This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 104124882, filed Jul. 31, 2015, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a touch control electronic device.
Description of the Related Art
In a current portable electronic device, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer or an electronic game console, apart from main human-machine interfaces (HMI) such as a keypad, a display and a touch screen located in the front of the device, mechanical keys or rotatable buttons offering functions including power switch, volume adjustment and mode switching are additionally provided on a lateral side of the device. One drawback of such mechanical interfaces is that, liquid is likely to seep through seams between the keys or rotatable buttons and a main body of a housing of the electronic device into the housing. In other words, the additional keys or rotatable buttons provided on the lateral side of a portable electronic device are attributes to user-friendly interfaces, yet degrade the overall waterproofness of the portable electronic device, resulting in a rise of the malfunction rate. On the other hand, restrained by intrinsic properties of mechanical components, physical buttons or rotatable buttons offer invariable quantity, position and operation method after they are manufactured, hence allowing almost no flexibility for subsequent adjustments.
The invention is directed to a touch control electronic device and a control method thereof. By implementing a virtual key on a lateral side of an electronic device using a touch sensing electrode group, the electronic device of the present invention provides better waterproofness and design flexibilities as opposed to conventional mechanical keys.
A touch control electronic device is provided according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control electronic device includes a main display region, a touch sensing electrode group and a control module. The main display region is disposed at a front face of the touch control electronic device. The touch sensing electrode group is disposed on a lateral side of the touch control electronic device. The control module is coupled to the touch sensing electrode group, and generates a sensing result according to a condition of the touch sensing electrode group being touched. In a first operation mode, the control module generates a first action determination result according to a first virtual key configuration and the sensing result. In a second operation mode, the control module generates a second action determination result according to a second virtual key configuration and the sensing result. The second virtual key configuration is different from the first virtual key configuration.
A control method for a touch control electronic device is further provided according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control electronic device includes a main display region and a touch sensing electrode group. The main display region is disposed at a front face of the touch control electronic device. The touch sensing electrode group is disposed on a lateral side of the touch control electronic device. A sensing result is generated according to a condition of the touch sensing electrode group being touched. In a first operation mode, a first action determination result is generated according to a first virtual key configuration and the sensing result. In a second operation mode, a second action determination result is generated according to a second virtual key configuration and the sensing result. The second virtual key configuration is different from the first virtual key configuration.
A touch control electronic device is further provided according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control electronic device includes a touch sensing electrode group and a control module. The touch sensing electrode group is disposed on a lateral side of the touch control electronic device, and includes a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode that are adjacent by a gap in between. Each of the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode is a claw-like electrode. A claw width of the first sensing electrode gradually reduces along a predetermined direction. A claw width of the second sensing electrode gradually reduces along a direction opposite the predetermined direction. The control module is coupled to the first sensing electrode via one single first sensing wire, and is coupled to the second sensing electrode via one single second sensing wire. The control module generates a sensing result according to a condition of the touch sensing electrode group being touched.
A touch control electronic device is further provided according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control electronic device includes a touch sensing electrode group and a control module. The touch sensing electrode group is disposed on a lateral side of the touch control electronic device, and includes a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode that are adjacent by a gap in between. The control module is coupled to the touch sensing electrode group, and generates a sensing result according to a condition of the touch sensing electrode group being touched.
According to a mutual capacitance value between the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode, the control module determines whether to cause the touch control electronic device to enter a mist mode.
The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The touch control electronic device 100 provides flexibilities of supporting multiple operation modes. For example, in different operation modes, the control module 130 may determine how to respond to a user touch according to different virtual key configurations. In this embodiment, when the sensing unit 130A outputs a sensing result, if the touch control electronic device 100 is in a first operation mode, the action determination unit 130B generates a corresponding first action determination result according to a first virtual key configuration and the sensing result. In contrast, when the sensing unit 130A outputs a sensing result, if the touch control electronic device 100 is in a second operation mode, the action determination unit 130B generates a second action determination result according to a second virtual key configuration (different from the first virtual key configuration) and the sensing result. Thus, in different operation modes, the same sensing result may produce different action determination results. It should be noted that, the touch control electronic device 100 may be designed to have more than two operation modes and more than two virtual key configurations. Further, each virtual key configuration may be designed to have one or more differences in the quantity, function, size, position and trigger method (single-click, double-click and sliding along a predetermined direction) of the virtual keys.
In practice, the virtual key configurations in the touch control electronic device may be determined by a designer according to actual application requirements, and may be stored in advance in the memory 130C for the control module 130 to look up and refer to. Thus, given that the control module 130 learns which sub-region and how that sub-region of the touch sensing electrode group 120 is affected (e.g., single clicked, double clicked or slid along a predetermined direction) by the user finger, which of the virtual keys is triggered may be determined. On the other hand, after the user selects an operation mode, the current operation mode of the touch control electronic device 100 may be temporarily stored in the memory 130C to serve as a reference basis for the control module 130 to select the virtual key configuration.
It should be noted that, not only one lateral side of the touch control electronic device 100 can be disposed of the touch sensing electrode group 120. For example, the touch sensing electrode group 120 may include two portions, which may be disposed on the left and right sides of the touch control electronic devices 100 and designed to provide virtual keys in different quantities and having different functions, respectively. Further, through updating related software in the touch control electronic device 100, the quantity, position and trigger method of the virtual keys in the virtual key configurations may be adjusted. Compared to conventional mechanical keys, the virtual keys of the touch control electronic device 100 according to the present invention offer greater flexibilities. It should be noted that, the quantity, size and relative ratio of the virtual keys in the drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as limitations to the scope of the present invention.
