JP5345912B2 - Touch panel and touch panel unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch panel for touch or acoustic feedback and a touch panel unit.

  Conventionally, a touch panel device that performs tactile feedback using a piezoelectric actuator is known. 9A and 9B are perspective views showing a configuration of a conventional touch panel device 900. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, in the touch panel device 900, the piezoelectric actuator is interposed between the liquid crystal display panel 920 and the touch panel 930. An example of such a device is a touch panel input device described in Patent Document 1. The piezoelectric actuator is supported on the liquid crystal display panel 920 by support portions 922 and 923, and transmits vibration to the touch panel 930 through the movable portion 925.

  In the touch panel input device described in Patent Document 1, a piezoelectric substrate that can be expanded and contracted by applying a voltage is fixed to a support substrate with a conductive adhesive, and a conductive layer on the support substrate and an electrode of the piezoelectric plate via the conductive adhesive. Taking continuity with. An adhesive layer inserted as a spacer between the movable plate and the support substrate also fills the space between the piezoelectric plate and the movable plate. When a pressure on the input operation surface is detected, the movable plate and the support substrate are vibrated by the expanding and contracting piezoelectric substrate, and the vibration of the tactile feedback is controlled by finely controlling the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric substrate.

JP 2003-122507 A

  However, the touch panel input device described in Patent Document 1 uses an expansion / contraction drive type piezoelectric plate, and the vibration is small and the piezoelectric plate is not directly fixed to the movable plate. Therefore, vibration is not sufficiently transmitted, and fine tactile sense or acoustic feedback cannot be realized. In addition, a thin single-layer piezoelectric plate is disposed in the gap between the movable plate and the support substrate, and has a configuration that is bulky compared to the small vibration. In addition, the arrangement work of the piezoelectric plate at the time of manufacture is complicated, the adjustment of the position is difficult, and the position accuracy is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a touch panel unit and a touch panel unit capable of efficiently transmitting sufficient vibration to the touch panel and realizing various tactile sensations or acoustic feedback by fine vibration control. With the goal.

  (1) In order to achieve the above object, the touch panel of the present invention is a touch panel for tactile sensation or acoustic feedback, and is provided on a fixed outer frame, and supports both longitudinal ends of a rectangular plate-like piezoelectric actuator. And a movable base unit that is provided integrally with an inner plate formed inside the outer frame and is fixed to a longitudinal central portion of the rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator. The inner plate is vibrated in conjunction with the movable base portion by bending displacement of a plate-like piezoelectric actuator. Accordingly, the inner plate vibrates due to the bending displacement of the piezoelectric actuator, and fine tactile sense or acoustic feedback can be realized.

  (2) The touch panel of the present invention includes a frame groove formed between the outer frame and the inner plate. Thereby, the rigidity of a touch panel can be weakened and an inner board can be vibrated easily. Thereby, the piezoelectric actuator can be directly fixed to the touch panel, and sufficient vibration can be efficiently transmitted to the touch panel. Various tactile sensations or acoustic feedback can be realized by fine vibration control.

  (3) In the touch panel of the present invention, an accommodation groove for floating and accommodating the rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator is formed along both side edges of the outer frame, and the support platform and the movable platform are: It is provided in the accommodation groove. Thereby, since the piezoelectric actuator can be accommodated in the accommodation groove, alignment at the time of manufacture is easy, and the touch panel unit can be made compact.

  (4) Moreover, the touch panel of this invention is further equipped with the terminal which was embed | buried inside or installed in the surface and one part was exposed to one side of the said support base part.

  Accordingly, when the piezoelectric actuator having the extraction electrode is fixed to one end portion in the longitudinal direction, conduction between the terminal and the electrode can be established at the same time, and an input voltage can be applied to the piezoelectric actuator. By providing the terminal and the electrode in contact with each other in this way, workability during manufacturing can be improved. In addition, since the configuration is simplified, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  (5) Further, the touch panel unit of the present invention is in the shape of a rectangular plate with the above touch panel, and both longitudinal ends are fixed to the support base, and the longitudinal center is fixed to the movable base. And a piezoelectric actuator.

