KR20160047682A - Touch screen device and method for driving thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a touch screen device and a method of driving the touch screen device with improved linear characteristics of a pen touch. The touch screen device and the driving method thereof according to the present invention are characterized in that, The driving pulses are separately supplied and the second touch driving pulses are simultaneously supplied to the two adjacent lines and a signal derived from the touch input pen to the antenna loop is received in accordance with the touch driving pulse to sense the touch of the touch input pen .

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a touch screen device,

The present invention relates to a touch screen device, and more particularly, to a touch screen device capable of sensing a finger touch and a pen touch, and a driving method thereof.

The touch screen device is installed in a video display device such as a liquid crystal display device, a field emission display device, a plasma display device, an electroluminescent display device, an electrophoretic display device, and an organic light emitting display device, Which is a type of an input device for directly inputting information by touching the screen.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a touch panel has been widely used as a mobile phone, an electronic notebook, an electronic book, a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), a navigation device, an UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC), a mobile phone, a smart phone, ) As well as input devices for various electronic devices such as televisions, notebooks, monitors, and the like. In particular, the touch input method using a pen is more suited to performing graphic works such as handwriting, sketching, and detailed drawing because it allows finer input than a finger input.

The touch panel can be classified into a resistance type, a capacitance type, and an electromagnetic type according to a touch sensing method. The resistance method senses the position depressed by the pressure with the change of the amount of current in the state where the DC voltage is applied. The capacitance type is detected by capacitive coupling in the state that the AC voltage is applied. In the electromagnetic system, an electromagnetic signal generated by driving a resonance circuit provided in an active pen (or a touch input pen) is guided to an antenna loop formed on a touch panel, and the touch coordinates of the active pen .

Recently, a touch screen device has been proposed in which an antenna loop is provided at an edge portion of a touch screen device, and a finger touch and an active pen touch can be sensed.

The sensing of the finger touch uses the mutual capacitance type touch sensing, and senses the mutual capacitance formed at the intersection of the touch driving electrode and the touch sensing electrode intersecting with each other to determine the presence or absence of the finger touch.

The sensing of the active pen touch uses the touch sensing of the magnetic capacitance type. The touch driving electrode and the touch sensing electrode are both used as the touch driving electrode, and the resonance circuit provided in the active pen according to the touch driving pulse applied to the touch driving electrode The presence of the pen touch is determined by receiving an electromagnetic signal generated by the resonance frequency and induced in the antenna loop.

The sensing of the finger touch and the sensing of the active pen touch are influenced by the pitch of the electrode. The sensing of the active pen touch has the best sensing performance as the pitch of the electrode is minimized by the magnetic capacitance method. On the other hand, the sensing of the finger touch must have a minimum pitch at which mutual capacitances can be formed in mutual capacitive systems. Therefore, since the performance of the finger touch and the active pen touch can not be satisfied at the same time, the pitch of the touch is set to be optimized for finger touch sensing.

1 is a view for explaining touch sensing of an active pen touch in a conventional touch screen device.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional touch screen device is provided with first to third electrodes A, B, and C while supplying a touch driving pulse TDP to first to third electrodes A, B, B, and C, and receives electromagnetic signals induced in the antenna loop by the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit provided in the active pen 1 to determine the presence or absence of a pen touch. At this time, the self-correcting capacitances formed on the first to third electrodes A, B, and C are the largest values when the active pen 1 is located on each of the first to third electrodes A, B, and C .

However, when the active pen 1 moves from the first electrode A to the third electrode C, the self-capacitance formed between the first to third electrodes A, B, and C is abnormally small The linear characteristic of the pen touch sensing between the first, second, and third electrodes A, B, and C is degraded.

2 is a line graph showing pen sensing raw data for adjacent first to fifth electrodes in a conventional touch screen device.

In FIG. 2, channels 1 to 5 indicate reception channels of pen sensing primitive data generated every time a touch drive pulse is supplied to the first to fifth electrodes.

As shown in FIG. 2, since the conventional touch screen device generates sensing raw data by sensing the pen touch each time the touch driving pulse is supplied to each of the first to fifth electrodes, The linear characteristic of the pen touch sensing is degraded.

The contents of the background art described above are technical information acquired by the inventor of the present invention for the derivation of the present invention or obtained in the derivation process of the present invention, There is no number.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a touch screen apparatus and a method of driving the touch screen apparatus with improved linear characteristics of a pen touch.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch screen device and a method of driving the touch screen device, including the steps of separately supplying first touch drive pulses to a plurality of lines during touch sensing of a touch input pen, A touch driving pulse is supplied at the same time, and a signal guided from the touch input pen to the antenna loop is received in accordance with the touch drive pulse, so that the touch of the touch input pen can be sensed.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pen touch is sensed by overlapping driving two adjacent electrodes to form a virtual electrode between two adjacent electrodes, whereby the resolution of the pen touch sensing is approximately twice And the linear characteristic of the pen touch can be improved.

In addition to the effects of the present invention mentioned above, other features and advantages of the present invention will be described below, or may be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description and the description.