It should be noted that, if capacitive or resistive touch control technologies are adopted, it is possible that the touch sensing electrode group 120 be designed as being entirely enclosed in the housing of the touch control electronic device 100 and still be capable of providing the function of detecting a user touch. That is to say, in practice, it is possible that the position on the housing of the touch control electronic device 100 corresponding to the touch sensing electrode group 120 be made totally seamless. Thus, compared to devices adopting conventional mechanical keys, the touch control electronic device 100 according to the present invention provides not only flexibilities supporting different virtual key configurations in different operation modes but also better waterproofness, thereby reducing the malfunction rate caused by a seeped liquid to be more particularly suitable for wearable devices.
In one embodiment, the main display region 110 includes a plurality of main display region sensing electrodes, which is also a touch operation region. Further, when the control module 130 in the touch control electronic device 100 generates an action determination result associated with the touch sensing electrode group 120, whether the main display region 110 receives a user command is further considered. For example, when it is detected that the virtual key 124A on the touch sensing electrode group 120 is double clicked, the control module 130 generates one type of action determination result if a part of the main display region 110 is pressed, or else it generates another type of action determination result if that part of the main display region 110 is not pressed. In practice, when the main display region 110 is also a touch operation region, the main display region 110 and the touch sensing electrode group 120 may be designed to share the same control module. The control module 130 may be coupled to the touch operation region and the touch sensing electrode group 120, so as to detect respective touch conditions of the touch operation region and the touch sensing electrode group 120 to further generate corresponding determination results. In practice, the control module 130 may be implemented by a touch sensing chip.
In practice, a difference in the humidity in an environment within a short period may cause vapor condensation on the surface of the touch control electronic device 100. For a device adopting self-capacitive touch control technologies, compared to a humidity-free situation, when moisture occurs between a user finger and the touch sensing electrode group 120, the self capacitance value detected by a backend detection circuit is greater. To prevent the moisture from affecting the detection result of the touch control electronic device 100, in one embodiment, the control module 130 in the touch control electronic device 100 further determines whether to cause the touch control electronic device 100 to enter a mist mode according to a mutual capacitance value between two sensing electrodes (e.g., the sensing electrodes 12a and 12b) included in the touch sensing electrode group 120. Compared to a humidity-free situation, the mutual capacitance value between the sensing electrodes 12a and 12b is greater. Thus, the control module 130 may determine whether to cause the touch control electronic device 100 to enter a mist mode according to whether the mutual capacitance value between the sensing electrodes 12a and 12b is higher than a predetermined mutual capacitance threshold. In one embodiment, when the touch control electronic device 100 enters a mist mode, a self capacitance threshold according to which whether the sensing electrodes 12a and 12b are touched by a user is determined is increased, so as to prevent touch control misjudgment caused by mist. It should be noted that, details for measuring the mutual capacitance value between any two sensing electrodes are generally known to one person skilled in the art, and shall be omitted herein.
In one embodiment, the touch control electronic device 100 further includes a prompting module disposed on a lateral side. The prompting module assists in providing related information of a position of a virtual key. For example, the lateral side of the touch control electronic device 100 may be implemented by a light pervious housing, and the prompting module may be a light emitting device disposed inside the housing of the touch control electronic device 100. In the first operation mode, the prompting module displays a group of first key patterns corresponding to the first virtual key configuration; in the operation mode, the prompting module displays a group of second key patterns corresponding to the second virtual key configuration.
In step S55, a second action determination result is generated according to a second virtual key configuration and the sensing result. The second virtual key configuration is different from the first virtual key configuration.
Step S54 and step S55 may be performed by the action determination unit 130B in
The virtual key configuration corresponding to
In practice, for example but not limited to, the action determination unit 130B may be implemented as a fixed and/or programmable digital logic circuit, including a programmable logic gate array, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, or other necessary circuits. Further, the action determination unit 130B may also be designed to complete multiple tasks through executing processor commands stored in the memory 130C. The present invention does not limit the type of storage mechanism. The memory 130C may include one or multiple volatile or non-volatile memory devices, e.g., a random access semiconductor memory, a read-only memory, a magnetic and/or optical memory, or a flash memory.
One person skilled in the art can understand that, various operation modifications in the description associated with the touch control electronic device 100 are applicable to the control method in
In the foregoing embodiments, by connecting only one sensing wire to each of two self-capacitive sensing electrodes (e.g., the sensing electrode pair 12a and 12b), the technology of sensing operation required can be completed. Moreover, the two self-capacitive sensing electrodes may be implemented on a lateral side of various types of touch control electronic devices. A touch control electronic device is further provided according to another embodiment of the present invention. The touch control electronic device includes a touch sensing electrode group and a control module. The touch sensing electrode group is disposed on a lateral side of the touch control electronic device, and includes a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode that are adjacent to each other with a gap in between. Each of the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode is a claw-like electrode. A claw width of the first sensing electrode gradually reduces along a predetermined direction. A claw width of the second sensing electrode gradually reduces along a direction opposite the predetermined direction. The control module is coupled to the first sensing electrode via one single first sensing wire, and is coupled to the second sensing electrode via one single second sensing wire. The control module generates a sensing result according to a condition of the touch sensing electrode group being touched.
The foregoing technology of determining whether to cause the electronic device to enter a mist mode is also applicable to various types of the touch control electronic devices including two adjacent sensing electrodes. A touch control electronic device is further provided according to another embodiment of the present invention. The touch control electronic device includes a touch sensing electrode group and a control module. The touch sensing electrode group includes a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode, which are adjacent by a gap in between. The control module is coupled to the touch sensing electrode group, and generates an action determination result according to a condition of the touch sensing electrode group being touched. The control module determines whether to cause the touch control electronic device to enter a mist mode according to a mutual capacitance value between the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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104124882 | Jul 2015 | TW | national |