Position detection device

Abstract

To provide a position detection device capable of detecting a pressed position regardless of the presence or absence of an interrupt occurrence abnormality when a touch panel is pressed in relation to a specific area.SOLUTION: An in-vehicle device 100 includes: a touch panel 12 superimposed on a display screen of a display device 10; an interrupt generation unit 22 that outputs an interrupt signal when a contact of an indicator with respect to the touch panel 12 is detected; a contact position specifying unit 24 that specifies, when a specific operation button is not displayed on the display screen, a contact position of the indicator using the touch panel 12 when the interrupt signal is output, and specifies, when the specific operation button is displayed on the display screen, a contact position of the indicator using the touch panel 12 at a predetermined cycle; and a contact position capturing unit 34.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a position detection device using a touch panel. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known a pressure position detection device for a touch panel that detects the contact position of a user's finger or the like using a touch panel (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this pressure position detection device, an interrupt occurs to a CPU when a user presses an arbitrary position on the touch panel, and the pressure position is read out in response to an instruction from the CPU. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-167465 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Recently, vehicles are increasingly equipped with head units having large screens, and many functions are selected and instructed using a touch panel arranged on the screen of the head unit.However, when detecting the position of a touch panel in such vehicles using the pressing position detection device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, if an interrupt is not generated normally when the touch panel is pressed, the subsequent processing to read the pressing position is not performed, and the pressing position cannot be detected.

[0005] For example, consider a case where a specific operation button that is the target of ISO26262, an automotive functional safety standard, is displayed on a screen and whether or not it is pressed is detected using a touch panel. If an interrupt to the CPU does not occur when a user presses this operation button, a specific process corresponding to this operation button will not start, which will cause inconvenience. In particular, since the user himself is pressing this button, he will not understand that there is no reaction to this pressing action, and will not be able to take any measures to address the problem of the interrupt generation.

[0006] The present invention was created in consideration of these points, and its purpose is to provide a position detection device that can detect the press position in a specific area, such as an operation button, regardless of whether or not there is an abnormality in the occurrence of an interrupt when the touch panel is pressed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the position detection device of the present invention includes a touch panel arranged over the display screen of a display device, an interrupt signal output means for outputting an interrupt signal when contact of a pointer with the touch panel is detected, and a contact position identification means for identifying the contact position of the pointer using the touch panel when the interrupt signal is output when a specific operation area is not displayed on the display screen, and for identifying the contact position of the pointer using the touch panel at a predetermined cycle when the specific operation area is displayed on the display screen. Since the contact position is identified periodically for the specific operation area, it is possible to detect the contact position regardless of the presence or absence of an abnormality in the occurrence of an interrupt.

[0008] Moreover, it is preferable that the above-mentioned contact position identification means identifies the contact position of the indicator using the touch panel at a predetermined cycle when the specific operation area is displayed on the display screen, and identifies the contact position of the indicator using the touch panel when an interrupt signal is output. This makes it possible to detect the contact position when the user touches the indicator to the specific operation area during normal operation when no abnormality occurs, and to detect the contact position of the indicator with respect to the specific operation area by the periodic detection operation even when an abnormality occurs and there is no interrupt.

[0009] It is also preferable to further include an interrupt failure determination means for determining an operational failure of the interrupt signal output means when the contact of the indicator with the specific operation area is detected by the periodic contact position determination means described above and an interrupt signal is not output. This makes it possible to confirm that the interrupt signal output when the indicator is contacted with the touch panel is not being output due to some abnormality.

[0010] In addition, it is preferable that the above-mentioned contact position specifying means, when the interrupt failure determining means determines that the interrupt signal output means is malfunctioning, specifies the contact position thereafter at a predetermined cycle regardless of whether the specific operation area is displayed or not. This makes it possible to resume position detection of a point that became impossible to detect due to the absence of the interrupt signal output. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 11 is a flowchart showing an operational procedure for displaying an operation screen and selecting an operation button included therein. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to a modified example. [Figure 4] 13 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a modified example for determining an interruption failure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of an in-vehicle device to which a position detection device of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The in-vehicle device 100 shown in FIG.

