Electronic device

1. An electronic device comprising:

a panel member touched by a user;

a vibrator vibrates the panel member in a first vibration mode and a second vibration mode; and

a vibration controller controls the vibration of the vibrator,

wherein the number of vibration nodes occurring on the panel member in the first vibration mode is different from the number of vibration nodes occurring on the panel member in the second vibration mode,

wherein the vibration controller selects one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode depending on a touch position of the user, and vibrates the panel member in the selected vibration mode, and

wherein, while a finger of the user continuously touches the panel member, the vibration controller drives the vibrator intermittently, and switching between the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode is done while the vibration is stopped.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein where the number of nodes in the first vibration mode is N (N is a positive integer), the number of nodes in the second vibration mode is N+1.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:

a position of the node on the panel member in the first vibration mode is different from a position of the node on the panel member in the second vibration mode; and

the vibration controller vibrates the panel member while selecting one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode of which the position of the vibration node is farther away from the touch position of the user.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein when the user moves the touch position while continuously touching the panel member, the vibration controller switches between the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode so as to execute one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode of which the position of the vibration node is farther away from a current touch position.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:

a position of a vibration antinode occurring on the panel member in the first vibration mode is different from a position of a vibration antinode occurring on the panel member in the second vibration mode; and

the vibration controller vibrates the panel member while selecting one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode of which the position of the vibration antinode is closer to the touch position of the user.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein when the user moves the touch position while continuously touching the panel member, the vibration controller switches between the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode so as to execute one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode of which the position of the vibration antinode is closer to a current touch position.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the vibration controller switches between the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode continuously and alternately.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a casing; and

a first and a second support section for supporting the panel member against the casing, wherein:

the first support section and the second support section extend in directions perpendicular to each other; and

the first support section has a higher rigidity than the second support section.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a display for displaying an image;

the vibrator is arranged outside an image display range of the display and is arranged at a position closer to an antinode than to a node of vibration in the first and second vibration modes.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:

a plurality of vibrators are provided;

the vibration controller vibrates a first vibrator of the plurality of vibrators in the first vibration mode;

the vibration controller vibrates a second vibrator of the plurality of vibrators in the second vibration mode; and

the vibration controller simultaneously vibrates the first vibrator in the first vibration mode and the second vibrator in the second vibration mode.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a display for displaying an image, wherein:

the vibrator is arranged outside an image display range of the display and is arranged at a position closer to an antinode than to a node of vibration in the first and second vibration modes.

12. The electronic device of claim 11 , further comprising:

a casing; and

a first and a second support section for supporting the panel member against the casing, wherein:

the first support section and the second support section extend in directions perpendicular to each other; and

the first support section has a higher rigidity than the second support section.

13. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein

the controller controls a first drive voltage applied to the vibrator in the first vibration mode and a second drive voltage applied to the vibrator in the second vibration mode so as to achieve tactile sensations of the same strength in accordance with the frequency characteristics of a human tactile sensation in both the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode.

14. An electronic device comprising:

a panel member touched by a user;

a vibrator vibrates the panel member in a first vibration mode and a second vibration mode; and

a vibration controller controls the vibration of the vibrator,

wherein the number of vibration nodes occurring on the panel member in the first vibration mode is different from the number of vibration nodes occurring on the panel member in the second vibration mode,

wherein the vibration controller selects one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode depending on a touch position of the user, and vibrates the panel member in the selected vibration mode, and

wherein, while a finger of the user continuously touches the panel member, the vibration controller drives the vibrator continuously, and switching between the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode is done while a drive voltage applied to the vibrator is 0.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein

the controller controls a first drive voltage applied to the vibrator in the first vibration mode and a second drive voltage applied to the vibrator in the second vibration mode so as to achieve tactile sensations of the same strength in accordance with the frequency characteristics of a human tactile sensation in both the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program for instructing an electronic device to perform a vibration operation, the computer program instructing the electronic device to perform the steps of:

accepting a touch operation by a user to detect a touch position; and

vibrating a panel member touched by the user in a first vibration mode and a second vibration mode;

wherein the number of vibration nodes occurring on the panel member in the first vibration mode is different from the number of vibration nodes occurring on the panel member in the second vibration mode;

wherein the vibrating step includes a step of selecting one of the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode depending on the touch position of the user, and vibrating the panel member in the selected vibration mode; and

wherein, while the touch operation of the user is continuously detected, the panel member is vibrated intermittently, and switching between the first vibration mode and the second vibration mode is done while the vibration is stopped.