Touch Panel And Interactive Input System Incorporating The Same

• US 20090020342A1
• Filed: 07/18/2007
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smart Technologies ULC (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Smart Technologies Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Robertson, Don, Oleskevich, Tanya, Martin, Nicole
• Granted Patent: US 8,400,407 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 178/18.30
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/58 collapsible, e.g. foldable; of variable area
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421

Abstract

A touch panel comprises a substrate having a forward major surface and formed of a plurality of assembled substrate segments. Cover material overlies the forward major surface to reduce the visibility of seams between adjacent substrate segments.

Claims

1. A touch panel comprising a substrate having a forward major surface and being formed of a plurality of assembled substrate segments.

2. A touch panel according to claim 1 further comprising cover material on said forward major surface to reduce the visibility of seams between adjacent substrate segments.

3. A touch panel according to claim 2 wherein said cover material comprises a sheet generally overlying said forward major surface.

4. A touch panel according to claim 3 wherein said sheet is formed of a dry-erase, low-gloss material.

5. A touch panel according to claim 3 wherein said sheet is adhered to said substrate.

6. A touch panel according to claim 1 wherein said substrate segments are interlocking.

7. A touch panel according to claim 6 wherein abutting sides of adjacent substrate segments carry mating formations.

8. A touch panel according to claim 1 wherein each of said substrate segments is generally rectangular in plan.

9. A touch panel according to claim 8 further comprising cover material on said forward major surface to reduce the visibility of seams between adjacent substrate segments

10. A touch panel according to claim 8 wherein said cover material comprises a sheet generally overlying said forward major surface.

11. A touch panel according to claim 10 wherein said sheet is formed of a dry-erase, low-gloss material.

12. A touch panel according to claim 10 wherein said sheet is adhered to said substrate

13. A touch panel according to claim 5 said sheet is adhered to said substrate at selected locations to enable the substrate segments to be moved from an assembled side-by-side arrangement to a stacked arrangement.

14. A touch panel according to claim 12 said sheet is adhered to said substrate at selected locations to enable the substrate segments to be moved from an assembled side-by-side arrangement to a stacked arrangement.

15. A kit for a touch panel comprising a plurality of substrate panels, said panels being assembleable in seriatum to form a substrate having a major forward surface.

16. A kit according to claim 15 further comprising cover material for application to the forward major surface of said substrate when assembled to reduce the visibility of seams between adjacent substrate panels.

17. A kit according to claim 16 wherein said cover material is a sheet sized generally to overlie said forward major surface.

18. A kit according to claim 17 wherein said sheet is formed of a dry-erase, low-gloss material.

19. A kit according to claim 17 wherein said sheet comprises an adhesive layer on one surface thereof and a release layer disposed on said adhesive layer.

20. A kit according to claim 15 wherein said substrate panels are interlocking.

21. A kit according to claim 20 wherein said substrate panels carry mating formations.

22. A kit according to claim 15 wherein each of said substrate panels is generally rectangular in plan.

23. A touch panel comprising:

a plurality of side-by-side substrate panels; and

a cover sheet secured to said substrate panels at selected locations to enable said substrate panels to assume a stacked orientation, sections of said cover sheet extending between adjacent substrate panels forming living hinges.

24. A touch panel according to claim 23 wherein said cover sheet is adhered to said substrate panels.

25. A touch panel according to claim 24 wherein said sheet is formed of a dry-erase, low-gloss material

26. A touch panel according to claim 24 wherein said substrate panels are interlocking.

27. A touch panel according to claim 24 wherein abutting sides of adjacent substrate panels carry mating formations.

28. An interactive input system comprising:

a touch panel having an input surface comprising a substrate formed of a plurality of assembled substrate panels; and

a detection arrangement detecting pointer contacts on the input surface of said touch panel.

29. An interactive input system according to claim 28 wherein said detection arrangement comprises at least one imaging device.

30. An interactive input system according to claim 29 further comprising at least one display unit generating an image that is visible when looking at said touch panel.

31. An interactive input system according to claim 29 further comprising processing structure communicating with said at least one imaging device, said processing structure processing image data captured by said at least one imaging device to detect pointer contacts.

32. An interactive input system according to claim 31 wherein said processing structure updates data conveyed to said display unit in accordance with detected pointer contacts.

33. An interactive input system according to claim 32 comprising at least two imaging devices having overlapping fields of view looking at said touch panel from different viewpoints, said processing structure processing image data captured by each imaging device.

34. An interactive input system according to claim 28 wherein said touch panel comprises cover material reducing the visibility of seams between adjacent substitute panels.

35. An interactive input system according to claim 34 wherein said cover material comprises a sheet overlying said substrate.

36. An interactive input system according to claim 35 wherein said sheet is formed of a dry-erase, low-gloss material.

37. An interactive input system according to claim 35 wherein said sheet is adhered to said substrate.

38. An interactive input system according to claim 28 wherein said substrate panels are interlocking.

39. An interactive input system according to claim 38 wherein adjacent substrate panels carry mating formations.

40. An interactive input system according to claim 28 wherein each of said substrate panels is generally rectangular in plan.