[0014] The display device 10 is disposed in front of the center between the driver's seat and the passenger seat of the vehicle in which the in-vehicle device 100 is mounted, and is configured using a liquid crystal display device (LCD). The touch panel 12 is disposed on the display screen of the display device 10. For example, the touch panel 12 has a detection area that covers the entire display screen of the display device 10, and has two types of transparent electrode groups that intersect with each other in this detection area.

[0015] The touch panel control unit 20 detects the contact position of a pointer (for example, a user's fingertip) on the display screen of the display device 10 using the touch panel 12. To this end, the touch panel control unit 20 includes an interrupt generating unit 22 and a contact position identifying unit .

[0016] The interrupt generating unit 22 outputs an interrupt signal when a pointer comes into contact with any of the detection areas of the touch panel 12. The contact position identifying unit 24 identifies the contact position when a pointer comes into contact with any of the detection areas of the touch panel 12. For example, by sequentially inputting position detection signals to each transparent electrode of one transparent electrode group included in the touch panel 12 while detecting the voltage of each transparent electrode of the other transparent electrode group, the intersecting position of each transparent electrode where the capacitance changes is identified as the contact position of the pointer.

[0017] The display processing unit 30 creates an image to be displayed on the display device 10, and when various operation buttons are included in this image, it determines whether or not the operation buttons are pressed (contacted) by the indicator. For this purpose, the display processing unit 30 includes a display image creation unit 32, a contact position acquisition unit 34, and an operation determination unit 36.

[0018] The display image creation unit 32 creates a display image of the operation screen to be displayed on the display device 10 and other display images. This operation screen includes various operation buttons. The various operation buttons include "specific operation buttons" corresponding to specific operation areas and "other operation buttons." The difference between these operation buttons will be described later.

[0019] The contact position acquisition unit 34 instructs the touch panel control unit 20 on the timing for performing a specifying operation for the contact position, and acquires the contact position of the indicator obtained by this specifying operation.

[0020] The operation determination unit 36 ​​identifies an operation button corresponding to the contact position of the indicator acquired by the contact position acquisition unit 34. Note that there are cases where the indicator is pressing an area other than the operation buttons on the display screen (such as when the indicator is pointing to an area other than the operation buttons on the operation screen being displayed or when a screen not including operation buttons is displayed), but in such cases, the operation button is not identified.

[0021] The vehicle control device 40 controls each part of the vehicle and provides the display processing unit 30 with image information of the object to be displayed, and if this image information relates to an operation screen, the position and type of the operation button (information indicating whether the operation button is a specific operation button or another operation button).

[0022] The above-mentioned interrupt generating unit 22 corresponds to the interrupt signal output means, and the contact position identifying unit 24 and the contact position acquiring unit 34 correspond to the contact position identifying means.

[0023] The in-car device 100 of this embodiment has the above-mentioned configuration. Next, the selection operation of the operation buttons using the touch panel 12 will be described.

[0024] As described above, in this embodiment, two types of operation buttons ("specific operation buttons" and "other operation buttons") are assumed. The "other operation buttons" detect the contact position by waiting for an interrupt signal output from the interrupt generating unit 22 when the user touches any of the detection areas of the touch panel 12 with a pointer. In contrast, the "specific operation buttons" are similar in that they detect the contact position in response to the output of an interrupt signal, but also detect the contact position periodically (at a predetermined cycle). As the "specific operation buttons", operation buttons for selecting functions that are subject to ISO26262, which is the automotive functional safety standard, are assumed, but any operation button that a user, a product developer, or the like considers important may be included in the "specific operation buttons".

