JP2016151777A - Input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device that exhibits a sense of click feeling during depression operation even when there is a limit in a depression width.SOLUTION: An input device 1 includes: a touch sensor 16 for outputting an operation signal on the basis of a contact position relative to an operation surface; a load detection section 15 for detecting a load to the operation surface of the touch sensor 16; an elastic section 12 for supporting the touch sensor 16 from the rear face of the operation surface; a drive section 11 for applying force to the elastic section 12 in the reverse direction to a load; and a control section 17 for controlling the drive section 11 so as to grant force equal to or larger than second force Fwith which the elastic section 12 buckles when the load detected by the load detection section 15 is larger than a first value f.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device.

  As a conventional technique, there is an input device that presents a click feeling with respect to a push-down operation (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  This input device includes an input operation unit that is supported in a freely swingable manner, a conductive convex spherical surface portion that is displaced in accordance with a swing operation of the input operation portion, and a convex spherical surface portion and a vertex of each other with an insulating adhesive. The dome-shaped elastic body to be bonded, the convex spherical surface portion is displaced by the swinging operation on the input operation section, and the electrode pair that detects the deformation of the dome-shaped elastic body due to the displacement by the electric potential, and the input operation section is pushed down The dome-shaped elastic body is deformed by the operation, and has an electrode for detecting contact with the dome-shaped elastic body in accordance with the deformation. The dome-shaped elastic body will be elastically deformed initially when the input operation unit is pushed down, but if the pressure is gradually increased, it will bend without endurance and a steep reaction force change for the operator. Therefore, it is possible to present a click feeling to the operator.

JP 2003-177868 A JP 2000-137576 A

  However, since the input device shown in Patent Document 1 presents a click feeling by bending an elastic member, a dome-shaped elastic body is formed on the support portion of the touch sensor when applied to the touch sensor pressing operation. However, there is a problem that the touch sensor cannot be applied when the push-down width is smaller than the push-down width necessary for bending the dome-shaped elastic body.

  On the other hand, there is an input device that presents a tactile sensation to an operator even when the push-down width is limited (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  The input device includes a touch panel, a pressing operation for the touch panel and a detection unit that detects a position on the touch panel of the pressing operation, and a vibration unit provided on a surface opposite to the operation surface of the touch panel. When a push-down operation is performed at a position on the touch panel corresponding to the position of the displayed button, a tactile sensation is presented to the operator by transmitting vibration from the vibration unit to the touch panel.

  However, although the input device shown in Patent Document 2 presents a tactile sensation, there is a problem that a click sensation cannot be presented during a push-down operation because it is based on vibration.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an input device that presents a click feeling during a pressing operation even when the pressing width is limited.

One aspect of the present invention is a touch sensor that outputs an operation signal based on a contact position on the operation surface;
A load detector that detects a load on the operation surface of the touch sensor;
An elastic portion for supporting the touch sensor from the back surface of the operation surface;
A drive unit that applies a force to the elastic unit in a direction opposite to the load;
Provided is an input device having a control unit that controls the drive unit so as to apply a force equal to or greater than a second force with which the elastic unit buckles when a load detected by the load detection unit is greater than a first value. To do.

  When the load of the load detection unit is smaller than the first value, the drive unit may control the drive unit so as to apply vibration to the elastic unit with a force smaller than the second value.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to present a certain operational feeling regardless of the user's operation content.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an input device. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views for explaining the configuration and operation of the drive unit. 3A to 3C are cross-sectional views for explaining the operation of the input device. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the force applied to the finger from the drive unit and the stroke of the drive unit.

[Embodiment]
(Configuration of input device)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an input device.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicating the whole schematically illustrates a typical input device according to the embodiment. Although this input device 1 is not specifically limited, For example, it is used in order to control operation | movement of vehicle equipment, such as an air conditioner, and it is used in order to control operation | movement of an audio apparatus, a navigation apparatus, etc., for example. Also good. In the input device 1, for example, the touch sensor 16 is disposed in a driver seat periphery such as a dash panel or a center console.

  The input device 1 includes a housing 10, a drive unit 11 that applies a force in the z direction to the elastic unit 12, an elastic unit 12 that is a coil spring that supports the substrate 14, and a substrate 14 that is elastically coupled to the housing 10. The substrate 14 supported by the contact between the elastic connecting portion 13 and the spherical joint portion 14a having a recess on the back surface and connected to the elastic portion 12, and the load applied from the finger 2 provided on the substrate 14 A load detection unit 15 that detects and outputs a load signal; a touch sensor 16 that is provided on the load detection unit 15 and outputs an operation signal in response to a contact operation on the operation surface of the finger 2; the load detection unit 15 and the touch sensor And a control unit 17 that receives the load signal and the contact signal output from 16, generates a drive signal based on the load signal and the contact signal, and outputs the drive signal to the drive unit 11.

  The drive unit 11 is configured by a solenoid as an example, and applies a force to the elastic unit 12 by being displaced in the z direction in the drawing based on a drive signal input from the control unit 17. Note that other types of actuators such as a voice coil actuator, a piezoelectric element, a magnetostrictive element, and a polymer actuator may be used as long as a mechanism capable of applying a force is provided.