1 is a view for explaining touch sensing of an active pen touch in a conventional touch screen device.
2 is a line graph showing pen sensing raw data for adjacent first to fifth electrodes in a conventional touch screen device.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a touch screen device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
4 is a waveform diagram for explaining an example of a touch driving pulse supplied to each line in the touch screen of the present invention.
5 is a view for explaining the configuration of the touch-driving integrated circuit shown in FIG. 3 and a sensing method of the pen touch.
6 is a block diagram for explaining the touch driver shown in FIG.
7 is a waveform diagram for explaining a modification of the touch driving pulse supplied to each line in the touch screen of the present invention.
8 is a waveform diagram for explaining another modification of the touch driving pulse supplied to each line in the touch screen of the present invention.
FIG. 9A is a graph illustrating the self-capacitance of each of the first to third electrodes in the touch screen device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
9B is a view showing a virtual electrode formed between the first to third electrodes.
10 is a graph showing pen sensing raw data for adjacent first to fifth electrodes in a touch screen device and sensing method of a pen touch according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The meaning of the terms described herein should be understood as follows.

The word " first, "" second," and the like, used to distinguish one element from another, are to be understood to include plural representations unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The scope of the right should not be limited by these terms. It should be understood that the terms "comprises" or "having" does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof. It should be understood that the term "at least one" includes all possible combinations from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of "at least one of the first item, the second item and the third item" means not only the first item, the second item or the third item, but also the second item and the second item among the first item, Means any combination of items that can be presented from more than one. The term "on" means not only when a configuration is formed directly on top of another configuration, but also when a third configuration is interposed between these configurations.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a touch screen device and a pen touch sensing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used to denote like elements throughout the drawings, even if they are shown on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a touch screen device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, the touch screen device according to the present invention includes a touch screen 110, an antenna loop 120, and a touch driving integrated circuit 130.

The touch screen 110 includes an active area AA and a peripheral area surrounding the active area AA.

The active area AA includes first to m-th (where m is a natural number) lines L1 to Lm. A pad portion PP having pads connected one-to-one with each of the first to m-th lines L1 to Lm is provided on one side portion of the peripheral region surrounding the active region AA. The pad portion PP is connected to the touch-driving integrated circuit 130.

The first to mth lines L1 to Lm may be divided into a touch driving electrode group Tx and a touch sensing electrode group Rx.

The touch driving electrode group Tx includes first to i-th lines L1 to Li among the first to m-th lines L1 to Lm (i is a natural number smaller than m / 2) The lines L1 to Li of the driving electrode group Tx may be provided at regular intervals on the active area AA along the first direction Y of the touch screen 110. [ That is, each of the first to i-th lines L1 to Li is arranged at a predetermined interval along the first direction Y of the active area AA so as to have a length parallel to the second direction X of the active area AA . In the following description, the first to i-th lines L1 to Li are defined as a plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li.

The plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li may be formed of a transparent conductive metal material, for example, ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). Each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li is connected to corresponding pads provided on the pad portion PP through a plurality of first routing lines (not shown) formed in the peripheral region.

The touch sensing electrode group Rx includes i + 1 to m-th lines Li + 1 to Lm of the first to m-th lines L1 to Lm, 1 through Lm may be provided at regular intervals on the active area AA along the second direction X of the touch screen 110. [ That is, each of the (i + 1) th to (m + 1) th to (m + 1) th lines Li + 1 to Lm has a length in parallel with the first direction Y of the active area AA Are arranged at regular intervals. In the following description, the i + 1 th to the mth lines Li + 1 to Lm are defined as a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm crossing each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li .

The plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm may be formed of a transparent conductive metal material, for example, ITO. Each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm is connected one-to-one to corresponding pads provided on the pad portion PP through a plurality of second routing lines (not shown) formed in the peripheral region.

In one example, the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li may be formed on a first substrate, and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm may be formed on a second substrate. In this case, The first and second substrates may be bonded together by a transparent adhesive layer. Then, the first and second opposing substrates may be attached to the lower surface of the transparent cover, the transparent plate, or the transparent glass by the transparent adhesive layer. Here, the first and second substrates are PET (polyethyleneterephthalate) films and serve as an insulator for forming a mutual capacitance at the intersections of the touch driving electrodes and the touch sensing electrodes.

In another example, the plurality of touch driving electrodes (L1 to Li) and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes (Li + 1 to Lm) cross each other with an insulating layer interposed therebetween, The mutual capacitance is formed by the insulating layer in the part. The mutual capacitance serves as a touch sensor for detecting a finger touch. Each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm may be formed in a bar shape or a rhombus shape. However, Or may be changed to other forms that can be formed.

The antenna loop 120 is a kind of coil that can induce inductance and is for sensing a pen touch by receiving electromagnetic signals generated by a resonance frequency of a resonance circuit provided in a touch input pen. Here, the antenna loop 120 may be a coil operating through an air core between touch input pens. The antenna loop 120 is provided on the peripheral region along the outer surface of the touch screen 110, and one end and the other end of the antenna loop 120 are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance and connected to the pad portion PP. That is, the antenna loop 120 may be provided on the peripheral region so as to surround the remaining active area AA excluding a part of one side of the active area AA adjacent to the pad part PP.

The antenna loop 120 may be formed of at least two loop lines provided in a peripheral area of the touch screen 110 so as to surround the active area AA and have a predetermined gap therebetween.

