signal from a touch object that is in contact with or close to the conductive ring 104. Figure 2 or Figure 3 As shown, if the user operates the knob 10 without wearing gloves, the user's finger 120 may contact the conductive ring 104, so that the conductor of the finger 120 and the common pad COM are short-circuited through the conductive ring 104 and the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102. In this case, the voltage of the finger 120 can be supplied to the common pad COM as a touch sensing signal, thereby generating a capacitance change in the touch sensing unit under the knob 10. By scanning the touch sensing unit, the control circuit can determine whether there is a touch object contacting the knob 10 and the related operations performed on the knob 10.

[0066] If the user operates the knob 10 while wearing gloves, the user's finger 120 may be close to the knob 10 but not actually touching the conductive ring 104. In this case, the touch sensing signal of the finger 120 can still be coupled to the common pad COM through the conductive ring 104 and the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102. The control circuit thus uses the touch sensing signal from the finger 120 to detect the operation of the knob 10. In one embodiment, the touch sensing signal of the finger 120 can be combined with the touch driving signal provided by the touch sensing unit to increase the signal amount and improve the reliability of the knob sensing. In this case, the problem of insufficient signal amount for knob sensing in the prior art can be improved or solved.

[0067] like Figure 2 or Figure 3As shown, the knob 10 is disposed on a touch screen 100, and the touch screen 100 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), which includes a glass cover, an optical clear adhesive (OCA) layer, a polarizer, a color filter glass, and a thin film transistor (TFT) glass, wherein the touch sensing unit array may be disposed on the thin film transistor glass. Those skilled in the art should be quite familiar with the structure of liquid crystal display screens, so the detailed implementation of the touch screen 100 is omitted here. It should be noted that the purpose of the present invention is to propose a structure and control method of a knob on a touch screen, wherein the touch screen can be implemented in any feasible manner without affecting the operation of the knob.

[0068] In another embodiment, the knob may also be disposed on another type of touch screen. Figure 4 The figure shows a side view of the knob 10 disposed on another touch screen 400, which may be an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display screen. The touch screen 400 includes a glass cover, an optical adhesive layer, a polarizing plate, a passivation layer, a thin film encapsulation (TFE) layer, and an OLED display layer, wherein the touch sensing unit array may be disposed on the thin film encapsulation layer. Similarly, those skilled in the art should be quite familiar with the structure of an OLED display screen, so the detailed implementation of the touch screen 400 is omitted here.

[0069] Figure 5 1 shows the operation of detecting a touch object on the knob 10. In this example, the touch object is a finger 120. As described above, depending on whether each sensing pad A and B is electrically connected to the common pad COM, the knob 10 has four different rotation states. The four rotation states are shown in FIG. Figure 5 For ease of explanation.

[0070] When no touch object touches or approaches the knob 10 (i.e. Figure 5 In the no-finger state shown in the upper part), the sensing pads A and B, the pressing pad PRE and the common pad COM are all in a floating state. In this case, the touch sensing units under these pads do not produce any capacitance changes, indicating that no touch sensing signals are received.

[0071] When the finger 120 contacts or approaches the knob 10 (i.e. Figure 5The touch sensing signal from the finger 120 can be transmitted to the common pad COM through the conductive ring 104 and the rotating wheel 102. In this case, the touch sensing unit under the common pad COM can detect the capacitance change, indicating that the touch sensing signal of the finger 120 is coupled to the touch sensing unit. Since the sensing pads A and B can be selectively coupled to the common pad COM under different states, if the sensing pad A or B is coupled to the common pad COM, the touch sensing unit under the corresponding sensing pads A and B can also detect the capacitance change related to the signal coupling.

[0072] To simplify the finger detection operation, the control circuit only needs to determine the finger touch based on the signal detected by the touch sensing unit under the common pad COM, and since the signal of the touch sensing unit under the sensing pads A and B may appear or not appear depending on the rotation state of the knob 10, this signal can be ignored. As long as a touch object contacts or approaches the knob 10, signal coupling will occur on the common pad COM regardless of the rotation state of the knob 10.

[0073] When the knob 10 is used to detect a touch object, since touch sensing is performed by monitoring the signals of the touch sensing units under the common pad COM, the touch sensing unit(s) may be applied with a touch driving signal (eg, through a control circuit).

[0074] In one embodiment, the knob 10 can perform rotation detection. Figure 6 The operation of the rotation detection of the knob 10 is shown. As described above, depending on whether each sensing pad A and B is electrically connected to the common pad COM, the knob 10 has four different rotation states, which are represented by (1,1), (1,0), (0,0) and (0,1). The transition method is as follows: Figure 6 As shown. The knob 10 can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise. During the clockwise rotation, the rotation state of the knob 10 changes in the order of (1,1), (1,0), (0,0), (0,1), (1,1) ...; during the counterclockwise rotation, the rotation state of the knob 10 changes in the order of (0,1), (0,0), (1,0), (1,1), (0,1) .... The control circuit of the knob 10 can determine the rotation direction and calculate the rotation angle according to the change and order of the rotation state.

