Portable apparatus

• US 10,216,326 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2018
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Minebea Mitsumi, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Minebea Mitsumi, Inc.
• Inventors: Sato, Satoshi, Terada, Naoyuki, Adachi, Kazumasa, Furuta, Makoto, Shimura, Takahiro, Adachi, Shigeyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Gene W
• Application Number:
  US16/025,394
• Publication Number:
  US 20180321789A1
• Time in Patent Office: 239 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04144 using an array of force sensing means position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells G06F3/0447

Abstract

There is provided a portable apparatus capable of detecting a touch position where a user touches the portable apparatus and a touch strength with which the user touches the portable apparatus. The portable apparatus includes: a rectangular frame on which a display panel unit is to be mounted; four touch detection-dedicated legs respectively extending from vicinities of four corners of the frame; a first strain gage attached to each of the touch detection-dedicated legs; and a calculation unit that finds the touch position and the touch strength based on an output of the first strain gage.

Claims

1. A portable apparatus capable of detecting a grip strength with which a user grips the portable apparatus, the portable apparatus comprising:

a rectangular frame on which a display panel unit is to be mounted;

a first grip detection-dedicated leg extending from a long side of the frame;

a first strain gage attached to the first grip detection-dedicated leg; and

a calculator that finds the grip strength based on an output of the first strain gage, the grip strength being a strength applied to the portable apparatus in a direction of a short side of the frame by the user gripping the portable apparatus.

2. The portable apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a casing that has a back surface and a side surface and that houses the grip detection-dedicated leg,

wherein the grip detection-dedicated leg is in contact with the side surface on an inside of the casing.

3. The portable apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second grip detection-dedicated leg extending from the long side of the frame; and

a second strain gage attached to the second grip detection-dedicated leg,

wherein the calculation unit detects a grip position where the user grips the casing, based on outputs of the first strain gage and the second strain gage.

4. The portable apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rectangular frame and the first grip detection-dedicated leg are formed integrally and are formed of an identical material.