The touch driving integrated circuit 130 is mounted on the flexible circuit film 140 and is connected to a pad portion PP provided on the touch screen 110 so that a plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li are connected through a pad portion PP, And a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm and one end and the other end of the antenna loop 120, respectively. The touch-sensitive integrated circuit 130 may be mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown). In this case, the touch-sensitive integrated circuit 130 may include a pad portion PP of the touch screen 110, The plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm may be connected to one end and the other end of the antenna loop 120 through signal transmission films (not shown) have.

The touch driving integrated circuit 130 operates the touch screen 110 in a finger touch sensing mode or a pen touch sensing mode in response to a touch sensing mode signal supplied from a main control unit of the host system. For example, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 drives the touch screen 110 in a pen-touch sensing mode and a finger-touch sensing mode in units of one frame, or a pen touch sensing mode and a finger touch sensing mode Can be time-divisionally driven.

In the finger touch sensing mode, the touch driving IC 130 sequentially applies a touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and applies the touch driving pulse to each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm Sensing the capacitance change to generate finger sensing raw data and provide it to the main control unit of the host system.

In the pen touch sensing mode, the touch driving IC 130 generates a touch driving pulse based on a natural resonance frequency, and generates a plurality of touch driving electrodes (L1 to Li) and a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm) and receives an electromagnetic signal induced in the antenna loop 120 by an electromagnetic signal generated in the resonance circuit of the touch input pen according to the touch drive pulse every time the touch drive pulse is applied . The touch driving integrated circuit 130 generates pen sensing primitive data corresponding to each of the electrodes L1 to Lm based on the electromagnetic signal received from the antenna loop 120 and provides the pen sensing primitive data to the main control unit of the host system.

4, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 includes a plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm, respectively, in the pen touch sensing mode The touch panel driver increases the linearity of the touch pen sensing and the touch resolution by dividing the electrode driving interval EDP of the touch sensing pen into the individual driving interval T1 and the overlap driving interval T2. Here, the overlap driving period T2 of each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm includes a plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, (Li + 1 to Lm) of each individual driving period T1.

The individual driving period T1 is defined as a period in which the first touch driving pulse P1 is separately supplied to each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm . For example, in the individual driving period T1, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 performs a first touch operation on the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm, Receives the electromagnetic signal induced from the touch input pen to the antenna loop 120 by the first touch drive pulse P1 every time the first touch drive pulse P1 is supplied, And generate pen sensing raw data corresponding to the corresponding electrode based on the received electromagnetic signal.

The overlap driving period T2 may be defined as a period during which the second touch driving pulse P2 is simultaneously supplied to two adjacent electrodes. For example, in the overlap driving period T2, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 performs a touch-driving operation in which the second touch driving pulse P2, which overlaps the two adjacent touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, And sequentially supplies the two touch driving electrodes P2 to the upper and lower adjacent touch driving electrodes while shifting in units of electrodes. The second touch driving pulse P2, which overlaps the two adjacent touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm, And sequentially supplied to two touch sensing electrodes adjacent to the left and right while being shifted in units of electrodes. Each time the second touch drive pulse P2 is applied, the touch drive integrated circuit 130 receives an electromagnetic signal induced in the antenna loop 120 from the touch input pen by a second touch drive pulse, The pen sensing raw data corresponding to the virtual line between the two lines can be generated based on the electromagnetic signal that has been generated.

5 is a view for explaining the configuration of the touch-driving integrated circuit shown in FIG. 3 and a sensing method of the pen touch.

First, the touch input pen 10 includes a primary coil L1 and a secondary coil L2, a resonant capacitor Cre, a switch SW, and a touch tip TT.

The primary coil L1 and the secondary coil L2 are wound around the magnetic core disposed on the inner central axis of the touch input pen 10 along the longitudinal direction of the touch input pen 10, (MI1).

One end of the primary coil L1 is electrically connected to the touch tip TT and the other end of the primary coil L1 is grounded to the ground. In this case, when the touch input pen 10 and a user touch each other, the user acts as a dielectric, so that the user can touch the touch input pen 10, A grounding capacitance Cg may be generated between the input pen 10 and the ground terminal. The grounding unit 12 according to another example may be a grounding strap connected between the touch input pen 10 and the touch screen 110.

One end of the secondary coil L2 is connected to the resonant capacitor Cre and the other end of the secondary coil L2 is connected to one end of the switch SW. The resonant capacitor Cre is connected between one end of the secondary coil L2 and the other end of the switch SW2. The inductance of the secondary coil L2 and the capacitance of the resonant capacitor Cre are determined by capacitive coupling between capacitors provided at the intersections of the lines L1 to Lm of the touch screen 110, The frequency of the touch driving pulse input through the capacitor Cse and a value at which electromagnetic resonance can be generated. Here, the sensing capacitor Cse is not a passive element having a physical circuit configuration but is a passive element having a capacitive coupling at a touch portion when the touch tip TT of the touch input pen 10 is touched to the touch screen 110. [ Is a virtual capacitor that is generated.