[0075] During the rotation detection, the touch sensing unit array may be applied with a touch driving signal. When the knob 10 is operated by the user's finger 120, the touch sensing signal from the finger 120 may be transmitted to the common pad COM. If the connector between the sensing pads A and / or B and the common pad COM is conductive, the touch sensing signal may also be transmitted to the sensing pad. As described above, if a connector is connected to the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102, its corresponding sensing pad will be electrically connected to the common pad COM, and the corresponding touch sensing unit may detect the sensing signal; if a connector is connected to the insulating area 114 of the rotating wheel 102, its corresponding sensing pad will be isolated from the common pad COM, and the corresponding touch sensing unit will not detect the sensing signal. The rotation state of the knob 10 may be determined based on whether the touch sensing unit located under the sensing pads A and / or B detects the touch sensing signal (such as a capacitance change). In other words, the rotation state may be detected by receiving the touch sensing signal from the finger 120.

[0076] In addition, the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM may be applied with a touch driving signal or a reference voltage. In one embodiment, the reference voltage is a ground voltage.

[0077] As described above, the user can operate the knob 10 wearing gloves or barehanded. Assuming that the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM is applied with a touch driving signal, if the user operates the knob 10 barehanded (without gloves), the user's finger 120 will directly contact the conductive ring 104 on the knob 10, so the finger's touch sensing signal can be directly transmitted to the common pad COM through the conductive ring 104 and the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102, so that rotation detection is performed using the touch sensing signal transmitted through these conductors. If the user wears gloves to operate the knob 10, the user's finger 120 does not directly contact the knob 10, but approaches the knob 10 at a very short distance. At this time, the finger's touch sensing signal can be coupled to the conductor of the knob 10 (including the conductive ring 104 and the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102), and then transmitted to the common pad COM, so that rotation detection is performed using the touch sensing signal coupled from the user's finger 120.

[0078] Assume that the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM receives a reference voltage (such as a ground voltage). At this time, if the user does not wear gloves to operate the knob 10, the user's finger 120 will directly contact the conductive ring 104 on the knob. Therefore, the touch sensing signal of the finger can be directly transmitted to the common pad COM through the conductive ring 104 and the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102, thereby using the touch sensing signals transmitted by these conductors to perform rotation detection. If the user wears gloves to operate the knob 10, the user's finger 120 will not directly contact the knob 10, but will be close to the knob 10 at a very short distance. At this time, the touch sensing signal of the finger can be coupled to the conductor of the knob 10 (including the conductive ring 104 and the conductive area 112 of the rotating wheel 102), and then transmitted to the common gasket COM, so as to perform rotation detection using the touch sensing signal coupled from the user's finger 120, and this touch sensing signal can be combined with the signal coupled from the touch sensing unit under the common gasket COM (because this touch sensing unit is applied with a reference voltage, it can generate a signal on the common gasket COM) to further increase the signal amount used for rotation detection.

[0079] In one embodiment, the knob 10 may utilize a press pad PRE to perform press detection. Figure 7 1 shows the operation of the press detection of the knob 10. As described above, depending on whether each sensing pad A and B is electrically connected to the common pad COM, the knob 10 has four different rotation states, which are shown in FIG. Figure 7 For the convenience of explanation. Please refer back to Figure 2 and Figure 3 When the knob 10 is pressed, the connector C_PRE for the pressing pad PRE can couple the pressing pad PRE to the rotating wheel 102. In this case, the pressing pad PRE will be short-circuited with the common pad COM, so that the capacitance of the touch sensing unit under the pressing pad PRE will change. The control circuit can determine whether the knob 10 is pressed according to the signal detected by the touch sensing unit under the pressing pad PRE.

[0080] like Figure 7 As shown, the execution of the press detection is independent of the rotation state of the knob 10. More specifically, Figure 7 The upper part of shows the sensing behavior when the knob 10 is not pressed, wherein the touch sensing unit located under the pressing pad PRE does not detect a sensing signal. Figure 7 The lower half of the diagram shows the sensing behavior when the knob 10 is pressed, wherein the touch sensing unit located under the pressing pad PRE detects a signal. In this case, the control circuit only needs to perform press detection based on the signal detected by the touch sensing unit under the pressing pad PRE.

[0081] Likewise, during the press detection period, the touch sensing unit array may be applied with a touch driving signal, except that the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM may be selectively applied with a touch driving signal or a reference voltage (eg, ground voltage).

[0082] In addition, the touch sensing signal coupled to the touch sensing unit below the knob 10 can be provided by a touch object that contacts or approaches the knob 10, such as a user's finger. Similarly, when the finger contacts the knob 10, the touch sensing signal can be transmitted through the conductor of the knob 10, or when the finger approaches the knob 10 (such as when operating with gloves), the touch sensing signal can be coupled to the pad. Therefore, the press detection of the press pad PRE can also be performed by receiving the touch sensing signal from the touch object.

[0083] It should be noted that the knob on the touch screen of the present invention may have any number of gaskets, and the shape and arrangement of the gaskets should not be limited to the contents described in this specification. Figure 1 The knob structure shown is only an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In another embodiment, only one sensing pad or more than three sensing pads may be provided in the knob, or the pressing pad may be integrated with the sensing pad, so that the sensing pad has the functions of rotation detection and pressing detection at the same time.

[0084] Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a knob 80 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The knob 80 may be disposed on a touch screen 800 having a touch sensing unit array, wherein: Figure 8 Each square in the figure may represent a touch sensing unit (or a touch sensing electrode), which may be used as a unit for performing touch sensing. The knob 80 includes three sensing pads A, B and C and a common pad COM. Similarly, the knob 80 may also be a hollow cylinder with a hollowed-out area, such as Figure 8 However, those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0085] Fig. 9 A side view of the knob 80 and the touch screen 800 is shown. Fig. 9 As shown, the sensing pads A, B and C and the common pad COM are arranged on the glass cover of the touch screen 800, and therefore are not electrically connected to the touch sensing unit below. Figures 1 to 3 The knob 10 is implemented in a similar manner.

