A touch panel device includes an excitation transducer for exciting a surface acoustic wave upon application of a burst wave and a reception transducer for receiving the surface acoustic wave and converting the same into a reception signal that are arranged at a peripheral portion of a detection area so that a position of an object touching the detection area is detected in accordance with a change in the reception signal. A control method for eliminating noises in the touch panel device includes the steps of detecting a differential between a reception signal due to a burst wave and another reception signal due to another burst wave, deciding that there is a noise if the detected differential exceeds a preset threshold value, and performing a control operation so that the detection of an object based on the reception signal is not performed in accordance with the decision.