The switch SW is connected between the secondary coil L2 and the resonant capacitor Cre so that the touch tip TT and the magnetic core are electrically insulated from each other. Here, the switch SW may be made of a spring or an elastic material. The switch SW is turned on when the touch tip TT touches the touch screen 110 with a certain pressure so that the secondary coil L2 and the resonant capacitor Cre are electrically connected in series, A resonance circuit is formed inside the input pen 10.

The touch tip TT protrudes from the lower surface of the touch input pen 10 by a predetermined length and is electrically connected to one end of the primary coil L1 through a connection line in the touch input pen 10. The touch tip TT is physically connected to the switch SW so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the touch input pen 10 according to the contact pressure with the touch screen 110. [

The operation of the touch input pen 10 will now be described.

First, when the touch input pen 10 touches the touch screen 110 and the touch tip TT is raised so that the switch SW is closed, one end of the primary coil L1 is connected to the touch screen 110 via the touch tip TT, The sense capacitors Cse are capacitively coupled to the lines Tx and Rx of the memory cell array 110 to form a virtual sensing capacitor Cse. The touch driving signal applied to the lines Tx and Rx of the touch screen 110 is applied to the primary coil L1 through the virtual sensing capacitor Cse, The signal is applied to the secondary coil L2 by the first mutual inductance MI1 formed between the primary coil L1 and the secondary coil L2 so that the secondary coil L2 and the resonant capacitor Cre ) And the switch SW constitute a resonance circuit, and an electromagnetic signal is generated by the pen resonance frequency of the process circuit. This electromagnetic signal is induced to the antenna loop 120 by the second mutual inductance MI2 between the secondary coil L2 (or the primary coil L1) and the antenna loop 120. [ At this time, since the antenna loop 120 is formed to surround the outer surface of the touch screen 110, it functions as a tertiary coil L3 in a circuit.

When the magnetic core is pushed upward by the pressure applied to the touch tip TT, the pen resonance frequency of the resonance circuit increases or decreases as the inductance value of the secondary coil L2 changes, The intensity of the electromagnetic signal induced to the antenna 120 decreases.

The touch-sensitive integrated circuit 130 includes a touch controller 131, a touch driver 133, and a pen touch sensing unit 135.

The touch controller 131 generates a touch sensing mode signal TMS corresponding to the finger touch sensing mode or the pen touch sensing mode and provides the touch sensing mode signal TMS to the touch driver 133. The touch controller 131 generates a driving reference signal DRS having the same frequency as the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit formed on the touch input pen 10 and provides the drive reference signal DRS to the touch driver 133.

In the finger touch sensing mode, the touch controller 131 controls the touch driver 133 to sequentially supply touch driving pulses to the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li. The touch control unit 131 receives the finger sensing raw data FSRD provided from the touch driver 133 according to the finger touch sensing mode and provides the received finger sensing raw data FSRD to the main control unit of the host system do. The main control unit compares the finger sensing raw data FSRD provided from the touch controller 131 with a preset threshold value and analyzes the finger sensing raw data FSRD larger than the threshold according to a predetermined algorithm to determine whether or not the finger is touch Calculates the finger touch coordinates, and then executes the application program associated with the finger touch coordinates.

In the pen touch sensing mode, the touch controller 131 receives the first and second touch driving pulses P1 and P2 as shown in FIG. 4 and the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, (Li + 1 to Lm) sequentially. The touch control unit 131 receives the pen sensing raw data (PSRD) provided from the pen touch sensing unit 135 according to the pen touch sensing mode and outputs the received pen sensing raw data (PSRD) to the main control unit . The main control unit compares the pen sensing raw data (PSRD) provided from the touch controller 131 with a predetermined threshold value and analyzes the pen sensing raw data (PSRD) larger than the threshold according to a predetermined algorithm, After calculating the pen touch coordinates, an application program or a graphic operation associated with the pen touch coordinates is executed. In addition, the main control unit may calculate the pen resonance frequency based on the pen sensing raw data (PSRD), calculate the pen pressure data by analyzing the change amount of the pen resonance frequency calculated with respect to the natural resonance frequency according to a predetermined algorithm, And executes an application program or graphic job associated with the pen pressure data.

The touch driver 133 drives the touch screen 110 in a finger touch sensing mode or a pen touch sensing mode in response to a touch mode signal TMS provided from the touch controller 131. [

In the finger touch sensing mode, the touch driver 133 sequentially applies a touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li to change a capacitance of each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm And generates finger sensing raw data (FSRD) to provide the finger sensing raw data (FSRD) to the touch control unit 131.

In the pen touch sensing mode, the touch driver 133 generates first and second touch driving pulses based on the natural resonance frequency, and generates a plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and a plurality of touch driving electrodes The first and second touch driving pulses P1 and P2 are supplied to the touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm of the touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm.