[0086] The knob 80 includes a rotating wheel 802 and a conductive ring 804, wherein the rotating wheel 802 may include a conductive area 812 and an insulating area 814. The detailed implementation and operation of the conductive ring 804 and the rotating wheel 802 (and the conductive area 812 and the insulating area 814 therein) are similar to those of FIG. Figures 1 to 3The rotating wheel 102 and the conductive ring 104 are not described in detail here.

[0087] The knob 80 also includes several connectors for connecting the rotating wheel 802 and the corresponding pads. In this example, each sensing pad is coupled to two connectors. More specifically, connectors C_A1 and C_A2 are coupled between sensing pad A and the rotating wheel 802, connectors C_B1 and C_B2 are coupled between sensing pad B and the rotating wheel 802, and connectors C_C1 and C_C2 are coupled between sensing pad C and the rotating wheel 802. The common pad COM is coupled to a connector C_COM, and regardless of the rotation state of the knob 80, the connector C_COM always connects the common pad COM to the conductive area 812. In addition, each connector for sensing pads A, B or C can be selectively coupled to the conductive area 812 or the insulating area 814 to achieve the desired knob control function, such as rotation operation and pressing operation. Similarly, each connector can be a port, a wire, or a spring pin, and can be composed of a conductive material to provide an electrical connection between the rotating wheel 802 and the corresponding pad.

[0088] It is worth noting that each sensing pad A, B or C is coupled to two connectors, one of which is used to control the corresponding sensing pad to be coupled or not coupled to the common pad according to the rotation operation, and the other connector is used to control the corresponding sensing pad to be coupled or not coupled to the rotating wheel 802 according to the pressing operation. In other words, the rotation and pressing operations of the knob 10 can be integrated into the same sensing pad.

[0089] In this example, connectors C_A1, C_B1, and C_C1 are used for rotation detection, and can be selectively connected to the conductive region 812 or the insulating region 814. If connector C_A1, C_B1, or C_C1 is connected to the conductive region 812, the corresponding sensing pads A, B, or C will be electrically connected to the common pad COM (i.e., short-circuited to each other); if connector C_A1, C_B1, or C_C1 is connected to the insulating region 814, the corresponding sensing pads A, B, or C will be electrically separated from the common pad COM.

[0090] In one embodiment, under the rotation operation, according to the connection relationship between the sensing pads A, B and C and the common pad COM, the knob 80 can be set to have three different rotation states, which can be achieved by the appropriate structural design inside the knob 80. More specifically, only one of the sensing pads A, B and C is electrically connected to the conductive area 812 at the same time. For example, in the first rotation state, the sensing pad A is electrically connected to the common pad COM, and the connection between the other two sensing pads B and C and the common pad COM is disconnected. In the second rotation state, the sensing pad B is electrically connected to the common pad COM, and the connection between the other two sensing pads A and C and the common pad COM is disconnected. In the third rotation state, the sensing pad C is electrically connected to the common pad COM, and the connection between the other two sensing pads A and B and the common pad COM is disconnected. Fig. 9 The knob 80 is shown in a first rotation state, wherein the connector C_A1 for sensing pad A is connected to the conductive region 812 , and the connectors C_B1 and C_C1 for sensing pads B and C are connected to the insulating region 814 .

[0091] In addition, connectors C_A2, C_B2 and C_C2 are used for press detection, which can determine whether to connect to the rotating wheel 802 according to the press operation. Fig. 9 The figure shows the situation where the knob 80 is not pressed. At this time, the connectors C_A2, C_B2 and C_C2 are not connected to the rotating wheel 802. Therefore, the control circuit of the knob 80 can determine that only the touch sensing unit under one of the sensing pads detects the touch sensing signal. Only when the knob 80 is pressed, the connectors C_A2, C_B2 and C_C2 will couple the corresponding sensing pads A, B and C to the rotating wheel 802. For example, if Fig.10 As shown, when the knob 80 is pressed, the rotating wheel 802 is pushed to a lower position to contact the top of each connector C_A2, C_B2 and C_C2. In this case, each sensing pad A, B and C is electrically connected to the common pad COM. In this way, the control circuit of the knob 80 can determine that the touch sensing units located under the three sensing pads A, B and C have detected the touch sensing signal, and thus determine that the knob 80 is pressed.

[0092] In addition, if Fig. 9 As shown, the touch screen 800 used to carry the knob 80 can be a liquid crystal display screen, and its structure is similar to Figure 2 or Figure 3 The touch screen 100 shown is not described in detail here. In a similar manner, the touch screen 800 can also be implemented as an organic light emitting diode display screen having the same Figure 4The structure of the touch screen 400 is similar to that of the touch screen 400. In fact, the knob on the touch screen of the present invention can be applied to any type of touch screen, which is not limited to the scope described in this specification.

[0093] The knob 80 can also be used to perform a finger detection function. Fig.11 80. As described above, depending on which sensing pad A, B or C is electrically connected to the common pad COM, the knob 80 has three different rotation states, which are shown in FIG. Fig.11 For ease of explanation.

[0094] When no touch object touches or approaches the knob 80 (i.e. Fig.11 In the no-finger state shown in the upper part), the sensing pads A, B, C and the common pad COM are all in a floating state. In this case, the touch sensing units under these pads do not produce any capacitance changes, indicating that no touch sensing signals are received.

