METHOD OF DETECTING AND TRACKING MULTIPLE OBJECTS ON A TOUCHPAD USING A DATA COLLECTION ALGORITHM THAT ONLY DETECTS AN OUTER EDGE OF THE OBJECTS AND THEN ASSUMES THAT THE OUTER EDGES DEFINE A SINGLE LARGE OBJECT

• US 20100201631A1
• Filed: 11/10/2008
• Published: 08/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cirque Corporation (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Cirque Corporation (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Taylor, David, Vincent, Paul, Hill, Jared C., Woolley, Richard D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,284,166 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041661 using detection at multiple resolutions, e.g. coarse and fine scanning; using detection within a limited area, e.g. object tracking window
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/047 using sets of wires, e.g. crossed wires
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A system and method for detecting and tracking multiple objects on a touchpad or touchscreen, wherein the method provides a new data collection algorithm, wherein the method reduces a calculation burden on a processor performing detection and tracking algorithms, wherein multiple objects are treated as elements of a single object and not as separate objects, wherein the location of the objects are treated as end-points of a single object when two objects are detected, and treated as a perimeter or boundary when more than two objects are detected.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a plurality of objects on a touch sensitive surface, said method comprising the steps of:

1) providing a plurality of electrodes that form a sensor grid, said plurality of electrodes forming a quadrilateral having four edges;

2) detecting a presence of at least two objects on the touch sensitive surface;

3) beginning a data collection algorithm by collecting data from the plurality of electrodes beginning from an edge and moving towards an opposite edge;

4) stopping data collection when an object is detected; and

5) repeating steps 3 and 4 for each of the four edges, wherein a perimeter formed by the at least two objects is a quadrilateral, and wherein each of the at least two objects lies within the perimeter.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the step of providing a plurality of electrodes that form a sensor grid further comprises the step of providing a plurality of X and Y electrodes that form a sensor grid, said X and Y electrodes laying in a single plane orthogonal to each other.

3. A method for detecting a plurality of objects on a touchpad, said method comprising the steps of:

1) providing a plurality of X and Y electrodes that form a sensor grid, said X and Y electrodes laying in a single plane orthogonal to each other and forming a quadrilateral having four edges;

2) detecting a presence of at least two objects on the touch sensitive surface using a first object detection algorithm;

3) beginning a second data collection algorithm by collecting data from the plurality of electrodes beginning from an edge and moving towards an opposite edge of the quadrilateral;

4) stopping data collection when an object is detected; and

5) repeating steps 3 and 4 for each of the four edges, wherein a perimeter formed by the at least two objects is a quadrilateral, and wherein each of the at least two objects lies within the perimeter.

4. A method for detecting a plurality of objects on a touch sensitive surface, said method comprising the steps of:

1) providing a plurality of electrodes that form a sensor grid;

2) detecting a presence of at least two objects on the touch sensitive surface;

3) beginning a data collection algorithm by collecting data from the plurality of electrodes beginning from a first edge and moving away therefrom;

4) stopping data collection when an object is detected; and

5) repeating steps 3 and 4 for each edge of the sensor grid, wherein a perimeter formed by the at least two objects is a quadrilateral, and wherein each of the at least two objects lies within the perimeter.