This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 102116352, filed on May 8, 2013. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch technology and in particular, to a key module and signal generating of the key module.
2. Description of Related Art
In General, an electronic device generally has a mechanical key. However, if the mechanical key is disposed on the electronic device, it may cause problems, such as a structure of the electronic device incapable of being light and compact, the electronic device body incapable of staying integrally formed. In addition, comparing with a capacitive key, lifespan of the mechanical key is commonly shorter than the capacitive key. Therefore, the capacitive key has replaced the mechanical key and become the mainstream of the electronic device.
However, for the electronic device having the capacitive key, the electronic device may correspondingly generate a sensing signal merely if a user quickly swipes the capacitive key using a finger. Thus, when the user does not actually want to press the capacitive key, but for example, just swipes the touch screen of the electronic device by the finger, the capacitive key may be accidentally touched, which would cause malfunction easily. Moreover, a conventional capacitive key scheme would be incapable of processing in case the user only puts the finger on the key region but not actually wants to press the key.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a key module and a signal generating method of the key module that are capable of effectively preventing an electronic device from malfunction due to an accident touch of a user.
The present invention provides a key module suitable for an electronic device with a processing system. The key module includes a detecting module and a controller. The detecting module includes a main electrode conductor and at least one assisting electrode conductor. The assisting electrode conductor is disposed around the main electrode conductor. The controller is coupled to the main electrode conductor and the assisting electrode conductor. When the controller determines that a touch is detected by the main electrode conductor, but not detected by the assisting electrode conductor, the controller transmits a key signal to the processing system.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a signal generating method of a key module suitable for an electronic device with a processing system. The signal generating method of the key module comprises: providing a detecting module including a main electrode conductor and at least one assisting electrode conductor, wherein the assisting electrode conductor is disposed around the main electrode conductor; determining whether a touch is detected by the main electrode conductor, but not detected by the assisting electrode conductor; transmitting a key signal to the processing system when the touch is detected by the main electrode conductor, but not detected by the assisting electrode conductor.
To sum up, the present invention provides a key module and a signal generating method of the key module. The key signal is generated only when a touch is detected by the main electrode conductor in the key module touch but not detected by the assisting electrode conductor. Accordingly, the electronic device is effectively prevented from malfunction due to an accident touch of the user.
In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention comprehensible, several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
The electronic device 10 includes a display 11 and a key module 12. The display 11 is, for example, any type of display or touch display. For example, the display 11 may be a capacitive, resistive, or optical touch display, etc. In particular, the electronic device 10 is only an application of the key module 12 provided by the present invention, which constructs no limitations to the invention. For example, in one embodiment, the key module 12 may also be disposed on any type of electronic device without being equipped with a display, such as a touch pad or a touch table, which depends on actual requirements.
The key module 12 includes a detecting module 122 and a controller 124. The detecting module 122 serves to detect a touch of a user. For example, the detecting module 122 may be disposed on a specific position on the electronic device 10 and detects a touch operation of the user on the specific position or a position close to the specific position by using an input means (e.g., a finger or a stylus). The controller 124 is coupled to the detecting module 122 and serves to transform the touch detected by the detecting module 122 to a key signal according to a predetermined condition and transmit the key signal to the processing system of the electronic device 10. Several embodiments are described below as examples showing that the disclosure can actually be realized.
Specifically, if it is defined that the main electrode conductor 21 has a side 21_1, a side 21_2, a side 213, and a side 214, the assisting electrode conductor 22 is disposed adjacent to the side 21_1 of the main electrode conductor 21, the assisting electrode conductor 23 is disposed adjacent to the side 21_2 of the main electrode conductor 21, the assisting electrode conductor 24 is disposed adjacent to the side 21_3 of the main electrode conductor 21, and the assisting electrode conductor 22 is disposed opposite to the assisting electrode conductor 24.
Furthermore, in order to explicitly clarify the directionality in
The main electrode conductor 21, the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24 are all coupled to the controller 124. The main electrode conductor 21, the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24 are all, for example, electrode conductors composed of at least one metal material, and respectively capable of detecting the touch performed thereon by the user. For example, a capacitance value of the main electrode conductor 21 may be changed if the use touches the main electrode conductor 21. When the controller 124 detects that the change of the capacitance value of the main electrode conductor 21, the controller 124 may determine that the user is touching the main electrode conductor 21 or a position where the main electrode conductor 21 is located. The touch determination of the other assisting electrode conductors, i.e., the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24, are basically the same as the main electrode conductor 21 and thus, will not be repeated hereinafter.
It should be noticed that in the present embodiment, the main electrode conductor 21 is the core of the detecting module 122. That is, the controller 124 performs the follow-up determination operation only when the main electrode conductor 21 detects a touch. The assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24 are disposed in the periphery of the main electrode conductor 21 so as to determine whether the user directly taps the main electrode conductor 21, or accidentally touches the main electrode conductor 21 during the process of performing a dragging, swiping, or parking operation.