The pen touch sensing unit 135 is connected to both ends of the antenna loop 120 and receives touch input pulses P1 and P2 supplied from the touch driver 133 to the electrodes L1 to Lm, 10 to generate pen sensing primitive data by receiving an electromagnetic signal induced in the antenna loop 120 from the resonant circuit of FIG. That is, the pen touch sensing unit 135 generates a first touch driving pulse P1 (P1) applied to the electrodes L1 to Lm for each of the individual driving periods in which the first touch driving pulse P1 is supplied to each of the electrodes L1 to Lm, Receives the electromagnetic signal induced in the antenna loop 120 from the resonance circuit of the touch input pen 10 to generate pen sensing raw data. The pen touch sensing unit 135 performs a first touch driving operation on the electrodes L1 to Lm for each overlap driving period in which first and second touch driving pulses P1 and P2 are simultaneously supplied to two adjacent electrodes, The electromagnetic signal derived from the resonant circuit of the touch input pen 10 to the antenna loop 120 is received by the pulse P1 to generate pen sensing raw data. To this end, the pen touch sensing unit 135 according to an exemplary embodiment includes an operational amplifier unit 135a, an analog-to-digital conversion unit 135b, and a pen sensing data processing unit 135c.

The operational amplifier 135a is connected to one end and the other end of the antenna loop 120 to amplify voltage differences received at one end and the other end of the antenna loop 120 and output the amplified voltage difference as a pen sensing signal.

The analog-to-digital converter 135b analog-to-digital converts the pen sensing signal supplied from the operational amplifier 135a to generate pen sensing primitive data (PSRD).

The pen sensing data processor 135c receives the pen sensing primitive data PSRD supplied from the analog-digital converter 135b and sequentially stores the pen sensing primitive data PSRD in the internal memory. The pen sensing primitive data PSRD stored in the internal memory, To the touch controller (135). Accordingly, the touch control unit 131 receives the pen sensing raw data (PSRD) provided from the pen sensing data processing unit 135c of the pen touch sensing unit 135 and provides the pen sensing raw data (PSRD) to the main control unit of the host system.

Meanwhile, the above-described touch-driving integrated circuit 130 according to the present invention can be integrated into one ROIC (Readout Integrated Circuit) chip. Alternatively, the touch controller 131 may be implemented as an MCU (Micro Controller Unit) of the host system without being integrated into the ROIC chip.

6 is a block diagram for explaining the touch driver shown in FIG.

5 and 6, a touch driver 133 according to an exemplary embodiment includes a timing generator 210, a driving pulse supplier 220, a switching unit 230, a finger touch sensing unit 240, And a data processing unit 250.

The timing generating unit 210 generates a timing signal based on the touch mode signal TMS supplied from the touch control unit 131 by the driving pulse supply unit 220, the switching unit 230, the finger touch sensing unit 240, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 250 < / RTI > The internal control signal includes a sensing start signal SSS and a channel setup signal CSS for controlling the driving pulse supply unit 220, a switching control signal SCS for controlling the switching unit 230, A sampling start signal for controlling the sampling unit 240, and the like.

When the touch mode signal TMS is a finger sensing mode signal, the timing generator 210 generates a sensing start signal SSS for sequentially applying a touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, Generates a signal CSS and generates a switching control signal SCS for connecting each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm to the finger touch sensing unit 240.

4, when the touch mode signal TMS is a pen sensing mode signal, the timing generating unit 210 generates a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 (Li + 1) and a plurality of touch sensing electrodes To Lm are divided into an individual driving period T1 and an overlap driving period T2 and a first touch driving pulse (hereinafter referred to as a first touch driving pulse) is applied to the individual driving period T1 of each of the lines L1 to Lm A sensing start signal SSS for supplying a second touch driving pulse P2 to the overlap driving section T2 of each of the lines L1 to Lm, a channel set-up signal CSS and a switching control signal SCS).

The driving pulse supplying unit 220 generates a touch driving pulse based on the sensing start signal SSS supplied from the timing generating unit 210 in accordance with the finger sensing mode and outputs the generated touch driving pulse to the timing generating unit 210. [ To the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li in accordance with the channel set-up signal CSS supplied from the touch panel. Here, the driving pulse driving unit 220 may continuously supply at least two or more touch driving pulses to one of the touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, Thereby increasing the sensing sensitivity by increasing the charging amount of the capacitance. At this time, the pulse driving unit 220 may generate the touch driving pulse according to any one of frequency, amplitude (or voltage), and pulse number. Here, the charging amount of the electrostatic capacitance increases as the frequency of the touch driving pulse decreases, increases as the amplitude of the touch driving pulse increases, and increases as the number of touch driving pulses increases.

The driving pulse supplying unit 220 generates first and second touch driving pulses based on the sensing start signal SSS supplied from the timing generating unit 210 according to the pen sensing mode, The second touch driving pulse is supplied to the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li and the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm in accordance with the channel setup signal CSS supplied from the timing generator 210. [ 4, the driving pulse supply unit 220 may supply the first touch driving pulse P1 to the corresponding touch section for each of the individual driving periods T1 of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, And supplies the first touch driving pulse P1 to the switching unit 230 for each of the individual driving periods T1 of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm do. The driving pulse supply unit 220 is overlapped with two touch driving electrodes vertically adjacent to each other during the overlap driving period T2 set between the individual driving periods T1 of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li The second touch driving pulse P2 is sequentially supplied to two touch driving electrodes vertically adjacent to each other while being shifted in units of one touch driving electrode, and the individual driving periods (Li + 1 to Lm) of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes The second touch driving pulse P2 which overlaps the two touch sensing electrodes which are adjacent to the left and right in the overlap driving period T2 set between the touch sensing electrodes T2 and T1 is shifted in units of one touch sensing electrode and supplied to the switching unit 230 .