[0025] When the operation screen being displayed includes a "specific operation button" (it may include both the "specific operation button" and "other operation buttons"), an instruction is sent from the contact position acquisition unit 34 to the contact position identification unit 24 periodically at the timing when the interrupt signal is output, and the contact position sent in response to this instruction is acquired by the contact position acquisition unit 34.

[0026] Furthermore, if the "specific operation button" is not included in the operation screen being displayed, an instruction is sent from the contact position acquisition unit 34 to the contact position identification unit 24 at the timing when the interrupt signal is output, and the contact position sent in response to this instruction is acquired by the contact position acquisition unit 34.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an operational procedure for displaying an operation screen and selecting an operation button contained therein.

[0028] When the display image created by the display image creation unit 32 is displayed on the display device 20 (step 100), the contact position acquisition unit 34 judges whether or not a specific operation button (specific button) is included in the displayed screen (step 102). If the specific button is not included, a negative judgment is made, and the contact position acquisition unit 34 judges whether or not an interrupt signal has been output from the interrupt generation unit 22 (step 104). If an interrupt signal has not been output, a negative judgment is made, and the process returns to step 102 to repeat the judgment of the presence or absence of a specific button on the displayed screen.

[0029] Furthermore, when the interrupt signal is output, a positive determination is made in the judgment of step 104. Next, the contact position acquisition unit 34 sends an instruction to the contact position identification unit 24 to identify the contact position of the indicator, and acquires the identified contact position (step 106).

[0030] Next, the operation determination unit 36 ​​identifies an operation button corresponding to the contact position of the indicator captured by the contact position capture unit 34 (step 108). When the indicator points to an operation button, the pointed operation button is identified. When the contact position of the indicator is in an area other than an operation button, it is determined that there is no selectable operation button at the pointed location. When the identification of this operation button is completed, the process returns to step 102 and the determination of the presence or absence of a specified button on the displayed screen is repeated.

[0031] Also, if the specific button is included in the displayed screen, a positive determination is made in the determination of step 102. Next, the contact position capture unit 34 determines whether or not an interrupt signal has been output from the interrupt generation unit 22 (step 112). If an interrupt signal has been output, a positive determination is made. In this case, the process proceeds to step 106, where the contact position is identified and captured (step 106) and the operation content is identified (step 108), and then the process returns to step 102 and the determination of whether or not the specific button is present on the displayed screen is repeated.

[0032] If an interrupt signal is not output, a negative determination is made in the determination of step 112. Next, the contact position capture unit 34 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed (step 114). This predetermined time is measured from the start of display of the operation screen when that time is started. After that, it is measured from the start of display of the operation screen when the predetermined time has elapsed. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, a negative determination is made in the determination of step 114, and the process proceeds to step 112, where a determination is made as to whether an interrupt signal has been output. If the predetermined time has elapsed, a positive determination is made in the determination of step 114, and the process proceeds to step 106, where the contact position is specified and captured (step 106) and the operation content is specified (step 108), and then the process returns to step 102, where the determination of the presence or absence of a specific button on the displayed screen is repeated. However, most of the time the specified time has elapsed, the indicator is not in contact with the touch panel 12, and the operation content is specified in step 108, where a determination is made that there is no contact.

[0033] In this manner, in the in-car device 100 of this embodiment, when a specific button (specific operation area) is included in the display screen, the contact position of the indicator is periodically identified every time a predetermined time elapses, so that even if there is an abnormality in the interrupt generation and an interrupt signal is not output, it is possible to identify the contact position corresponding to the specific button.

[0034] Furthermore, since the contact position of a specific button is identified not only periodically but also when an interrupt occurs, during normal operation (when an interrupt signal is output normally) when there is no abnormality, the contact position can be detected at the moment the user contacts the specific button with the indicator, and even when an abnormality occurs and there is no interrupt, the periodic detection operation makes it possible to reliably detect the contact position of the indicator with the specific button.

[0035] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. In the above embodiment, when a specific button is included in the display screen, the contact position is identified at the time of interruption and at each predetermined time, but the contact position is identified at the time of interruption. For example, in the flow chart shown in FIG. 2, the determination of whether or not an interrupt signal is output in step 112 may be omitted.