  This makes it easy to fix the piezoelectric actuator for tactile sense or acoustic feedback to the touch panel. In addition, since the piezoelectric actuator is directly accommodated in the touch panel, various tactile sensations or acoustic feedback can be provided by fine vibration control.

  (6) Further, the touch panel unit of the present invention is in the shape of a rectangular plate with the above touch panel, and both longitudinal ends are fixed to the support base, and the longitudinal center is fixed to the movable base. The rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator has a take-out electrode at a longitudinal end portion of one main surface, and a terminal exposed from the touch panel and the take-out electrode are connected to each other. It is characterized by that.

  As a result, the piezoelectric actuator can be fixed to the touch panel and electrical conduction can be established. As a result, workability at the time of manufacturing can be improved and manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  (7) The touch panel unit of the present invention is characterized in that the piezoelectric actuator is shimless. As a result, the ground electrode and the extraction electrode for the drive electrode can be easily provided together at the longitudinal end of the one main surface.

  (8) Further, in the touch panel unit of the present invention, the rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator includes a bending region at both ends in the longitudinal direction that bends in response to voltage application, and a longitudinal direction in which the bending region is bent in the opposite direction. And a central bent region.

  Thereby, even if both ends of the piezoelectric actuator are fixed, the deformation is not hindered when the piezoelectric actuator is bent and deformed. Therefore, the piezoelectric actuator can be easily deformed while being held.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently transmit sufficient vibration to the touch panel and realize various tactile sensations or acoustic feedback by fine vibration control.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of a touchscreen type input device. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the touchscreen unit which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows a part of structure of the touchscreen unit which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the structure of the touchscreen unit which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the touchscreen which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the touchscreen which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the electrode pattern of the internal electrode of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the electrode pattern of the internal electrode of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the electrode pattern of the internal electrode of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the electrode pattern of the internal electrode of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the electrode pattern of the internal electrode of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the electrode pattern of the internal electrode of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the bending deformation state of the piezoelectric actuator which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the conventional touch panel unit. It is a side view which shows the structure of the conventional touch panel unit.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components in the respective drawings, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[First Embodiment]
(Configuration of touch panel type input device)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a touch panel type input device. The touch panel input device 100 includes a touch panel unit 110, a touch panel circuit 180, a digital signal processor (DSP) 185, and a class D amplifier 190.

  The touch panel unit 110 includes a liquid crystal display panel 120, a piezoelectric actuator 140, and a touch panel 160. The touch panel unit 110 is incorporated in the touch panel type input device 100 and transmits vibration to a contact target as a tactile sensation or acoustic feedback in response to the touch on the touch panel 160. The touch panel 160 detects a contact at a position corresponding to a display position of an image displayed on a display device (not shown) and generates an input signal. The touch panel circuit 180 processes a signal obtained from the touch panel 160 to output a signal representing a position where the user's fingertip contacts on the panel surface of the touch panel 160.

  The digital signal processor 185 receives a signal representing a contact position on the touch panel 160, and classifies a mixed signal obtained by mixing the acoustic signal and the haptic signal so as to generate a predetermined acoustic and haptic vibration according to the position. Output to the amplifier 190. The digital signal processor 185 does not distinguish between an acoustic signal and a tactile signal, and mixes and outputs both.

  The class D amplifier 190 drives the piezoelectric actuator 140 based on the mixed signal input from the digital signal processor 185. The class D amplifier 190 is an amplifier that converts an input analog signal into a PWM (Pulse Wide Modulation) signal and outputs an analog signal amplified in terms of power by passing the PWM signal that has passed through the switching circuit through an LC filter. is there. The piezoelectric actuator 140 vibrates when detecting contact with the touch panel 160, thereby enabling acoustic or tactile feedback.

(Configuration of touch panel unit)
Next, the configuration of the touch panel unit 110 will be described. 2A to 2C are a perspective view, a plan view, and a side view showing the configuration (or part of the configuration) of the touch panel unit 110. FIG. In FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the liquid crystal display panel 120 is omitted. 3A and 3B are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the touch panel 160. In FIG. 3A, the line indicated by 3B-3B indicates a vertical cross section passing through the line. The cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the cross-section 3B shown in FIG. 3A (the drawing numbers correspond to the cross-sectional numbers in the following drawings as well).