Accordingly, the first touch driving pulse P1 and the second touch driving pulse P2 are continuously supplied to the first touch driving electrode L1 of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li at predetermined time intervals. The second touch driving pulse P2 and the first touch driving pulse P1 and the second touch driving pulse P1 are applied to the second to the (i-1) th touch driving electrodes L2 to Li-1 among the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1 to Li. Two touch drive pulses P2 are continuously supplied at constant time intervals. The second touch driving pulse P2 and the first touch driving pulse P1 are continuously supplied to the i-th touch driving electrode Li of the plurality of touch driving electrodes L1-Li at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, the first second touch driving pulse P2 supplied to the second to (i-1) th touch driving electrodes L2 to Li-1 is supplied to the second touch driving electrodes L1 to Li- The second touch drive pulse P2 overlapped with the pulse P2 and supplied to the second to the (i-1) th touch drive electrodes L2 to Li-1 is supplied to the next touch drive electrodes L3 to Li And overlaps with the second touch drive pulse P2. As a result, in the pen sensing mode, the driving pulse supply unit 220 uses the first and second touch driving pulses P1 and P2 to drive the touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, respectively, The overlap driving of the touch driving electrodes is alternately performed.

The switching unit 230 responds to the switching control signal SCS supplied from the timing generating unit 210 according to the finger sensing mode and supplies the touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm to the finger touch sensing unit 240 ).

In response to the switching control signal SCS supplied from the timing generator 210 in response to the pen sensing mode, the switching unit 230 supplies each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm to the driving pulse supply unit 220 to supply the first and second touch drive pulses P1 and P2 supplied from the drive pulse supply unit 220 to each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the switching unit 230 may be provided with a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm, each of which is supplied with a driving pulse supplied from the driving pulse supplying unit 220, 1 touch driving pulses P1 to the corresponding sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm individually. The switching unit 230 may be provided for each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm for every overlap driving period T2 between the individual driving periods T1. And simultaneously supplies the two touch drive pulses P2 to the corresponding two touch sensing electrodes.

4, a first touch driving pulse Pl and a second touch driving pulse Pl are applied to the first touch sensing electrode Li + 1 of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm P2 are continuously supplied at predetermined time intervals. The second touch driving pulse P2 and the first touch driving pulse P2 are applied to the second to the j-th touch driving electrodes Li + 2 to Lm-1 of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm P1 and the second touch drive pulse P2 are continuously supplied at predetermined time intervals. The second touch driving pulse P2 and the first touch driving pulse P1 are continuously supplied to the j-th touch sensing electrode Lm of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm at predetermined time intervals . Therefore, the first second touch driving pulse P2 supplied to the second to (j-1) th touch sensing electrodes Li + 2 to Lm-1 is supplied to the previous touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm-2 The second second touch driving pulse P2 overlapped with the second touch driving pulse P2 and supplied to the second to the (j + 1) th touch driving electrodes Li + 2 to Lm-1 is applied to the next touch driving electrode Li +2 to Lm of the second touch driving pulse P2. As a result, in the pen sensing mode, the driving pulse supply unit 220 applies the first and second touch driving pulses P1 and P2 to the individual driving of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm, So that the overlap driving of the two touch sensing electrodes is alternately performed.

The finger sensing unit 240 is connected to each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm by switching of the switching unit 230 according to the finger touch mode, (Or correction capacitance) change from each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm according to a signal SS to generate a finger touch signal. The generated finger touch signal is subjected to analog-digital conversion, And provides the finger sensing data processing unit 250 with the raw data FSRD. The finger sensing unit 240 includes first to j-th sensing units 2401 to 240j connected to a plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm through a switching unit 230.

Each of the first to j-th sensing units 2401 to 240j includes an operational amplifier (not shown) and an analog-to-digital converter (not shown).

The operational amplifier is connected to the corresponding touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm to sense a change in current (or correction capacitance) of the corresponding touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm to generate a finger touch signal.

The analog-to-digital converter converts the finger touch signal supplied from the corresponding operational amplifier to analog-digital conversion to generate finger sensing raw data FSRD, and outputs the generated finger sensing raw data FSRD to the finger sensing data processor 250. [ .

The finger sensing data processing unit 250 receives the finger sensing raw data FSRD from the first to j sensing units 2401 to 240j of the finger sensing unit 240 and outputs the finger sensing raw data FSRD to the temporary memory 260 And provides the finger sensing raw data (FSRD) stored in the temporary memory 260 to the touch control unit 131. The touch control unit 131 receives the finger sensing raw data FSRD from the finger sensing data processing unit 250 of the touch driving unit 133 and provides the finger sensing raw data FSRD to the main control unit of the host system.

7 is a waveform diagram for explaining a modification of the touch driving pulse supplied to each line in the touch screen of the present invention.

5 to 7, in the pen touch sensing mode, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 according to another example of the present invention includes first touch driving pulses P1 (P1-Lm) And the first touch driving pulse P1 supplied to each of the lines L1 to Lm is supplied to each of the lines L1 to Lm while the first touch driving pulse P1 is supplied thereto, And receives electromagnetic signals induced in the antenna loop 120 by the electromagnetic signals generated in the resonance circuit of the pen 10 to generate pen sensing raw data corresponding to the respective lines L1 to Lm.