[0036] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, when a specific button is included in the display screen, the contact position corresponding to the output of an interrupt signal and the contact position by periodic detection operation are identified in parallel, so that these identification results may be used to determine whether the interrupt signal output operation of the interrupt generating unit 22 is malfunctioning.

[0037] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an in-vehicle device of a modified example. The in-vehicle device 100A shown in Fig. 3 is different from the in-vehicle device 100 shown in Fig. 1 in that the display processing unit 30 is replaced with a display processing unit 30A. This display processing unit 30A is different in that an interruption failure determination unit 38 is added to the display processing unit 30. The interruption failure determination unit 38 corresponds to the interruption failure determination means.

[0038] Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing a modified operation procedure for determining an interrupt failure. The operation procedure shown in Fig. 4 differs from the operation procedure shown in Fig. 2 in that steps 200 and 202 are added after the operation of step 108.

[0039] After the operation button corresponding to the contact position of the indicator is specified (step 108), the interrupt failure judgment unit 38 judges whether or not the contact position of the specific button is specified in response to the output of an interrupt signal if the specified operation button is a specific button (step 200). If the interrupt generation unit 22 is operating normally, an interrupt signal should be output at the time when the indicator contacts the specific button (if the interrupt signal is output, a positive judgment is made in the judgment of step 200, and the process returns to step 102 to move to the judgment of the presence or absence of the specific button on the screen being displayed), so that the malfunction of the interrupt generation unit 22 can be confirmed by the absence of the interrupt signal output at this time. If the interrupt signal is not output, a negative judgment is made in the judgment of step 200, and the interrupt failure judgment unit 38 judges that an interrupt failure has occurred (step 202). After that, the process returns to step 102 and the judgment of the presence or absence of the specific button on the screen being displayed is repeated. Note that, when a malfunction of the interrupt signal output occurs, it is desirable to notify the user by outputting a warning display or a warning sound indicating the malfunction. Furthermore, when such a malfunction occurs, the contact position identification of all subsequent operation buttons may be performed at a predetermined cycle, which makes it possible to resume position detection of points (operation buttons other than the specified button) that became impossible to detect because no interrupt signal was output. [Industrial Applicability]

[0040] As described above, according to the present invention, the contact position is periodically identified for a specific operation area (operation button), making it possible to detect the contact position regardless of whether or not an abnormality in the occurrence of an interrupt exists. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 100, 100A Vehicle equipment 10 Display device 12 Touch Panel 20 Touch panel control unit 22 Interrupt generation unit 24 Contact position identification part 30, 30A Display processing unit 32 Display image creation section 34 Contact position capture section 36 Operation judgment section 38 Interrupt failure determination section 40 Vehicle control device

Claims

1. A touch panel disposed over a display screen of the display device; an interrupt signal output means for outputting an interrupt signal when contact of a pointer with the touch panel is detected; a touch position specifying means for specifying a touch position of a pointer using the touch panel when the interrupt signal is output while the specific operation area is not displayed on the display screen, and for specifying a touch position of a pointer using the touch panel at a predetermined cycle while the specific operation area is displayed on the display screen; A position detection device comprising:

2. The position detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact position identification means identifies the contact position of the indicator using the touch panel at a predetermined period when the specific operation area is displayed on the display screen, and identifies the contact position of the indicator using the touch panel when the interrupt signal is output.

3. The position detection device according to claim 2, further comprising an interrupt failure determination means for determining an operational malfunction of the interrupt signal output means when the interrupt signal is not output when contact of an indicator with the specific operation area is detected by the periodic contact position identification means.

4. The position detection device according to claim 3, characterized in that when the interrupt failure determination means determines that the interrupt signal output means is malfunctioning, the touch position identification means performs subsequent contact position identification at the specified period regardless of whether the specific operation area is displayed or not.

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