[0095] When the finger 820 contacts or approaches the knob 80 (i.e. Fig.11 In the finger-on state shown in the lower half), the touch sensing signal from the finger 820 can be transmitted to the common pad COM through the conductive ring 804 and the rotating wheel 802. In this case, the touch sensing unit located below the common pad COM can detect a change in capacitance, indicating that the touch sensing signal of the finger 820 is coupled to this touch sensing unit. To be more specific, when detecting the touch sensing signal of the finger 820, the touch sensing unit below the common pad COM can be applied with a touch driving signal, and the touch sensing signal transmitted back by the finger 820 can be detected accordingly. In the present invention, by electrically connecting the conductor (including the conductive ring 804 and the rotating wheel 802) between the knob surface and the common pad COM, the touch sensing signal from the finger 820 can be effectively received, and various knob operations / detections can be performed based on this signal. Therefore, the control circuit can determine the finger touch according to the signal detected by the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM, and ignore the signals of other touch sensing units when detecting the finger touch (or detecting other touch objects).

[0096] Likewise, during finger touch detection, the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM needs to be applied with a touch driving signal (eg, through a control circuit).

[0097] Fig.12 FIG. 8 shows the operation of the rotation detection of the knob 80. As described above, depending on which sensing pad A, B or C is electrically connected to the common pad COM, the knob 80 has three different rotation states, which are represented as (A), (B) and (C) respectively. The transition method is as follows: Fig.12The knob 80 can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise. During the clockwise rotation, the rotation state of the knob 80 changes in the order of (A), (B), (C), (A) ...; during the counterclockwise rotation, the rotation state of the knob 80 changes in the order of (C), (B), (A), (C) ... The control circuit of the knob 80 can determine the rotation direction and calculate the rotation angle according to the change and order of the rotation state.

[0098] Similarly, during rotation detection, the touch sensing unit array may be applied with a touch driving signal, except that the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM may be selectively applied with a touch driving signal or a reference voltage (such as a ground voltage). The touch sensing signal for rotation detection may be provided by the touching finger 820, for example, by the above-mentioned conduction or coupling method, depending on whether the user wears gloves to operate the knob 80. The rotation state of the knob 80 may be determined based on whether the touch sensing unit located under each sensing pad A, B or C detects the touch sensing signal (such as a capacitance change). The detailed operation method of detecting the touch sensing signal under various signal transmission methods to realize the rotation detection of the knob 80 is similar to the aforementioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0099] Fig.13 80 shows the operation of the press detection of the knob 80. As described above, depending on which sensing pad A, B or C is electrically connected to the common pad COM, the knob 80 has three different rotation states, which are shown in FIG. Fig.13 For the convenience of explanation. Please refer back to Fig. 9 and Fig.10 , when the knob 80 is pressed, each connector C_A2, C_B2 and C_C2 can couple the corresponding sensing pads A, B and C to the rotating wheel 802. In this case, all the sensing pads A, B and C are short-circuited with the common pad COM, so that the capacitance change occurs in the touch sensing unit under the sensing pads A, B and C. The control circuit determines that the knob 80 is pressed only when the touch sensing units under all the sensing pads A, B and C detect signals.

[0100] like Fig.13 As shown, the execution of the press detection is independent of the rotation state of the knob 80. More specifically, Fig.13 The upper part of shows the sensing behavior when the knob 80 is not pressed, wherein only the touch sensing unit under one of the sensing pads A, B or C detects the sensing signal. Fig.13 The lower half of shows the sensing behavior when the knob 80 is pressed, wherein the touch sensing units located under all the sensing pads A, B and C detect signals.

[0101] Similarly, during the press detection, the touch sensing unit array may be applied with a touch driving signal, except that the touch sensing unit located under the common pad COM may be selectively applied with a touch driving signal or a reference voltage (such as a ground voltage). The touch sensing signal for press detection may be provided by the touching finger 820, for example, by the above-mentioned conduction or coupling method, depending on whether the user wears gloves to operate the knob 80. The detailed operation method of detecting the touch sensing signal under various signal transmission methods to realize the press detection of the knob 80 is similar to the above-mentioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0102] In some embodiments, the control circuit can select the touch sensing unit under the common pad COM to apply a touch driving signal or a reference voltage according to the detected signal amount during rotation detection and press detection. For example, when the signal amount is insufficient, a reference voltage is applied to increase the signal amount, and when the signal amount is sufficient, a touch driving signal is applied to save power consumption. For details, please refer to the description in the subsequent paragraphs.

[0103] Since the knob of the present invention is disposed on the touch screen, the knob sensing operation can be integrated with the touch sensing operation of the touch screen to be performed in a time slot that matches the touch scanning operation of the touch screen. Fig.14 Schematic diagram of a knob 140 on a touch screen 1400 being scanned with a normal scanning sequence. Assuming that the touch screen 1400 is an in-cell touch panel, a frame period can be divided into a plurality of time slots, including a plurality of display periods DP and a plurality of touch periods TP1-TP4, so as to perform display control and touch sensing operations in a time-sharing manner. This frame period also includes an additional time slot, which is configured to perform noise detection (ND) and / or self-test (ST), which are necessary processes for the normal operation of touch sensing. Those skilled in the art should be familiar with the operation of noise detection and self-test, so they are omitted here without affecting the description of this embodiment.

[0104] like Fig.14 As shown, the scanning order of touch sensing is from outside to inside (i.e., from TP1 to TP4), and the knob 140 is set in the area scanned in the touch period TP4. Therefore, the detection operation of the knob 140 should preferably be performed in the time slot of TP4. In detail, finger detection, rotation detection, and press detection can all be performed in the touch period TP4.

