SMART GLASS TOUCH DISPLAY INPUT DEVICE
First Claim
1. A touch display input device for an electronic device comprising:
- a light source;
a switchable glass layer having elements that are selectively activated to form regions that transmit light and regions that block light from the light source, the regions being configured to correspond to a plurality of potential inputs for the electronic device; and
a touch surface for receiving the light transmitted through the glass layer, wherein the touch surface is sensitive to receiving an input action from a user corresponding to an input for the electronic device.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved touch display input device for incorporation into a portable electronic device is described. In exemplary embodiments, the touch display includes a smart glass layer that selectively blocks and transmits light from a light source to a transparent touch input surface. As a result of the selectivity of the smart glass, a particular set of characters and/or symbols may become visible to the user through the transparent touch surface. The user may select a visible character or symbol by touching the character or symbol on the touch display. The selective blocking and transmission of light by the smart glass may be altered to display different sets of input characters and/or symbols depending upon the operational state of the portable electronic device.
95 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A touch display input device for an electronic device comprising:
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a light source; a switchable glass layer having elements that are selectively activated to form regions that transmit light and regions that block light from the light source, the regions being configured to correspond to a plurality of potential inputs for the electronic device; and a touch surface for receiving the light transmitted through the glass layer, wherein the touch surface is sensitive to receiving an input action from a user corresponding to an input for the electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An electronic device comprising:
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a touch display input device comprising a light source, a switchable glass layer having elements that may be selectively activated to form regions that transmit light and regions that block light from the light source, and a touch surface for receiving the light transmitted through the glass layer; and a controller configured to selectively activate regions of the glass layer so that the glass layer selectively transmits and blocks light from the light source to the touch surface in a configuration corresponding to a plurality of potential inputs for the electronic device; wherein the touch surface is sensitive to receiving an input action from a user corresponding to an input for the electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of using a touch display input device to provide an input to an electronic device comprising the steps of:
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generating light from a light source; selectively activating regions of a switchable glass layer to permit and block transmission of portions of the light from the light source, wherein the selective activation is configured to correspond to a plurality of potential inputs for the electronic device; transmitting the unblocked portion of light from the light source through the selectively activated regions of the switchable glass layer; transmitting the portion of light that was transmitted through the glass layer through a touch surface such that the light is visible to a user and is configured to display a plurality of potential inputs for the electronic device; and receiving an input action from the user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification