Patent Grant
10496221
The disclosures discussed herein relate to a position detection device, an image display device, and an image display system, and more specifically, to a position detection device capable of detecting a position of an object, an image display device including the position detection device, and an image display system including the image display device.
Electronic information boards having a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display with a touch panel have been frequently used in regular meetings and remote meetings.
To use such an electronic information board, a contact position of an electronic pen, an operator's finger, or the like that touches a display area of a display need to be detected.
For example, the coordinate input device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a light guide member; an illumination light source coupled to an edge of the light guide member and configured to illuminate inside of the light guide member; at least two direction detectors configured to detect a traveling direction of propagating light propagating inside the light guiding member, the propagating light being generated in response to a non-light emitter and a emitter coming into contact with the light guiding member; an illumination light source blinking unit configured to obtain positional coordinates of the contact point by triangulation, based on detection results of the traveling direction of the propagating light detected by the direction detectors to periodically blink the illumination light source; and a position detector configured to detect a position of a non-light emitter subject to detection during an illumination period of the illumination light source, and to detect a position of a light emitter subject to detection during a non-illumination period of the illumination light source.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-021790
According to an aspect of the present invention, a position detection device for detecting positions of a non-emitter and an emitter in a detection area is provided. The position detection device includes
one or more reflective members disposed around the detection area;
a plurality of illumination light sources configured to emit light toward the reflective member;
a plurality of light receiving sensors configured to receive light reflected by the reflective member and light emitted from the light emitter; and
a control device configured to control the plurality of illumination light sources and the light emitter, wherein
based on previous detection statuses of the non-light emitter and the light emitter, the control device sets a time ratio of a time of a non-light emitter detection mode to a time of a light emitter detection mode, and sets timings of the non-light emitter detection mode and the light emitter detection mode, the non-light emitter detection mode being a mode in which the non-light emitter is subject to detection, and the light emitter detection mode being a mode in which the light emitter is subject to detection.
Other objects and further features of embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following, an embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
The electronic information board system 1 includes an electronic information board 10 as an image display device, a laptop computer 90 as a terminal, a network 204, and the like.
The network 204 may be the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network) or the like.
The laptop computer 90 is connected to the electronic information board 10. The electronic information board 10 is connected to the network 204.
As illustrated in
The display 20 includes a flat panel such as a liquid crystal panel or a plasma panel. A display surface 22 is formed on a front surface of a casing of the display 20 to display an image, and an operator uses a dedicated electronic pen 100 or the operator's finger to write characters, figures, etc. on the display surface 22.
The electronic pen 100 includes a transparent pen tip 101 (see
Further, the electronic pen 100 includes a communication unit 103 configured to perform bidirectional communication by radio with the touch panel 24. When the pen tip 101 is pressed against the display surface 22, the communication unit 103 propagates its effect to the touch panel 24. Further, the communication unit 103 receives a turning-on instruction and a turning-off instruction of the light emitting unit 102 from the touch panel 24.
As illustrated in
The light receiving sensor 300 and the illumination light source 410 are disposed at an upper left corner of the display surface 22. The light receiving sensor 310 and the illumination light source 420 are disposed at an upper right corner of the display surface 22.
The respective retroreflectors 430 are disposed at the +X side, −X side, and −Z side of the display surface 22.
Light emitted from the illumination light source 410 travels along the display surface 22, is reflected by the retroreflectors 430, and is received by the light receiving sensor 300.
Light emitted from the illumination light source 420 travels along the display surface 22, is reflected b the retroreflectors 430, and is received by the light receiving sensor 310.
The control device 350 controls turning on (on) and turning off (off) of the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420. Further, the control device 350 obtains positional coordinates of the electronic pen 100 or the operator's finger on the display surface 22 based on outputs of the light receiving sensor 300 and the output of the light receiving sensor 310. Further, the control device 350 performs radio communication with the communication unit 103 of the electronic pen 100 to control turning on (on) and turning off (off) of the light emitting unit 102 the electronic pen 100.
In the following description, a mode in which an operator's finger acts as an object subject to detection is also referred to as a “non-light emitter detection mode”, and a mode where the electronic pen 100 acts as an object subject to detection is also referred to as a “light emitter detection mode”.
Detection of Positional Coordinates in Non-Light Emitter Detection Mode
In the non-light emitter detection mode, the control device 350 turns on the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420, and turns off the light emitting unit 102 of the electronic pen 100.