[0105] In one embodiment, the control circuit of the knob 140 may perform finger detection, rotation detection, and press detection in each frame period regardless of whether a finger touch is detected. Alternatively, the control circuit may perform finger detection at ordinary times, and only when a finger touch is detected (for example, a capacitance change of a touch object is detected on a specific touch sensing unit), the control circuit may know that a finger or other touch object is currently operating the knob 140, and start to perform rotation detection and press detection of the knob 140.

[0106] In another embodiment, the knob 140 may adopt a knob scanning timing different from the normal scanning timing. Fig.15 The schematic diagram of the knob 140 on the touch screen 1400 being scanned with a knob scanning sequence is shown. In addition to the touch periods TP1-TP4, the display period DP, and the time slot for noise detection / self-test ND / ST, the knob scanning sequence also includes a knob period KP dedicated to the operation of the knob 140.

[0107] In one embodiment, finger detection can still be performed during the touch period TP4, and the detection operation performed during the knob period KP may include a rotation operation and a press operation, but is not limited thereto. In this example, the time slot of the knob period KP is located after the time slot of the touch period TP4. Therefore, if a finger touch is detected during the touch period TP4, the control circuit can perform other knob detections during the subsequent knob period KP.

[0108] It is worth noting that the knob 140 can switch between the normal scan timing and the knob scan timing in various ways. In one embodiment, the knob 140 can be set to have two timing tables, one of which corresponds to the normal scan timing and the other corresponds to the knob scan timing. The knob 140 can choose to use one of the two timing tables in different situations.

[0109] For example, in one embodiment, the knob 140 can detect a touch sensing signal DIFF in the finger detection operation to detect a touch object (such as a finger), and the scanning timing can be determined according to the detection result of the touch sensing signal DIFF. Fig.16 As shown, before any touch object is detected, the knob 140 and the touch screen 1400 are originally scanned in a normal scanning sequence. In other words, when the touch sensing signal DIFF is equal to or close to 0, the knob 140 and the touch screen 1400 can be operated in a normal scanning sequence. In the normal scanning sequence, the touch sensing units located under the common pad COM can be applied with a touch driving signal, so that the control circuit can detect the touch sensing signal from the touch object, that is, by applying the touch driving signal to the touch sensing units under the common pad COM and monitoring the signals on these touch sensing units, touch object detection, such as finger detection, can be performed.

[0110] In one embodiment, when a touch object is detected on the knob 140, the timing sequence of the knob 140 and the touch screen 1400 can be switched to a knob scanning timing sequence. The knob scanning timing sequence has a dedicated knob period KP for detecting knob operation, thereby improving the reliability and efficiency of knob detection.

[0111] In one embodiment, after detecting a touch object, the control circuit of the knob 140 may further determine the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF, such as Fig.16 As shown. In this example, if it is determined that the touch sensing signal DIFF is less than a first threshold value N1, it means that the signal amount is insufficient, and the timing can be switched to the knob scanning timing. Insufficient signal amount may occur when the user wears gloves to operate the knob 140. In the knob scanning timing, when certain knob operations are detected, the touch sensing unit located below the common gasket COM can receive a reference voltage (such as a ground voltage) to replace the touch drive signal. More specifically, a reference voltage can be applied during the knob period KP of the knob scanning timing for the detection of knob operations, which include rotation operations and / or pressing operations. In this case, the signal amount used for knob detection can be provided not only by the touch object, but also by the common gasket COM, thereby improving the reliability and efficiency of the knob detection. In this way, the control circuit can more accurately detect the rotation and / or pressing operations of the knob 140. In the knob scanning sequence, finger detection (ie, detection of a touch object) requires the touch sensing unit under the common pad COM to be applied with a touch driving signal, and thus can still be performed within the touch period TP4.

[0112] On the contrary, if it is determined that the touch sensing signal DIFF is greater than a second threshold value N2, it means that the signal amount is sufficient, and the knob 140 can be operated in the normal scanning timing. The second threshold value N2 may be the same as or different from the first threshold value N1. In the normal scanning timing, the touch sensing unit located below the common pad COM is applied with a touch drive signal. Since the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is sufficient, the normal scanning timing can be used to perform the detection of the knob operation. It should be noted that the use of the additional knob period KP in the knob scanning timing requires more power consumption. Therefore, when the signal amount is sufficient, it is preferably switched to the normal scanning timing to save power consumption. As described above, under the normal scanning timing, each knob operation is performed within the touch period TP4. At this time, the touch sensing unit below the common pad COM is applied with a touch drive signal to perform knob detection by receiving the touch sensing signal DIFF from the touch object. In addition to having a simpler control timing, the normal scanning timing does not require the touch sensing unit under the common pad COM to receive a reference voltage, that is, the touch sensing units on the entire touch screen receive the touch driving signal at the same time, which can reduce the load of the display screen, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing power consumption. Based on the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF, the control circuit can dynamically switch between the normal scanning timing and the knob scanning timing to achieve the best balance between the signal amount and power consumption.

[0113] It can be seen that in an embodiment of the present invention, the touch sensing units located below the common gasket COM can be selectively applied with a touch drive signal or a reference voltage, and can dynamically switch between the touch drive signal and the reference voltage according to the application scenario. For example, in a first operating mode (such as a normal scanning timing (touch period TP4)), these touch sensing units can be applied with a touch drive signal to facilitate finger detection. In a second operating mode (such as a knob scanning timing (knob period KP)), these touch sensing units can be applied with a reference voltage to increase the signal amount and improve the efficiency of knob detection, which includes the detection of rotation operations and pressing operations. In one embodiment, the touch sensing units located below the common gasket COM can be applied with a touch drive signal or a reference voltage according to the signal amount, such as Fig.16 As shown in the embodiment.