  The touch panel 160 has an inner plate 161 and an outer frame 165 made of resin. The outer frame 165 is fixed to the liquid crystal display panel 120. The inner plate 161 and the outer frame 165 are divided by a frame groove 163 between them. That is, the frame groove 163 is thinner than the inner plate 161 and the outer frame 165. Thereby, the rigidity of the touch panel 160 can be weakened and the inner plate 161 can be easily vibrated. The inner plate 161 is a part to be contacted with a finger or the like, and can detect the contact. It also serves as an intermediary part that transmits vibration from the piezoelectric actuator 140 as tactile sense or acoustic feedback. At that time, in particular, the inner plate 161 is vibrated. The outer frame 165 supports the inner plate 161 and has rectangular accommodating grooves 170 that can accommodate the piezoelectric actuator 140 along the edges of both ends thereof. The frame groove 163 is provided on the side opposite to the contact surface such as a finger.

  The housing groove 170 has support base portions 172 and 173 projecting from the groove bottom 171 at both ends thereof. The accommodation groove 170 is formed so that the piezoelectric actuator 140 can be accommodated, and the piezoelectric actuator 140 can be easily aligned at the time of manufacture. Moreover, the touch panel unit 110 can be made compact by accommodating the piezoelectric actuator 140. Further, a movable base 175 protrudes from the groove bottom 171 at the center of the housing groove 170. The movable table 175 is integrally formed with the same thickness as the inner plate 161. Thereby, the vibration of the movable stand part 175 can be transmitted to the inner plate 161 finely. The base surfaces of the support base portions 172 and 173 are preferably on the same plane as the base surface of the movable base portion 175. Thereby, the support base parts 172 and 173 and the movable base part 175 come into contact with one main surface of the piezoelectric actuator 140 having a rectangular plate shape.

  The touch panel 160 has an external connection terminal 167. The external connection terminal 167 outputs a signal generated by touching the touch panel 160 such as a finger to the outside, and inputs a driving voltage to the piezoelectric actuator 140. In addition, although not illustrated, a terminal for electrically connecting the external connection terminal 167 and the piezoelectric actuator 140 is embedded in the touch panel 160 or installed on the surface, and a part thereof is exposed on the support base 172. . Touch panel 160 is preferably formed by integral molding with a terminal.

  The piezoelectric actuator 140 is formed in a rectangular plate shape and a shimless laminated type, and is bent and deformed in an uneven shape in the thickness direction by application of an AC voltage. The piezoelectric actuator 140 is housed in the housing groove 170 of the touch panel 160, and both longitudinal end portions 142 and 143 thereof are fixed to the support base portions 172 and 173, and the longitudinal center portion 145 is fixed to the movable base portion 175. Yes. These anchors are indicated by hatching in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, the outer frame bottom surfaces 165 a and 165 b of the touch panel are fixed on the liquid crystal display panel 120. With such a structure, the piezoelectric actuator 140 can be fixed to the outer frame 165 of the touch panel 160 and the inner plate 161 can be vibrated efficiently. As a result, various tactile sensations or acoustic feedback can be realized by fine vibration control. A conductive adhesive is used for fixing the longitudinal end portion 142 and the support base portion 172 to each other. For other fixings, an adhesive is used, but it is not necessarily conductive.

  4A and 4B are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, showing the piezoelectric actuator 140, and FIGS. 4C and 4D are cross-sectional views showing the piezoelectric actuator 140. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the piezoelectric actuator 140 has extraction electrodes 151 to 153 at one end in the longitudinal direction. The terminals exposed on the support base 172, the extraction electrodes 151 to 153, and Is connected. Accordingly, when the piezoelectric actuator 140 having the extraction electrodes 151 to 153 is fixed to one end portion 142 in the longitudinal direction, conduction between the terminal (not shown) and the extraction electrodes 151 to 153 can be established at the same time. An input voltage can be applied to the actuator 140. Thus, by providing the terminal and the extraction electrodes 151 to 153 in contact with each other, the piezoelectric actuator 140 can be fixed to the touch panel 160 and the terminal and the extraction electrodes 151 to 153 can be electrically connected. As a result, the workability at the time of manufacturing can be improved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced by simplifying the configuration.

