BANDWIDTH ENHANCEMENT FOR A TOUCH SENSOR PANEL

• US 20100059294A1
• Filed: 09/08/2008
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Hotelling, Steve Porter, Elias, John Greer
• Application Number:
  US12/206,680
• Publication Number:
  US 20100059294A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 178/18.60
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• 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 3/0448 Details of the electrode shape, e.g. for enhancing the detection of touches, for generating specific electric field shapes, for enhancing display quality

Abstract

A system is disclosed for enhancing the stimulation signal bandwidth for a touch sensor panel and maintaining relatively uniform touch sensitivity over the touch sensor panel surface. In one embodiment, a bandwidth enhancement circuit is coupled in parallel to a sensor circuit. The sensor circuit includes a source of stimulating voltage, a drive line, a sense line, and a charge amplifier. The drive line and the sense line are coupled with each other by a mutual capacitance Csig. The bandwidth enhancement circuit can be a RC circuit coupled in parallel to the sensor circuit. The bandwidth enhancement circuit can be represented by two serially coupled resistors, each of which is also coupled to ground on one end, and two capacitors. In particular, one of the capacitors couples the bandwidth enhancement circuit to the drive line, and the other capacitor couples the bandwidth enhancement circuit to the sense line.

Claims

1. A capacitive touch sensor panel, comprising:

a plurality of sense lines formed on one side of a substrate;

a plurality of drive lines formed on a same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines, the plurality of drive lines configured for receiving one or more stimulation signals, the plurality of sense lines and the plurality of drive lines forming an array of capacitive sensors; and

a bandwidth enhancement strip formed between one or more of the drive lines and one or more of the sense lines for increasing a capacitance of one or more of the capacitive sensors in response to a frequency increase of the one or more stimulation signals.

2. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip is capacitively coupled to the one or more drive and sense lines.

3. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip comprises a continuous strip of conductive material having a certain resistance and a first end and a second end coupled to ground.

4. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip is formed from ITO.

5. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 1, the bandwidth enhancement strip having a width and a separation between the drive and sense lines to create an effective resistance and capacitance, respectively, such that the increase in capacitance of the one or more capacitive sensors substantially offsets an amount of a signal lost due to shunting capacitances in the drive and sense lines.

6. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 1, the touch sensor panel integrated within a computer system.

7. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 6, the computer system integrated within a mobile telephone.

8. The capacitive touch sensor panel of claim 6, the computer system integrated within a media player.

9. A capacitive sensor, comprising:

a sense electrode formed on one side of a substrate;

a drive electrode formed on a same side of the substrate as the sense electrode and capacitively coupled to the drive electrode, the drive electrode configured for receiving one or more stimulation signals; and

a bandwidth enhancement strip formed between the drive and sense electrode for providing a parallel path for capacitive coupling between the drive and sense electrode.

10. The capacitive sensor of claim 9, wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip is capacitively coupled to the one or more drive and sense lines.

11. The capacitive sensor of claim 9, wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip comprises a continuous strip of conductive material having a certain resistance and a first end and a second end coupled to ground.

12. The capacitive sensor of claim 9, wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip is formed from ITO.

13. The capacitive sensor of claim 9, the bandwidth enhancement strip having a width and a separation between the drive and sense electrode to create an equivalent circuit that substantially offsets an amount of a signal lost due to shunting capacitances in the drive and sense electrodes.

14. The capacitive sensor of claim 9, the capacitive sensor integrated within a touch sensor panel.

15. The capacitive sensor of claim 14, the touch sensor panel integrated within a computer system.

16. The capacitive sensor of claim 15, the computer system integrated within a mobile telephone.

17. The capacitive sensor of claim 15, the computer system integrated within a media player.

18. A bandwidth enhancement strip for a capacitive sensor array having a plurality of drive and sense lines, comprising:

a strip of conductive material formed between one or more of the drive and sense lines for providing a parallel path for capacitive coupling between the one or more drive and sense lines.

19. The bandwidth enhancement strip of claim 18, wherein the strip of conductive material is capacitively coupled to the one or more drive and sense lines.

20. The bandwidth enhancement strip of claim 18, wherein the strip of conductive material includes a first end and a second end coupled to ground.

21. The bandwidth enhancement strip of claim 18, wherein the strip of conductive material is formed from ITO.

22. The bandwidth enhancement strip of claim 18, the strip of conductive material having a width and a separation between the drive and sense lines to create an equivalent circuit that substantially offsets an amount of a signal lost due to shunting capacitances in the drive and sense lines.

23. A method for enhancing the bandwidth of a capacitive touch sensor panel, comprising:

forming a plurality of sense lines on one side of a substrate;

forming a plurality of drive lines on a same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines;

configuring the plurality of drive lines for receiving one or more stimulation signals;

forming an array of capacitive sensors from the plurality of sense lines and the plurality of drive lines; and

forming a bandwidth enhancement strip between one or more of the drive lines and one or more of the sense lines for increasing a capacitance between one or more of the capacitive sensors in response to a frequency increase of the one or more stimulation signals.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising capacitively coupling the bandwidth enhancement strip to the one or more drive and sense lines.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the bandwidth enhancement strip comprises a continuous strip of conductive material having a certain resistance, and a first end and a second end coupled to ground.

26. The method of claim 23 further comprising creating an effective resistance and capacitance by having a width and a separation between the drive and sense lines, such that the increase in capacitance of the one or more capacitive sensors substantially offsets an amount of a signal lost due to shunting capacitances in the drive and sense lines.

27. A handheld electronic device including a capacitive touch sensor penal, the capacitive touch sensor panel comprising:

a plurality of sense lines formed on one side of a substrate;

a plurality of drive lines formed on a same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines, the plurality of drive lines configured for receiving one or more stimulation signals, the plurality of sense lines and the plurality of drive lines forming an array of capacitive sensors; and

a bandwidth enhancement strip formed between one or more of the drive lines and one or more of the sense lines for increasing a capacitance between one or more of the capacitive sensors in response to a frequency increase of the one or more stimulation signals.