[0114] It is worth noting that Fig.16 The embodiment requires the knob and the touch screen to switch between two timing tables with different time slot allocation methods. To simplify the timing configuration, in one embodiment, the timing can be controlled in another way. Fig.17An actual example is shown, in which, in addition to the display period DP, the touch period TP1-TP4, and the time slot for noise detection / self-test ND / ST, the normal scan timing can be set to have an additional dummy time slot (DMY). No operation is performed in the dummy time slot DMY, and the dummy time slot DMY is reserved for the knob operation performed when switching to the knob scan timing. Therefore, after entering the knob scan timing, the timing sequence does not need to be reallocated, but the dummy time slot DMY in the normal scan timing is replaced by the knob period KP in the knob scan timing. Similarly, in Fig.17 In the embodiment of the present invention, when the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is less than the threshold value N1, the detection operation of the knob can adopt the knob scanning timing; or when the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is greater than the threshold value N2, the detection operation of the knob can adopt the normal scanning timing. In addition, if the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is equal to or close to 0, it means that no touch object is operating the knob, and the knob and the touch screen can be operated in the normal scanning timing.

[0115] Fig.18 Another way to switch the operation of the knob and touch screen between the normal scanning sequence and the knob scanning sequence is shown in FIG. Fig.16 The normal scan timing shown is the same. When the timing sequence of the knob and touch screen enters the knob scan timing, the noise detection / self-test time slot ND / ST originally in the normal scan timing is replaced by the knob period KP in the knob scan timing. In this case, the timing sequence does not need to be reallocated, and the knob operation (such as rotation detection and press detection) can be performed in the original noise detection / self-test time slot ND / ST. Similarly, in Fig.18 In the embodiment of the present invention, when the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is less than the threshold value N1, the detection operation of the knob can adopt the knob scanning timing; or when the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is greater than the threshold value N2, the detection operation of the knob can adopt the normal scanning timing. In addition, if the signal amount of the touch sensing signal DIFF is equal to or close to 0, it means that no touch object is operating the knob, and the knob and the touch screen can be operated in the normal scanning timing.

[0116] It is worth noting that the scanning timing configuration described in the above embodiment is only an example for illustration. In fact, the normal scanning timing and the knob scanning timing can be allocated and / or switched by any appropriate method, which is not limited to the content described in this specification.

[0117] The above operations on the control knob can be summarized into a control process 190, such as Fig.19As shown. The control process 190 can be implemented in a control circuit for controlling the knob, such as a touch and display driver integration (TDDI) circuit, which is used to control the display and touch operation of the touch screen and the knob above it. The knob has a common pad, which corresponds to multiple touch sensing units on the touch screen. Fig.19 As shown, the control process 190 includes the following steps:

[0118] Step 1902: Output a touch driving signal to the touch sensing unit to detect a touch object on the knob.

[0119] Step 1904: Select to output a touch driving signal or a reference voltage to the touch sensing unit to detect an operation of the knob.

[0120] For the detailed operation and changes of the control process 190, please refer to the description in the above paragraphs, which will not be repeated here.

[0121] Fig. 20 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control circuit 200 can be used to control a knob 202 on a touch screen 204, and includes an output driver 2002, a sensor circuit 2004, and a processor 2006. The knob 202 and the touch screen 204 controlled by the control circuit 200 are also shown in FIG. Fig. 20 For convenience of explanation. The control circuit 200 may be an integrated circuit (IC) implemented in a chip, such as a touch display driver integrated circuit. The knob 202 may be any knob having a plurality of sensing pads and a common pad as described in the above embodiments, but is not limited thereto. The touch screen 204 may be a screen of a central information display system of a vehicle, which may be a liquid crystal display or an organic light emitting diode display, but is not limited thereto.

[0122] like Fig. 20 As shown, the knob 202 can be disposed on the touch screen 204 and contact a touch sensing area of ​​the touch screen 204. For example, the knob 202 can be completely disposed in the effective touch sensing area of ​​the touch screen 204, or disposed at the boundary of the touch sensing area with a portion of the knob body located on the touch sensing area.

[0123] The output driver 2002 can output a touch driving signal to the touch sensing units in the touch sensing area, except that the touch sensing units located under the common pad of the knob 202 can choose to receive the touch driving signal or a reference voltage (such as a ground voltage) from the output driver 2002.

[0124] The sensing circuit 2004 may receive a sensing signal from the touch sensing unit in response to the driving signal. As described above, depending on whether there is a touch object operating the knob, and depending on the rotation state and pressing operation of the knob, the touch sensing unit located below the knob may generate a sensing signal, which may be output from the touch sensing unit to the sensing circuit 2004. When the touch sensing unit is scanned (such as through the above-mentioned normal scanning timing or knob scanning timing), the sensing circuit 2004 may receive a sensing signal (if present). The received sensing signal may be in the form of a voltage change or a voltage signal, which is used to reflect the capacitance change on the corresponding touch sensing unit.