  The piezoelectric actuator 140 has a structure in which piezoelectric bodies 146 on which electrodes 151b to 153b are printed are stacked. The electrodes 151b of the respective layers are connected to have the same potential by vias 151a. The electrodes 152b and 153b in each layer are also connected to each other by the vias 152a and 153a so as to have the same potential.

  5A to 5C are plan views showing electrode patterns of internal electrodes of the piezoelectric actuator 140, respectively. The electrode 151b is a ground electrode. The electrodes 152b and 153b are drive electrodes. The piezoelectric body 146 is polarized in the direction from the electrode 152b to the electrode 151b and the direction from the electrode 151b to the electrode 152b (or the opposite direction in any case). During driving, the piezoelectric actuator 140 is bent and displaced by applying an AC voltage having the same phase to the electrodes 152b and 153b. The piezoelectric body 146 may be polarized in the direction from the electrode 152b to the electrode 151b and the direction from the electrode 153b to the electrode 151b (or the opposite direction in any case). In that case, the piezoelectric actuator 140 can be bent and displaced by applying an AC voltage having an opposite phase to the electrodes 152b and 153b.

[Second Embodiment]
In the above embodiment, the bending of the piezoelectric actuator 140 is restricted by fixing the longitudinal ends 142 and 143. However, it is possible to make the bending difficult to be restricted. In other words, by making the piezoelectric actuator bend in an S-shaped cross section, it is possible to relax the deformation restraint caused by both ends in the longitudinal direction.

  6A is a plan view showing a piezoelectric actuator 240 capable of S-shaped bending, and FIGS. 6B to 6D are cross-sectional views showing the piezoelectric actuator 240. FIG. The piezoelectric actuator 240 is formed in a rectangular plate shape and a shimless laminated type, and is bent and deformed into an S-shaped cross section when an AC voltage is applied. The piezoelectric actuator 240 is fixed to the touch panel in the same manner as in the first embodiment. That is, the piezoelectric actuator 240 is housed in the housing groove 170 of the touch panel 160, the longitudinal ends 242 and 243 thereof are fixed to the support bases 172 and 173, and the longitudinal center part 245 is fixed to the movable base 175. ing. An adhesive is used for fixing. Both ends 242 and 243 in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric actuator 240 are fixed by support portions 122 and 123 on the liquid crystal display panel 120.

  The piezoelectric actuator 240 has extraction electrodes 251 to 253 at one end in the longitudinal direction, and the terminals exposed on the support base 172 are connected to the extraction electrodes 251 to 253. Thus, by providing the terminal and the extraction electrodes 251 to 253 in contact with each other, the piezoelectric actuator 240 can be fixed to the touch panel 160 and the terminal and the extraction electrodes 251 to 253 can be electrically connected.

  6B to 6D, the piezoelectric actuator 240 has a structure in which piezoelectric bodies 246 on which electrodes 251b to 253b are printed are stacked. The electrodes 251b of each layer are connected to have the same potential by a via 251a. The electrodes 252b and 253b in each layer are also connected to each other at the same potential by vias 252a and 253a.

  The piezoelectric actuator 240 has a bent region 257 at both ends in the longitudinal direction and a bent region 258 at the center in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, even if the longitudinal direction both ends 242 and 243 of the piezoelectric actuator 240 are fixed, the deformation is not hindered when the piezoelectric actuator 240 is bent and deformed. Therefore, the piezoelectric actuator 240 can be held and easily deformed.