Generally, if the user directly taps on the main electrode conductor 21, the user commonly may not touch the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24. Conversely, if accidentally touching the main electrode conductor 21 during the process of performing the dragging, swiping, or parking operation on the electronic device 10, the user must have a great probability simultaneously touching one of the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23 and the assisting electrode conductor 24 or a combination thereof, so that a capacitance value of one of the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24 or the combination thereof is changed simultaneously with the capacitance value of the main electrode conductor 21.
In the present embodiment, when the controller 124 determines that the touch is detected by the main electrode conductor 21, but not detected by the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23 and the assisting electrode conductor 24, the controller 124 may transmit a key signal to the processing system. In contrary, when the controller 124 determines that the touch is detected not only by the main electrode conductor 21, but also by the one of the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23 and the assisting electrode conductor 24 or the combination thereof, the controller does not transmit the key signal to the processing system so as to reduce the probability of the malfunction occurring in the electronic device 10.
Furthermore, in order to determine whether the touch is simultaneously detected by the main electrode conductor 21, the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24, the controller 124 may set a predetermined time (e.g., 0.1˜0.2 seconds). If the touch is detected by the main electrode conductor 21 and one of the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24 or the combination thereof within the predetermined time, the controller 124 may also determine that the touch is a malfunction of the user without generating the key signal due to the user touching the main electrode conductor 21.
In each of the following embodiments, the basic operations among the main electrode conductor, the assisting electrode conductors, and the controller that is described in detail in the first embodiment will remain, and only relative positions of shapes and disposition of the main electrode conductor and/or the assisting electrode conductors are adjusted.
The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the present embodiment, an opening 32 is in the centre of the main electrode conductor 31. Thereby, when a light source device (e.g., light emitting diode (LED)) is disposed below the detecting module 122, and the metal material of the main electrode conductor 31 is non-transparent or low-transparent, the light source (e.g., the LED light source) below the detecting module 122 may pass through the opening 32.
In an embodiment, the assisting electrode conductor 22, the assisting electrode conductor 23, and the assisting electrode conductor 24 of
In detail, if it is defined that the main electrode conductor 41 has a side 41_1, a side 41_2, a side 41_3, and a side 41_4, the assisting electrode conductor 42 is disposed around and adjacent to the side 41_1 and the side 41_2 of the main electrode conductor 41, and the assisting electrode conductor 43 is disposed around and adjacent to the side 41_3 and the side 41_4 of the main electrode conductor 41.
As shown in
In order to explicit clarify the directionality in
The difference between the present embodiment and the third embodiment is that, in the present embodiment, the main electrode conductor 51 has an opening 52 (while the main electrode conductor 41 does not have an opening). Thereby, when a light source device (e.g., LED) is disposed below the detecting module 122, and the metal material of the main electrode conductor 51 is non-transparent or low-transparent, the light source (e.g., the LED light source) below the detecting module 122 may pass through the opening 52.
In an embodiment, the assisting electrode conductor 42 and the assisting electrode conductor 43 of
In detail, if it is defined that the main electrode conductor 61 and the main electrode conductor 62 have common sides 61_1 and 61_2, then the assisting electrode conductor 63 is disposed adjacent to the side 61_1, the assisting electrode conductor 64 is disposed adjacent to the side 61_2, and the assisting electrode conductor 63 is disposed opposite to the assisting electrode conductor 64. Moreover, the disposition manners of the assisting electrode conductor 63 and the assisting electrode conductor 64 may refer to those of the assisting electrode conductor 22 and the assisting electrode conductor 24 in the first embodiment.
In order to explicitly clarify the directionality in
The difference between the present embodiment and the sixth embodiment is that in the present embodiment, the main electrode conductor 71 includes a basic part 71_1 and an extended part 71_2, the main electrode conductor 72 includes a basic part 72_1 and an extended part 72_2, and the basic part 71_1 is disposed opposite to the basic part 72_1. The extended part 71_2 is adjacent to the assisting electrode conductor 63 and extended toward the basic part 72_1, and the extended part 72_2 is adjacent to the assisting electrode conductor 64 and extended toward the basic part 71_1. In particular, the extended part 71_2 is not connected with the basic part 72_1, and the extended part 72_2 is also not connected with the basic part 71_1 so as to prevent touch-sensing capabilities of the main electrode conductors 71 and 72 from being reduced.
Accordingly, when a light source device (e.g., an LED) is disposed below the detecting module 122, and the metal material of the main electrode conductor 71 is non-transparent or low transparent, the light source (e.g., the LED light source) below the detecting module 122 may pass through an opening between the main electrode conductor 71 and the main electrode conductor 72.
In an embodiment, the assisting electrode conductor 63 and the assisting electrode conductor 64 of
Furthermore, the present invention also provides a signal generating method of a key module, which is suitable for the key module 122 and/or the electronic device 10 described in the first embodiment through the sixth embodiment in the above.
For example,
The implementation details regarding the signal generating method of the key module may sufficiently refer to and be taught from the descriptions in connection with the first embodiment through the sixth embodiment in the above, and thus, will not be repeated.
In light of the foregoing, the present invention provides the key module and the signal generating method thereof, where the key signal is generated only when the touch is detected by the main electrode conductor in the key module, but not detected by the assisting electrode conductor so as to effectively prevent the electronic device from malfunction due to accident touches by the user.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102116352 | May 2013 | TW | national |