When the operator's finger is located on the display surface 22, a part of light emitted from the illumination light source 410 and a part of light emitted from the illumination light source 420 are blocked (shielded) by the operator's finger (hereinafter simply referred to as “finger”). The light blocked by the finger is not received by the light receiving sensors 300 and 310. Light emitted from the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420 at an angle not blocked by the operator's finger is directly reflected by the retroreflectors 430 and received by the light receiving sensors 300 and 310 (see
As a result, the amount of light received by the light receiving sensor 300 and the amount of light received by the light receiving sensor 310 change (see
The control device 350 calculates positional coordinates of the operator's finger on the display surface 22 using triangulation based on outputs of the light receiving sensor 300 and the output of the light receiving sensor 310.
The control device 350 keeps the light emitting unit 102 of the electronic pen 100 turned off even when the control device 350 receives propagation of the electronic pen 100 being pressed against the display surface in the non-light emitter detection mode. Hence, in the non-light emitter detection mode, even when the electronic pen 100 is present on the display surface 22, light emitted from the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420 and directed toward the pen tip 101 of the electronic pen 100 still passes through the pen tip 101 and is directed toward the retroreflectors 430. The light reflected by the retroreflectors 430 is directly received by the light receiving sensors 300 and 310 (see
That is, in the non-light emitter detection mode, even when the electronic pen 100 is present on the display surface 22, the detection results will not be affected.
Detection of Positional Coordinates in Light Emitter Detection Mode
In the light emitter detection mode, the control device 350 turns off the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420. Further, the control device 350 turns on the light emitting unit 102 of the electronic pen 100 when the control device 350 receives pressure from the electronic pen 100 being pressed against the display surface 22.
Light emitted from the pen point 101 of the electronic pen 100 is received by the light receiving sensor 300 and the light receiving sensor 310 (see
As a result, the amount of light received by the light receiving sensor 300 and the amount of light received by the light receiving sensor 310 change (see
The control device 350 calculates positional coordinates of the electronic pen 100 on the display surface 22 using triangulation, based on output of the light receiving sensor 300 and the output of the light receiving sensor 310.
Note that even the operator's finger present on the display surface 22 in the light emitter detection mode, the operator's finger will not be detected by the light receiving sensor 300 and the light receiving sensor 310 due to the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420 being turned off.
That is, in the light emitter detection mode, the detection results will not be affected even when the operator's finger is present on the display surface 22.
Therefore, it may be considered to detect a position of the electronic pen 100 and a position of the operator's finger in time division. Here, it is assumed that tf represents a time of the non-light emitter detection mode and tp represents a time of the light emitter detection mode. The switching period T in this case expressed by tf+tp.
In the related art tame division system, the switching period T of the detection mode is always constant; thus, the detection rate of the operator's finger and the detection rate of the electronic pen 100 are also constant. In the example of
In the present embodiment, a future input status is predicted from the input status by the operator's finger and the input status by the electronic pen 100 within a previous certain time, and an optimum ratio of the time tf of the non-light emitter detection mode to the time tp of the light emitter detection mode is calculated.
The control device 350 controls the illumination light source 410, the illumination light source 420, and the light emitting unit 102 to switch a detection mode, based on the calculated ratio, and calculates the positional coordinates of the operator's finger and the positional coordinates of the electronic pen 100 from the output of the light receiving sensor 300 and the output of the light receiving sensor 310.
Thus, sucessively performing the process of optimizing a ratio of time tf of the non-light emitter detection mode to time tp of the light emitter detection mode in this manner will increase the number of detection times of the operator's finger or the number of detection times of the electronic pen 100 in accordance with the input status by the operator's finger and the input status by the electronic pen 100 compared to the related art time division system. This will improve detection accuracy of the operator's finger and detection accuracy of the electronic pen 100.
The following illustrates an example of a method of calculating a ratio of the time tf of the non-light emitter detection mode to the time tp of the light emitter detection mode.
Note that f [Hz] represents a detection rate of the touch panel 24 and T represents an update period of the detection mode ratio. Further, Nf represents the number of inputs made by the operator's finger and Np represents the number of inputs made by the electronic pen 100, within a previous predetermined time.
Lf represents the sum of the amounts of change in the positional coordinates at the time of input made by the operator's finger, and Lp represents the sum of the amounts of change in the positional coordinates at the time of input made by the electronic pen 100.
In addition, s represents the weighting coefficient of the non-light emitter detection mode at design time and 1−s represents the weighting coefficient of the light emitter detection mode.
In this case, the ratio of the time tf of the non-light emitter detection mode to the time tp of the light emitter detection mode within T [s] is calculated by the following equation (1).
tf:tp=sNfLf:(1−s)NpLp (1)
Note that as illustrated in
From among the time tf of the non-light emitter detection mode and the time tp of the light emitter detection mode obtained by the above equation (1), let the detection mode A represent a longer detection mode and tA represent its detection time, and let the detection mode B represent a shorter detection mode and tB represent its detection time.
Assuming that the number of detection times of the detection mode B during T [s] is n, and the number of detection times of the detection mode A is fT−n, the following equation (2) is obtained.
tA:tB=fT−n:n (2)
To solve the equation (2) above with respect to n, the following equation (3) is obtained.
Further, in order to take full advantage of the performance of the touch panel 24, when the time of one shorter detection mode B is applied to the detection rate f [Hz] of the touch panel 24, 1/f [s] is obtained.
As illustrated in
Therefore, the time of one longer detection mode A is represented by the following equation (4).
Therefore, when the time tf of the non-light emitter detection mode is longer than the time tp of the light emitter detection mode, the following equations (5), (6), and (7) are obtained.
Meanwhile, when the time tf of the light emitter detection mode is shorter than or equal to the time tp of the light emitter detection mode, the following equations (8), (9), and (10) are obtained.
Next,
In
Further, as a method of determining whether the electronic pen 100 is stored in the housing unit 500, an electrical method, an optical method, and a mechanical method are available. The electrical method may use an electrical contact, for example. The optical method may use an optical sensor, for example. The mechanical method may use a depression switch, for example.
In initial step S401, the control device 350 acquires information on the presence or absence of the electronic pen 100 in the housing unit 500.
In a subsequent step S403, the control device 350 determines the presence or absence of the electronic pen 100. In a case where the electronic pen 100 is stored in the housing unit 500, the determination in this step is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S405.
In step S405, coordinates are detected only in the non-light emitter detection mode. This is because it is determined that the electronic pen 100 is not used.
In a case where the control device 350 determines that the electronic pen 100 is not stored in the housing unit 500 in step S403, the determination in step S403 is negative, and the process proceeds to step S407.
In step S407, coordinates are detected by switching between the non-light emitter detection mode and the light emitter detection mode by the above-described time division system.
This will improve the detection accuracy.
Further, the following illustrates a case where the housing unit 500 is enabled to store multiple electronic pens 100 and the control device 350 is enabled to obtain information on the number of stored electronic pens 100. In this case, it is assumed that multiple sets of light receiving sensors are provided.
In an initial step S501, the control device 350 acquires information on the presence or absence of the electronic pens 100 in the housing unit 500.
In a subsequent step S503, the control device 350 determines whether all the electronic pens 100 are stored in the housing unit 500. In a case where all the electronic pens 100 are stored in the housing unit 500, the determination in this step is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S505.
In step S505, coordinates are detected only in the non-light emitter detection mode. This is because it is determined that the electronic pens 100 are not used.
In a case where the control device 350 determines that all the electronic pens 100 are not stored in the housing unit 500 in step S503, the determination in step S503 is negative, and the process proceeds to step S507.
In step S507, the control device 350 determines whether the number of missing electronic pens 100 in the housing unit 500 is only one. In a case where the number of missing electronic pens 100 in the housing unit 500 is only one, the determination in this step is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S509.
In step S509, coordinates are detected in a simultaneous detection mode. In the simultaneous detection mode, the coordinates of the electronic pen 100 are detected by one set of light receiving sensors and the operator's finger is detected by another set of light receiving sensors.
In a case where the control device 350 determines that the number of missing electronic pens 100 in the housing unit 500 is not only one step S507, the determination in step S507 is negative, and the process proceeds to step S511.
In step S511, coordinates are detected by switching between the non-light emitter detection mode and the light emitter detection mode by the above-described time division system.
Further, the control device 350 may change a UI (user interface) image in accordance with whether an electronic pen 100 is stored in the housing unit 500. This is because the UI image suitable for pen input may differ from the UI image suitable for finger input. This may improve operability.
In an initial step S601, the control device 350 acquires information on the presence or absence of the electronic pen 100 in the housing unit 500.
In a subsequent step S603, the control device 350 determines the presence or absence of the electronic pen 100. In a case where the electronic pen 100 is stored in the housing unit 500, the determination in this step is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S605.
In this step S605, the image optimized for finger input is displayed. This is because it is determined that the electronic pen 100 is not used.
In a case where the control device 350 determines that the electronic pen 100 is not stored in the housing unit 500 in step S603, the determination in step S603 is negative, and the process proceeds to step S607.
In this step S607, the UI image optimized for pen input is displayed.
Further, in a case where the control device 350 is configured to store multiple electronic pens 100 in the housing unit 500 and to obtain information on the number of stored electronic pens 100, the control device 350 may display a UI image accordance with the number of electronic pens 100 taken out from the housing unit 500. This may further improve operability.
As is clear from the above description, in the touch panel 24 according to the present embodiment, the operator's finger is a non-light emitter and the electronic pen 100 is a light emitter.
As described above, the touch panel 24 according to the present embodiment includes the light receiving sensor 300, the light receiving sensor 310, the illumination light source 410, the illumination light source 420, the retroreflectors 430, the control device 350, and the like.
The retroreflectors 430 are disposed around the display surface, and the illumination light source 410 and the illumination light source 420 emit light toward the retroreflectors 430. The light receiving sensor 300 and the light receiving sensor 310 receive light reflected by the retroreflectors 430 and light emitted from the electronic pen 100.
The control device 350 controls the illumination light source 410, the illumination light source 420 and the light emitting unit 102 of the electronic pen 100, and sets the time ratio and the timings of the non-light emitter detection mode and the light emitter detection mode, based on the previous detection statuses of the operator's finger and the electronic pen 100.
In this case, it is possible to prevent detection accuracy from deteriorating while setting both the operator's finger and the electronic pen 100 as detection targets.
In the above embodiment, is also possible to add another light receiving sensors so as to detect positional coordinates of multiple non-light emitters and multiple light emitters.
Further, in the above embodiment, at least one of the time ratio and the timings of the non-light emitter detection mode and the light emitter detection mode may be set by an operator.
Further, in the above embodiment, the control device 350 may have a function of learning information previously input by the operator's finger and the electronic pen 100.
Since the electronic information board 10 has the touch panel 24, the electronic information board 10 is enabled to perform processing in accordance with an operator's requests.
In addition, since the electronic information board system 1 includes the electronic information board 10, an intended presentation and an efficient conference may be conducted as a result.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case where an electronic pen having a light emitting unit is used as a light emitter has been described; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the control device 350 is only required to have a light emitting unit configured to be turned on and off.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case where the operator's finger is used as a non-light emitter has been described; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a pointing rod or an electronic pen not having a light emitting unit may be used as a non-light emitter.
In the above embodiment, a case where the touch panel 24 is used for the electronic information board 10 has been described; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the touch panel 24 may be used in a projector device or a digital signage device.
The position detection device according to present invention is enabled to control against deterioration of detection accuracy while setting both a non-light emitter and a light emitter as detection targets.
Further, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and examples described above, but various variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-235410 | Dec 2015 | JP | national |
| 2016-121607 | Jun 2016 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2016/085794, filed Dec. 1, 2016, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-235410, filed Dec. 2, 2015 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-121607, filed Jun. 20, 2016. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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| 6608619 | Omura et al. | Aug 2003 | B2 |
| 7333094 | Lieberman et al. | Feb 2008 | B2 |
| 20080055266 | Harada | Mar 2008 | A1 |
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| 20150077763 | Maki | Mar 2015 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-134362 | May 2006 | JP |
| 2008-176802 | Jul 2008 | JP |
| 2014-021790 | Feb 2014 | JP |
| 5415954 | Feb 2014 | JP |
| 2015-056112 | Mar 2015 | JP |
| 2017-117069 | Jun 2017 | JP |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report dated Jan. 10, 2017 in PCT/JP2016/085794 filed on Dec. 1, 2016. |
| Written Opinion dated Jan. 10, 2017 in PCT/JP2016/085794 filed on Dec. 1, 2016. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20180275819 A1 | Sep 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2016/085794 | Dec 2016 | US |
| Child | 15992441 | US |