[0125] Then, the sensing circuit 2004 may transmit the sensing signal to the processor 2006, or convert the sensing signal into data to transmit to the processor 2006, and the processor 2006 may determine the state of the knob 202, such as the rotation and / or pressing state, according to the sensing signal. In one embodiment, the processor 2006 may determine the state of the knob 202 according to whether each touch sensing unit (including the touch sensing unit under the common pad of the knob 202 and the touch sensing unit under the sensing pad) detects or receives the sensing signal. More specifically, according to whether the touch sensing unit under the common pad receives a sensing signal, the processor 2006 may determine whether there is a touch object operating the knob 202. According to which touch sensing unit under the sensing pad (s) has a sensing signal, the processor 2006 may determine the rotation state and pressing state of the knob 202.

[0126] To implement the above-mentioned knob detection operation, the processor 2006 may be configured with an algorithm to identify the sensing signal. The processor 2006 may be any processing device, module or circuit included in an integrated circuit, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor (Microprocessor), a microcontroller unit (MCU), an application processor (AP), etc., but is not limited thereto.

[0127] It is worth noting that the purpose of the present invention is to propose a new type of knob structure and its related control method. Those skilled in the art can make modifications or changes accordingly, but are not limited to this. For example, the knob in the above embodiment has 1 common gasket and 3 sensing or pressing gaskets. But in another embodiment, the knob may include any number of sensing gaskets (which may or may not include exclusive pressing gaskets). In addition, the position of the gasket can be assigned to the knob in any appropriate manner, and it should not be limited to the situation described in this specification. As long as the sensing gasket can be selectively coupled to the common gasket in an appropriate manner according to the operation performed on the knob, the relevant implementation methods of the sensing gasket with the knob structure design should fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0128] As described above, the touch sensing unit located under the common pad may sometimes be applied with a reference voltage to facilitate knob detection. Since most of the touch sensing units on the touch screen are applied with a touch drive signal, if any touch sensing unit simultaneously receives a reference voltage instead of a touch drive signal, noise may appear in other touch sensing units in the same row or column due to the coupling of the wiring on the touch screen. More specifically, when a reference voltage is output to a touch sensing unit through a wiring, this voltage may be coupled to the adjacent wiring corresponding to the touch sensing unit in the same column or row, thereby generating noise interference.

[0129] To avoid noise interference, in one embodiment, the common pad and other pads can be arranged in an appropriate manner so that these pads correspond to touch sensing units in different rows and columns, that is, they are located above touch sensing units in different rows and columns. Therefore, the reference voltage applied to the touch sensing unit corresponding to the common pad will not interfere with the signal on the touch sensing unit corresponding to other pads.

[0130] More specifically, if a common gasket corresponds to multiple first touch sensing units, which are located in at least one row and at least one column of the touch sensing unit array, the other gaskets can be configured in a manner such that no other gasket corresponds to a second touch sensing unit located in any of the at least one row, and no other gasket corresponds to a third touch sensing unit located in any of the at least one column.

[0131] For example, Fig.21 A configuration of a gasket on a knob for avoiding noise according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 1 The knob 10 is shown again at Fig.21 The left half of the rotary knob 10 includes a common pad COM, two sensing pads A and B, and a pressing pad PRE. The rotary knob 10 is disposed above a touch sensing unit array, each of which is represented by a square. Fig.21As shown, the touch sensing units located under the common pad COM are marked with a diagonal grid bottom, and the touch sensing units that may be disturbed by the reference voltage and generate noise are marked with a dot grid bottom. In the knob 10, each of the sensing pads A, B and the pressing pad PRE has a portion of the corresponding touch sensing units located in the same column as the touch sensing units under the common pad COM, so when the reference voltage is applied to the touch sensing units under the common pad COM, noise interference will be inevitable.

[0132] In order to reduce or avoid noise interference, the setting of the gasket can be modified as follows: Fig.21 A knob 210 is shown in the right half. In the knob 210, the common pad COM is divided into two parts to stagger the position of the pressing pad PRE, that is, to be arranged above the touch sensing units in different columns. In addition, the positions of the sensing pads A and B can be modified so that they are located above the touch sensing units in different columns from the common pad COM. In this case, all the sensing pads A, B and the pressing pad PRE are arranged above the touch sensing units in different columns and rows from the touch sensing units under the common pad COM, thereby avoiding noise interference that may be generated when the reference voltage is applied to the touch sensing units under the common pad COM.

[0133] Fig. 22 Another configuration of the gasket on the knob for avoiding noise according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 8 The knob 80 is shown again at Fig. 22 The left half of the knob 80 includes a common pad COM and three sensing pads A, B and C. Similarly, the touch sensing unit located below the common pad COM is marked with a slashed bottom, and the touch sensing unit that may be disturbed by the reference voltage and generate noise is marked with a dotted bottom. In the knob 80, each of the sensing pads A, B and C has a portion of the corresponding touch sensing units located in the same column as the touch sensing units below the common pad COM, so when the reference voltage is applied to the touch sensing units below the common pad COM, noise interference will be inevitable.

[0134] In order to reduce or avoid noise interference, the setting of the gasket can be modified as follows: Fig. 22 A knob 220 is shown in the right half. In the knob 220, the common pad COM is divided into two parts to stagger the position of the sensing pad C, that is, to be arranged above the touch sensing units in different columns. In addition, the positions of the sensing pads A and B can be modified so that they are located above the touch sensing units in different columns from the common pad COM. In this case, all the sensing pads A, B and C are arranged above the touch sensing units in different columns and rows from the touch sensing units under the common pad COM, thereby avoiding noise interference that may be generated when the reference voltage is applied to the touch sensing units under the common pad COM.