Then, the touch driving integrated circuit 130 shifts the second touch driving pulse P2, which overlaps the two touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, which are vertically adjacent to each other, in units of one touch driving electrode, And the second touch drive pulse P2 which is overlapped with the two touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm adjacent to the left and right is sequentially shifted in units of one touch sensing electrode The second touch driving pulse P2 supplied to the two adjacent electrodes is supplied to the adjacent two touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm in succession, Receives the electromagnetic signal induced from the touch input pen 10 to the antenna loop 120 by the pulse P2 and generates pen sensing raw data corresponding to the virtual line between two adjacent lines.

8 is a waveform diagram for explaining another modification of the touch driving pulse supplied to each line in the touch screen of the present invention.

5, 6, and 8, in the pen touch sensing mode, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 according to another example of the present invention includes a first touch driving circuit (not shown) The first touch driving pulse P1 supplied to each of the touch driving electrodes L1 through Li each time the first touch driving pulse P1 is supplied to each of the touch driving electrodes L1 through Li while the pulse P1 is sequentially supplied, Receiving the electromagnetic signal induced in the antenna loop 120 by the electromagnetic signal generated in the resonance circuit of the touch input pen 10 according to the touch sensing operation P1, .

Then, the touch driving integrated circuit 130 shifts the second touch driving pulse P2, which overlaps the two touch driving electrodes L1 to Li, which are vertically adjacent to each other, in units of one touch driving electrode, And the second touch drive pulse P2 supplied to the adjacent two touch drive electrodes every time the second touch drive pulse P2 is supplied to the adjacent two touch drive electrodes while being sequentially supplied to the touch drive electrodes L1 to Li, Receives the electromagnetic signal guided from the touch input pen 10 to the antenna loop 120 and generates pen sensing raw data corresponding to the virtual electrode between the adjacent two touch driving electrodes.

The first touch driving pulse P1 is sequentially applied to each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm while the first touch driving pulse P1 The first touch driving pulse P1 supplied to each of the touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 through Lm is supplied to the antenna loop 120 by an electromagnetic signal generated in the resonance circuit of the touch input pen 10, And generates pen sensing primitive data corresponding to each of the touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm.

Then, the touch-driving integrated circuit 130 shifts the second touch driving pulse P2, which overlaps the left and right two touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm, by one touch sensing electrode unit, The second touch sensing electrodes are sequentially supplied to the two touch sensing electrodes Li + 1 to Lm while being supplied to the adjacent two touch sensing electrodes whenever the second touch driving pulse P2 is supplied to the adjacent two touch sensing electrodes. And receives electromagnetic signals induced in the antenna loop 120 from the touch input pen 10 by the drive pulse P2 to generate pen sensing raw data corresponding to the virtual electrodes between the adjacent two touch sensing electrodes.

As described above, the touch screen device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention separately supplies first touch driving pulses P to the first to m-th lines L1 to Lm at the time of touch sensing of the touch input pen 10 The pen sensing raw data for each of the lines L1 to Lm is calculated and simultaneously the second touch driving pulse P2 is simultaneously supplied to the two adjacent lines so that the pen sensing raw data for the virtual line between two adjacent lines The linear characteristic of the pen touch can be improved. In other words, according to the present invention, the pen touch is sensed by overlapping driving two adjacent electrodes to form a virtual electrode between two adjacent electrodes, whereby the resolution of the pen touch sensing is increased by about twice as much as the number of virtual electrodes And the linear characteristics of the pen touch can be improved.

FIG. 9A is a graph showing the self-capacitance formed on each of the first to third electrodes in the touch screen device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. Fig.

9A and 9B, the touch screen device and the pen touch sensing method according to the present invention are arranged such that a second touch driving pulse is simultaneously supplied to two adjacent electrodes L1 and L2 (L2 and L3) A virtual electrostatic capacitance is formed between the two electrodes L1 and L2 (L2 and L3), whereby the self-capacitance between the two adjacent electrodes L1 and L2 (L2 and L3) Dotted line). Therefore, in the present invention, a second touch driving pulse is simultaneously supplied to two adjacent electrodes L1 and L2 (L2 and L3) to form a virtual electrode between two adjacent electrodes L1 and L2 (L2 and L3) And the pen touch sensing is performed by receiving the electromagnetic signal induced in the antenna loop from the touch input pen by the touch driving pulse applied to the virtual electrode, and the resolution of the pen touch sensing is increased to about twice. The linear characteristic of the touch can be improved.

10 is a graph showing pen sensing raw data for adjacent first to fifth electrodes in a touch screen device and sensing method of a pen touch according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 10, channels 1 to 10 indicate reception channels of pen sensing primitive data generated every time a touch driving pulse is supplied to the first to fifth electrodes.

