Segmented character data entry system

• US 10,331,212 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2016
• Issued: 06/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ACT-IP LLC
• Original Assignee: ACT-IP LLC
• Inventors: Naboulsi, Mouhamad Ahmad
• Primary Examiner(s): Vuong, Quochien B
• Application Number:
  US15/352,220
• Publication Number:
  US 20170242487A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• Field of Search: 455345, 455411, 4555561, 455557, 455565, 455567, 4555691, 4555692, 4555759, 340411, 340438, 340527, 340575, 340576, 340901, 701 36
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/18 for vehicle drivers or machine operators
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/02 for radio sets, television sets, telephones, or the like; Arrangement of controls thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0264 for control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/001 Vehicle control means, e.g. steering-wheel or column
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/06 indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6075 adapted for handsfree use in a vehicle H04M1/6058 takes precedence; arrangements for holding telephones in a vehicle B60R11/0241

Abstract

The present invention provides a safety control system for a vehicle with controls located on the vehicle steering wheel. The controls maybe arranged in a cluster on one or both sides of the upper half of the steering wheel. The controls can be located in areas of the steering wheel including the spokes, the rim or a special flange extended from the rim or the spoke of the steering wheel and are easily recognizable and accessible by the driver while the driver is looking ahead from a normal driving position with the driver'"'"'s eyes focused on the road and maintaining the driver'"'"'s hands on the steering wheel. The controls can be further enhanced by varied coloring, shape, size, and texture to make them easily identifiable. The controls can be used to access and control vehicle systems or portable telematics devices in multi modal process in conjunction with thumb gesture interpretation or speech recognition. A further enhancement to the system is the introduction of a universal portable devices docking station to eliminate falling devices and the consequences of accident.

Claims

1. A system for data entry comprising:

a sensor to be actuated by a digit as a data input device;

a CPU with a program to process the entry from the sensor and presents the results to an output device;

wherein the sensor is presented visually and physically as a segmented language character, wherein the sensor physical presentation of the segmented language character provides tactile track guide to a user, and wherein the processor receives a signal from each of the segments and interprets the signal as a part of a character and detects a completed character when a sensor input data pattern matches a comparable stored character pattern data and presents the completed character to the output device.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is activated by direct touch or by proximity sensing.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is a single sensor and an individual segment is presented by a physical template that provides tactile feedback for detecting the segment.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is a single touch actuated sensor where individual segments are presented by at least one of an embossment, a groove, or a different texture than the rest of sensor surface to provide tactile feedback for each segment.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is a single touch actuated display with the character displayed in individual segments and surrounded by a virtual barrier that vibrates to provide tactile feedback about the boundary for each segment.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is shaped like a completed segment set and assembled to another surface;

whereas each segment temperature is different than that of the surface thus presenting a different tactile feel.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor detects the completed character by an assigned gesture input from the user.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor detects the completed character when triggered by a time-out routine from last segment actuation by the user.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the output device is an audible output or a visual output.

10. The system of claim 1 further including an application on a portable telematic device to allow for texting entry.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is located on a vehicle steering member reachable by a digit of the user.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the system is disabled when the steering member is significantly off a zero point if the vehicle is moving.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the system can be set to be disabled unless one or both hands of the driver are sensed to be controlling the steering member.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor can be used as a personal identification number or a password entry pad.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is configured to sense at least one of optical, temperature, resistive, inductive, capacitive, pressure or mechanical actuation.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein a typing command is entered by swiping across two or more segments, and wherein the typing commands include swiping against the direction of the written language to perform a back space, swiping in the direction of the written language to add a space, swiping from bottom to top to switch to capital letter or alternate characters, and swiping from top to bottom to enter a line break.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the segments for each language can be augmented with dots and accents to satisfy the need of languages that include the dots and accents.

18. A system for data entry comprising:

a sensor to be actuated by a digit as a data input device;

a CPU with a program to process the entry from the sensor and presents the results to an output device;

wherein the sensor is presented as a segmented language character, wherein at least one segment represents a part of a character, wherein the at least one segment provides tactile feedback to a user, and wherein the processor receives a signal from each of the segments and interprets the signal as a part of a character and detects a completed character by an input from the user and presents the completed character to the output device, and wherein the sensor is at least one of a touch actuated display where the segments are displayed and the area of the segment provides tactile feedback by vibrating the screen at that area.

19. A system for data entry comprising:

a sensor to be actuated by a digit as a data input device;

a CPU with a program to process the entry from the sensor and presents the results to an output device;

wherein the sensor is presented as a segmented language character, wherein at least one segment represents a part of a character, wherein the at least one segment provides tactile feedback to a user, and wherein the processor receives a signal from each of the segments and interprets the signal as a part of a character and detects a completed character by an input from the user and presents the completed character to the output device, and wherein the sensor is at least one touch actuated display where the segments are displayed and the area bordering the segment provides tactile feedback by vibrating the screen at that area.