  7A to 7C are plan views showing electrode patterns of internal electrodes of the piezoelectric actuator 240, respectively. The electrode 251b is a ground electrode. The electrodes 252b and 253b are drive electrodes. The piezoelectric body 246 is polarized in the direction from the electrode 252b to the electrode 251b and the direction from the electrode 251b to the electrode 253b (or the opposite direction in any case). During driving, the piezoelectric actuator 240 is bent and displaced by applying an AC voltage having the same phase to the electrodes 252b and 253b. The piezoelectric body 246 may be polarized in the direction from the electrode 252b to the electrode 251b and the direction from the electrode 253b to the electrode 251b (or the opposite direction in any case). In that case, the piezoelectric actuator 240 can be bent and displaced by applying an AC voltage having an opposite phase to the electrodes 252b and 253b.

  In order to form internal electrodes having cross sections as shown in FIGS. 6B to 6D, the electrode patterns shown in FIG. 7B and the electrode patterns shown in FIG. 7A are alternately laminated from the first layer to the sixth layer. Then, the electrode patterns shown in FIG. 7C and the electrode patterns shown in FIG. 7A are alternately stacked from the seventh layer to the eleventh layer. In this manner, the bending region 257 and the bending region 258 are bent in opposite directions, and the displacement of the longitudinal center portion 245 can be increased while the displacement of the longitudinal ends 242 and 243 is reduced.

  FIG. 8 is a side view showing a bending deformation state of the piezoelectric actuator 240. As shown in FIG. 8, the bending region 257 and the bending region 258 of the piezoelectric actuator 240 can be bent in opposite directions to be bent in an S shape.

  In the above embodiment, a laminated piezoelectric actuator is used as an example of a piezoelectric actuator, but a single-layer piezoelectric actuator may be used. Further, the number of stacked layers is not particularly limited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Touch panel type input device 110 Touch panel unit 120 Liquid crystal display panel 122, 123 Support part 140 Piezoelectric actuator 142,143 Longitudinal end part 145 Longitudinal center part 146 Piezoelectric element 151-153 Extraction electrode 151a-153a Via 151b-153b Electrode 160 Touch panel 161 Inner plate 163 Frame groove 165 Outer frame 165a, 165b Outer frame bottom surface 167 External connection terminal 170 Housing groove 171 Groove bottom 172, 173 Support base 175 Movable base 180 Touch panel circuit 185 Digital signal processor 190 Class D amplifier 240 Piezoelectric Actuators 242, 243 Longitudinal end 245 Longitudinal central portion 246 Piezoelectric bodies 251-253 Extraction electrodes 251a-253a Vias 251b-253b Electrodes 257, 258 Bending Pass

Claims (7)

A touch panel for tactile or acoustic feedback,
A support base provided on a fixed outer frame and supporting both longitudinal ends of a rectangular plate-like piezoelectric actuator;
A movable base portion that is integrally provided to project from the inner plate integrally formed with the outer frame to the outer frame side and is integrally provided on the inner side of the outer frame, and is fixed to the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator; ,
A frame groove formed between the outer frame and the inner plate so as to be integrally connected to each other, and formed thinner than either the outer frame or the inner plate ;
A touch panel, wherein the inner plate is vibrated in conjunction with the movable base portion by bending displacement of the rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator. An accommodation groove for accommodating the rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator floating from the liquid crystal display panel supporting the outer frame is formed along both side edges of the outer frame ,
The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the support base and the movable base are provided in the housing groove. The touch panel according to claim 1 , further comprising a terminal embedded inside or on a surface and partially exposed on one of the support base portions. The touch panel according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
A touch panel unit comprising: a rectangular plate having a piezoelectric actuator in which both longitudinal ends are fixed to the support base and a central portion in the longitudinal direction is fixed to the movable base. A touch panel according to claim 3 ;
A rectangular plate-like, with both ends in the longitudinal direction fixed to the support base, and a center in the longitudinal direction fixed to the movable base, and a piezoelectric actuator,
The rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator has an extraction electrode at a longitudinal end portion of one main surface, and a terminal exposed from the touch panel and the extraction electrode are connected to each other. The touch panel unit according to claim 5 , wherein the piezoelectric actuator is shimless. The rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric actuator includes a bending region on both ends in the longitudinal direction that bends in response to application of a voltage,
The touch panel unit according to any one of claims 4 to 6 , further comprising a bending region at a center in a longitudinal direction that is bent in a direction opposite to the bending region.

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