[0135] In summary, the present invention proposes a novel knob structure and a related control method. The knob has a conductive ring that can be set on the surface of the knob to detect a touch object (such as a finger) operating the knob, wherein a touch sensing signal can be received from the touch object to achieve touch / finger detection. If the user operates the knob without wearing gloves, the touch sensing signal can be transmitted to the knob through the contact of the user's finger. If the user wears gloves to operate the knob, the touch sensing signal can be coupled to the conductor of the knob. For other knob operations (such as rotation and pressing operations), the touch sensing signal from the touch object can increase the signal amount, so that the control circuit can more easily and accurately judge the operation of the knob, thereby improving the reliability and efficiency of the knob detection.

[0136] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A knob located on a touch screen, characterized in that: The knob includes: A rotating wheel mounted on the touch screen; A common gasket is arranged on the touch screen; At least one sensing pad is disposed on the touch screen; a plurality of connectors, wherein each connector is coupled between the rotating wheel and one of the at least one sensing pad and the common pad, and is used to control whether each of the at least one sensing pad is coupled to the common pad through the rotating wheel according to an operation of the knob; and A conductive ring is arranged on the surface of the rotating wheel and is used to detect a touch object.

2. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the touch object contacts or approaches the knob, the conductive ring receives a touch sensing signal from the touch object.

3. The knob according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the touch object approaches the knob, the touch sensing signal is coupled to the common pad through the conductive ring and the rotating wheel.

4. The knob according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the touch object contacts the knob, a short circuit is formed between the touch object and the common pad through the conductive ring and the rotating wheel.

5. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the knob detects the touch object, a touch sensing unit under the common pad applies a touch driving signal.

6. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotation state of the knob is detected by receiving a touch sensing signal from the touch object.

7. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: The operation of the knob includes a rotating operation.

8. The knob according to claim 7, characterized in that: The rotating wheel includes a conductive area and an insulating area, and at least one connector for the at least one sensing pad among the plurality of connectors is coupled to the conductive area or the insulating area according to the rotating operation of the knob.

9. The knob according to claim 8, characterized in that: When the knob is in a first rotation state, a first connector of the at least one connector is coupled to the conductive area, and when the knob is in a second rotation state, the first connector is coupled to the insulating area.

10. The knob according to claim 8, characterized in that: Regardless of the rotation state of the knob, a second connector of the plurality of connectors for the common pad is coupled to the conductive area.

11. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: The operation of the knob includes a pressing operation, and the at least one sensing pad includes a pressing pad.

12. The knob according to claim 11, characterized in that The plurality of connectors include a connector for the push pad for coupling the push pad to the rotating wheel when the knob is pressed.

13. The knob according to claim 11, characterized in that: The pressing operation is detected by the pressing pad receiving a touch sensing signal from the touch object.

14. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of connectors include a first connector and a second connector coupled between the rotating wheel and a first sensing pad of the at least one sensing pad.

15. The knob according to claim 14, characterized in that: The first connector controls whether the first sensing pad is coupled to the common pad according to a rotation operation of the knob, and the second connector controls whether the first sensing pad is coupled to the rotating wheel according to a pressing operation of the knob.

16. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: The at least one sensing pad includes three sensing pads, wherein each sensing pad is coupled to two connectors among the plurality of connectors.

17. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the knob is in a first operation mode, a touch sensing unit under the common pad is applied with a touch driving signal, and when the knob is in a second operation mode, a reference voltage is applied to the touch sensing unit.

18. The knob according to claim 17, characterized in that: The reference voltage is a ground voltage.

19. The knob according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the multiple first touch sensing units corresponding to the common pad are located in at least one row and at least one column, no sensing pad among the at least one sensing pad corresponds to a second touch sensing unit located in the at least one row, and no sensing pad among the at least one sensing pad corresponds to a third touch sensing unit located in the at least one column.

20. A method for controlling a knob on a touch screen, characterized in that: The knob has a common pad corresponding to a plurality of touch sensing units on the touch screen. The method includes: outputting a touch driving signal to the plurality of touch sensing units to detect a touch object on the knob; and The touch driving signal or a reference voltage is selectively output to the plurality of touch sensing units to detect an operation of the knob.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The reference voltage is a ground voltage.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein: The operation of the knob includes at least one of a rotation operation and a pressing operation.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein: Also includes: Detecting a signal quantity of the touch object; as well as According to the signal amount, the touch driving signal or the reference voltage is selected to be output to the plurality of touch sensing units.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein: The step of outputting the touch driving signal or the reference voltage to the plurality of touch sensing units according to the signal quantity comprises: When the signal amount is less than a first threshold, outputting the reference voltage to the plurality of touch sensing units; and When the signal amount is greater than a second threshold, the touch driving signal is output to the plurality of touch sensing units.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein: The step of detecting the touch object is performed in a first time slot, and the first time slot is configured to scan the area where the knob is disposed.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein: The step of detecting the operation of the knob is performed in the first time slot.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein: The step of detecting the operation of the knob is performed in a second time slot after the first time slot.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein: In the second time slot, the reference voltage is output to the plurality of touch sensing units.

29. The method of claim 20, wherein: Also includes: When no touch object is detected on the knob, the touch screen is scanned with a first scanning sequence.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: Also includes: When the touch object is detected on the knob, the touch screen is scanned with a second scanning timing different from the first scanning timing.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein: Also includes: The reference voltage is applied to the plurality of touch sensing units for the operation of the knob performed in the second scanning sequence.

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