As shown in FIG. 10, the touch screen device and sensing method of the pen touch according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention include sensing the pen touch every time a touch driving pulse is supplied to each of the first to fifth electrodes, Since the pen sensing raw data is additionally generated by forming a virtual electrode between two adjacent electrodes every time a touch driving pulse supplied to two adjacent electrodes while being shifted in units of one electrode is supplied, It can be seen that the linear characteristic of the pen touch sensing is improved due to the pen sensing raw data corresponding to the virtual electrode between the adjacent two electrodes.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Will be clear to those who have knowledge of. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

10: Touch input pen 110: Touch screen
120: antenna loop 130: touch-sensitive integrated circuit
131: Touch controller 133: Touch driver
135: pen touch sensing unit 210: timing generating unit
220: drive pulse supply unit 230:
240: finger touch sensing unit 250: finger sensing data processing unit

Claims (14)

A touch screen including a plurality of lines provided in an active area and an antenna loop provided along an outer frame of the active area; And
And a touch-driving integrated circuit connected to the plurality of lines and the antenna loop,
The touch driving integrated circuit supplies the first touch driving pulses to the plurality of lines separately and simultaneously supplies the second touch driving pulses to the adjacent two lines at the time of touch sensing of the touch input pen, Wherein the controller receives the signal guided from the touch input pen to the antenna loop and senses the touch of the touch input pen. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein each of the plurality of lines is driven to an individual driving period in which the first driving pulse is supplied and an overlap driving period in which the second driving pulse is supplied. 3. The method of claim 2,
And the overlap driving section is between the individual driving sections. The method according to claim 1,
The plurality of lines may include a plurality of touch driving electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals on the active area and the remaining lines may be arranged on the active area at regular intervals so as to intersect the plurality of touch driving electrodes And a plurality of touch sensing electrodes. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes is driven to an individual driving period in which the first driving pulse is supplied and an overlap driving period in which the second driving pulse is supplied,
Wherein each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes is driven to an individual driving period in which the first driving pulse is supplied and an overlap driving period in which the second driving pulse is supplied,
And the overlap driving section is between the individual driving sections. 5. The method of claim 4,
The touch-driving integrated circuit includes:
And sequentially supplying the first touch driving pulses to the plurality of touch driving electrodes and the plurality of sensing electrode electrodes,
The second touch driving pulse is simultaneously supplied to two adjacent touch driving electrodes,
And simultaneously supplies the second touch driving pulse to two adjacent touch sensing electrodes. 5. The method of claim 4,
The touch-driving integrated circuit includes:
Driving the plurality of touch driving electrodes sequentially and sequentially supplying the second touch driving pulse to two adjacent touch driving electrodes,
Wherein the first touch driving pulse is sequentially supplied to the plurality of touch sensing electrodes sequentially and then the second touch driving pulse is simultaneously supplied to two adjacent touch sensing electrodes. 8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
Wherein the touch screen further includes a capacitance provided at an intersection of the touch driving electrode and the touch sensing electrode,
The touch driving integrated circuit sequentially supplies a touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch driving electrodes and senses a change in the capacitance due to a finger touch through each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes, Screen device. A touch sensing method of a touch input pen using a touch screen including a plurality of lines provided in an active area and an antenna loop provided along an outer frame of the active area,
(A) supplying a first touch drive pulse to the plurality of lines separately and simultaneously supplying a second touch drive pulse to two adjacent lines; And
(B) receiving a signal induced in the antenna loop from the touch input pen according to the touch drive pulse and sensing a touch of the touch input pen. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein each of the plurality of lines is driven to an individual driving period in which the first driving pulse is supplied and an overlap driving period in which the second driving pulse is supplied. 11. The method of claim 10,
The plurality of lines may include a plurality of touch driving electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals on the active area and the remaining lines may be arranged on the active area at regular intervals so as to intersect the plurality of touch driving electrodes A plurality of touch sensing electrodes,
Wherein each of the plurality of touch driving electrodes is driven to an individual driving period in which the first driving pulse is supplied and an overlap driving period in which the second driving pulse is supplied,
Wherein each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes is driven to an individual driving period in which the first driving pulse is supplied and an overlap driving period in which the second driving pulse is supplied,
Wherein the overlap driving interval is between the individual driving intervals. 11. The method of claim 10,
The plurality of lines may include a plurality of touch driving electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals on the active area and the remaining lines may be arranged on the active area at regular intervals so as to intersect the plurality of touch driving electrodes A plurality of touch sensing electrodes,
The step (A)
Sequentially supplying the first touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch driving electrodes and the plurality of sensing electrode electrodes, respectively;
Simultaneously supplying the second touch driving pulse to two adjacent touch driving electrodes; And
And simultaneously supplying the second touch driving pulse to two adjacent touch sensing electrodes. 11. The method of claim 10,
The plurality of lines may include a plurality of touch driving electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals on the active area and the remaining lines may be arranged on the active area at regular intervals so as to intersect the plurality of touch driving electrodes A plurality of touch sensing electrodes,
The step (A)
Sequentially supplying the first touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch driving electrodes and simultaneously supplying the second touch driving pulse to two adjacent touch driving electrodes; And
Sequentially supplying the first touch driving pulse to the plurality of touch sensing electrodes sequentially and then simultaneously supplying the second touch driving pulse to two adjacent touch sensing electrodes. 14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13,
A touch driving pulse is sequentially supplied to the plurality of touch driving electrodes at the time of finger touch sensing and a change in capacitance provided at the intersection of the touch driving electrode and the touch sensing electrode is sensed through each of the plurality of touch sensing electrodes The method further comprising the step of:

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