Touch Method and Device for Distinguishing True Touch

• US 20100007631A1
• Filed: 07/09/2009
• Published: 01/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc.
• Inventors: Chang, Chin-Fu
• Granted Patent: US 8,624,866 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

This invention discloses a touch device for distinguishing true touch. The touch device includes a touch screen, a driving unit, and a sensing unit. The touch screen has a plurality of first conductive lines and second conductive lines where the first and second conductive lines are electrically isolated from each other and stacked to form a plurality of coupling intersections. The driving unit operatively drives the first conductive lines. The sensing unit determines the first conductive lines touched or approached by a plurality of objects and also determines the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects when the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are driven. By doing so, the true touch and the false touch caused by the objects can be determined and distinguished.

Claims

1. A touch device for distinguishing true touch, comprising:

a touch screen, comprising;

a plurality of first conductive lines; and

a plurality of second conductive lines, where the first and second conductive lines are electrically isolated from each other and stacked to constitute a plurality of coupling intersections;

a driving unit operatively driving the first conductive lines; and

a sensing unit determining the first conductive lines touched or approached by a plurality of objects and operatively determining the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects when the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are operatively driven so as to determine the position touched or approached by each object.

2. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 1, wherein the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the self capacitive coupling variation of the first conductive lines and a first threshold.

3. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 1, wherein the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the coupling intersections and a second threshold.

4. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 3, wherein the touch screen further comprises a plurality of electrical conductors crossing the coupling intersections, and the dimension of the electrical conductors determines the second threshold.

5. A touch device for distinguishing true touch, comprising:

a touch screen, comprising;

a plurality of first conductive lines; and

a plurality of second conductive lines, where the first and second conductive lines are electrically isolated from each other and stacked to constitute a plurality of coupling intersections;

a driving unit driving the first conductive lines in a first stage and driving a plurality of selected first conductive lines in a second stage; and

a sensing unit determining the first conductive lines touched or approached by a plurality of objects, wherein the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are the selected first conductive lines.

6. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 5, wherein the selected first conductive lines are determined by the comparison between the self capacitive coupling variation of the first conductive lines and a first threshold.

7. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 5, wherein the sensing unit operatively determines the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects when the selected first conductive lines are driven.

8. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 7, wherein the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the mutual capacitive coupling variation and a second threshold.

9. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 8, wherein the touch screen further comprises a plurality of electrical conductors crossing the coupling intersections, and the dimension of the electrical conductors determines the second threshold.

10. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 5, wherein the driving unit further drives the second conductive lines in the first stage, and the sensing unit further determines the second conductive lines touched or approached by the objects in the first stage, wherein the second conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are a plurality of selected second conductive lines, and the sensing unit operatively senses the selected second conductive lines to determine the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects when the selected first conductive lines are driven.

11. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 10, wherein the selected second conductive lines are determined by the comparison between the self capacitive coupling variation of the selected second conductive lines and a third threshold.

12. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 10, wherein the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the coupling intersections and a fourth threshold.

13. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 12, wherein touch screen further comprises a plurality of electrical conductors crossing the coupling intersections, and the dimension of the electrical conductors determines the fourth threshold.

14. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 5, wherein the driving unit further drives the second conductive lines in the first stage, and the sensing unit further determines the second conductive lines touched or approached by the objects in the first stage, wherein the second conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are a plurality of selected second conductive lines, and the selected first and second conductive lines determine two groups of true touch points and two groups of false touch points when the number of objects are two, wherein the two groups of true and false touch points are separately on the diagonals of a virtual parallelogram, and the sensing unit determines the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects from at least one of the two groups of true and false touch points in the second stage.

15. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 14, wherein the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the two groups of true touch points exceed a fifth threshold, and the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the two groups of false touch points are less than or equal to the fifth threshold.

16. A touch device for distinguishing true touch of claim 15, wherein the touch screen further comprises a plurality of electrical conductors crossing the coupling intersections, and the dimension of the electrical conductors determines the fifth threshold.

17. A touch method for distinguishing true touch, comprising:

operatively driving a plurality of first conductive lines, wherein the first conductive lines and a plurality of second conductive lines are electrically isolated from each other and stacked to constitute a plurality of coupling intersections;

determining the first conductive lines touched or approached by a plurality of objects; and

determining the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects operatively when the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are driven.

18. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 17, wherein the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the self capacitive coupling variation of the first conductive lines and a first threshold.

19. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 17, wherein the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the coupling intersections and a second threshold.

20. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 19, further comprising:

providing a plurality of electrical conductors cross the coupling intersections for determining the second threshold according to the dimension of the electrical conductors.

21. A touch method for distinguishing true touch, comprising:

driving a plurality of first conductive lines operatively, wherein the first conductive lines and a plurality of second conductive lines are electrically isolated from each other and stacked to constitute a plurality of coupling intersections;

determining the first conductive lines touched or approached by a plurality of objects, and the first conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are a plurality of selected first conductive lines; and

operatively driving the selected first conductive lines.

22. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 21, wherein the selected first conductive lines are determined by the comparison between the self capacitive coupling variation of the first conductive lines and a first threshold.

23. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 21, wherein the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined when the selected first conductive lines are driven.

24. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 23, wherein the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the mutual capacitive coupling variation and a second threshold.

25. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 24, further comprising:

providing a plurality of electrical conductors cross the coupling intersections for determining the second threshold according to the dimension of the electrical conductors.

26. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 21, further comprising:

operatively driving the second conductive lines;

determining the second conductive lines touched or approached by the objects, wherein the second conductive lines touched or approached by the objects are a plurality of selected second conductive lines; and

determining the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects on the selected second conductive lines when the selected second conductive lines are driven.

27. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 26, wherein the selected second conductive lines are determined by the comparison between the self capacitive coupling variation of the selected second conductive lines and a third threshold.

28. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 26, wherein the coupling intersections touched or approached by the objects are determined by the comparison between the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the coupling intersections and a fourth threshold.

29. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 28, further comprising:

providing a plurality of electrical conductors cross the coupling intersections for determining the second threshold according to the dimension of the electrical conductors.

30. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 21, further comprising:

operatively driving the second conductive lines;

determining the second conductive lines touched or approached by the object, wherein the second conductive lines touched or approached by the object are a plurality of selected second conductive lines;

determining two groups of true touch points and two groups of false touch points according to the selected first and second conductive lines when the number of objects are two, wherein the two groups of true and false touch points are separately on the diagonals of a virtual parallelogram; and

determining at least one group of coupling intersections touched or approached according to the objects of the two groups of true and false touch points.

31. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 30, wherein the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the two groups of true touch points exceed a fifth threshold, and the mutual capacitive coupling variation of the two groups of false touch points are less than or equal to the fifth threshold.

32. A touch method for distinguishing true touch of claim 31, further comprising:

providing a plurality of electrical conductors cross the coupling intersections for determining the fifth threshold according to the dimension of the electrical conductors.