The elastic portion 12 is a coil spring that is long and thin to a certain extent, and has a large aspect ratio between the diameter D and the length L of the coil. As an example, when the elastic modulus is 1 × 10 ³ N / m ² , an aspect ratio of 3 ≦ L / D ≦ 100 is used. The elastic modulus and the aspect ratio are selected so that the elastic portion 12 buckles with a predetermined force F _A as will be described later. The present invention is not limited to the coil spring as long as the buckle with a force F _A, hard steel, SUS, a rubber, an arbitrary material elastic rod-like, such as synthetic resin may be used.

  The elastic connecting portion 13 may be made of any material such as a coil or a resin as long as the substrate 14 can be elastically connected to the housing 10. The elastic connecting portion 13 is assumed to elastically connect the housing 10 and the substrate 14 with an elastic coefficient such that the displacement of the substrate 14 in the z direction is smaller than the displacement of the elastic portion 12 in the z direction.

  The substrate 14 is formed of a hard steel material, SUS, rubber, synthetic resin, or the like that is formed on a flat plate and has a strength that does not deform with respect to an external force. In addition, the concave portion on the back surface of the substrate 14 and the joint portion 14a are slidably in contact with each other, and have a depth such that the position of the joint portion 14a is not displaced when the elastic portion 12 is buckled. The joint portion 14a can be made of hard steel, SUS, rubber, synthetic resin, or the like.

  The load detection unit 15 can use a pressure-sensitive resistance method, a capacitance method, an electromagnetic induction method, a piezoelectric method, and the like, and the touch sensor 16 may function as the load detection unit 15 depending on the method.

  The touch sensor 16 can use a pressure-sensitive resistance method, a capacitance method, an electromagnetic induction method, a piezoelectric method, and the like, similarly to the load detection unit 15, and outputs an operation signal when the finger 2 touches the operation surface. .

  The control unit 17 is, for example, an ECU (Engine Control Unit) for controlling the operation of the in-vehicle device. As described later, when the load detected by the load detection unit 15 is smaller than a predetermined value, the control unit 17 A drive signal is output so as to vibrate, and when the load detected by the load detection unit 15 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the drive signal is output so as to give the drive unit 11 a force to buckle the elastic portion 12.

  In other words, when the load detected by the load detection unit 15 is smaller than a predetermined value, the control unit 17 performs a drag operation such as dragging, flicking, pinching, and swiping on the touch sensor 16 with the finger 2. The tactile sensation is presented to the finger 2 by vibration. At this time, the control unit 17 controls the temperature of the air conditioner up and down, the increase and decrease of the air volume, and the like by an operation signal corresponding to the tracing operation.

  When the load detected by the load detection unit 15 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the control unit 17 performs a push-down operation such as a tap, a double tap, or a long tap with the finger 2 on the touch sensor 16. And a click feeling is presented to the finger 2. At this time, the control unit 17 controls ON / OFF switching of the air conditioner, heating / cooling switching, and the like by an operation signal corresponding to the push-down operation. The click feeling presentation method will be described in detail in operation.

  The input device 1 may be further provided with a display that is a display means for displaying a control screen of the air conditioner. When a touch panel in which the display is integrated with the touch sensor 16 is adopted, the touch sensor 16 has a display. A transparent or translucent material is used so as not to disturb the display.

  Further, the indicated position on the display screen and the coordinates of the contact point on the touch sensor 16 may be a relative coordinate system that corresponds relatively, or may be an absolute coordinate system that corresponds one-to-one.

  The touch sensor 16 may have a display / operation surface with a rectangular outer shape, may select an arbitrary shape with a curve or a straight line, or may have a display / operation surface divided into a plurality of parts. It may be used.

  2A and 2B are cross-sectional views for explaining the configuration and operation of the drive unit.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the drive unit 11 is formed of a case 110 and a hollow cylindrical shape formed of a soft magnetic material such as iron or permalloy so as to surround the coil 112. A yoke 111 having a hole, a coil 112 that generates a magnetic field when energized, a plunger 113 disposed at a central portion of the coil 112, and one end attached to the plunger 113 and the other end attached to the yoke 111 to be separated from each other. A spring 114 that exerts a force in the direction, and a rod 115 that is formed of a non-magnetic material such as aluminum and has one end connected to the upper portion of the plunger 113 and the other end connected to the lower portion of the elastic portion 12.

  Energization of the coil 112 is controlled by a drive signal from the control unit 17. In the state where the coil 112 is not energized, the plunger 113 has a lower end in contact with the yoke 111 and the spring 114 has a natural length, as shown in FIG.

  Further, in a state where the coil 112 is energized, the plunger 113 rises over the reaction force of the spring 114 so that the plunger 113 is attracted to the stopper 111a of the yoke 111 so that the magnetic field generated by the coil 112 is a closed magnetic path. .

  In the drive unit 11, a current to be energized is controlled by a drive signal from the control unit 17, and vibration or force is transmitted from the plunger 113 to the elastic unit 12 through the rod 115.

(Operation of the embodiment)
Hereinafter, the operation of the input device 1 will be described separately with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 (1) a vibration presenting operation during a tracing operation and (2) a click feeling imparting operation during a pressing operation. 3A to 3C are cross-sectional views for explaining the operation of the input device 1. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the force applied to the finger 2 from the drive unit 11 and the stroke of the drive unit 11.

(1) Vibration presenting operation at the time of stroking operation First, when receiving an operation signal from the touch sensor 16, the control unit 17 receives a load signal from the load detection unit 15 and refers to the load f of the finger 2.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when the load f detected by the load detection unit 15 is smaller than _a predetermined value f _a ( _a force smaller than the force F _{A at} which the elastic portion 12 buckles), that is, the finger 2 has a force. When the touch sensor 16 is operated with _a force f smaller than f _a , the control unit 17 performs a tracing operation in the d direction (any direction on the xy plane) while the finger 2 is in contact with the touch sensor 16 with the force f. A drive signal is output so as to vibrate the drive unit 11.

Here, it is assumed that the force F (the maximum value) applied by the drive unit 11 to transmit vibration is at least smaller than F _A.

(2) Click feeling imparting operation at the time of pushing down As shown in FIG. 3B, when the load f detected by the load detection unit 15 is equal to or greater than _a predetermined value fa, that is, the finger 2 is force When the touch sensor 16 is operated with a force f equal to or greater than f _a , the control unit 17 determines that the finger 2 is performing a push-down operation, and applies a force F _C greater than the force F _A to the drive unit 11. A drive signal is output so as to be added to 12.

In order to apply force F to the finger 2 from the drive unit 11 through the elastic unit 12, the joint unit 14a, the substrate 14, the load detection unit 15 and the touch sensor 16, when the rod 115 of the drive unit 11 is displaced, first, the displacement is a stroke. since the force applied to the elastic section 12 at a point S _a is greater than _{F a,} the elastic portion 12 buckles. For this reason, even if the stroke of the rod 115 of the drive part 11 increases, the force applied to the finger 2 by the buckling of the elastic part 12 once decreases.

Further effects of buckling in the stroke S _B is eliminated if the stroke of the rod 115 of the driving unit 11 increases the force F _B as the minimum value, the force applied to the finger is increased again.

Then, the stroke of the rod 115 of the driving unit 11 is the force applied to the finger when increased to S _C becomes F _C.

Accordingly, the force applied to the finger 2 once increases to the force F _A , then decreases rapidly to F _B , and increases again to F _C, so that a click feeling can be given to the finger 2. Incidentally, the time required from force reach its _{F C,} as an example, is a 1 msec-30 msec, it can be changed by the design.

Incidentally, after the stroke of the rod 115 of the driver 11 increases to S _C, finger 2 to fit to weaken the force f, both load points A and B by hysteresis to return the stroke to zero to a small direction However, it is possible to present a click feeling to the finger 2 with a similar curve.

(Effect of embodiment)
According to the above-described embodiment, the elastic part 12 is pushed up by the drive part 11 and the elastic part 12 is bent so that a click feeling is presented to the finger 2. It is necessary to provide a parting between 10 and a click feeling can be presented at the time of the pressing operation even when the pressing width is limited. Even when there is no limitation on the push-down width, the same effect can be achieved by adjusting the stroke amount of the drive unit 11.

  In addition, when the load f of the finger 2 is smaller than a predetermined value, vibration is applied from the drive unit 11, so that a tactile sensation can be presented during the tracing operation. The presentation of tactile sensation may be switched based on the position of the finger 2 on the touch sensor 16.

[Modification]
As described above, the typical configuration example of the input device 1 according to the present invention has been described with reference to each of the above-described embodiments and illustrated examples. However, the following modifications are possible.
(1) The input device 1 can be applied not only to an in-vehicle device but also to input devices of various electronic / electrical devices.
(2) The input device 1 can appropriately select the number of arrangement, the arrangement position, the arrangement form, etc. according to the purpose of use, for example.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from or adjusting the technical idea of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 2 Finger 10 Case 11 Drive part 12 Elastic part 13 Elastic connection part 14 Board | substrate 14a Joint part 15 Load detection part 16 Touch sensor 17 Control part 110 Case 111 Yoke 111a Stopper 112 Coil 113 Plunger 114 Spring 115 Rod

Claims (2)

A touch sensor that outputs an operation signal based on a contact position on the operation surface;
A load detector that detects a load on the operation surface of the touch sensor;
An elastic portion for supporting the touch sensor from the back surface of the operation surface;
A drive unit that applies a force to the elastic unit in a direction opposite to the load;
An input device comprising: a control unit that controls the drive unit so as to apply a force equal to or greater than a second force at which the elastic unit buckles when a load detected by the load detection unit is greater than a first value.   2. The drive unit according to claim 1, wherein when the load of the load detection unit is smaller than a first value, the drive unit controls the drive unit to apply vibration to the elastic unit with a force smaller than the second value. Input device.

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