Capacitive Touchscreen or Touchpad for Finger and Active Stylus

• US 20100252335A1
• Filed: 04/03/2009
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avago Technologies ECBU IP Singapore Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Orsley, Timothy James
• Granted Patent: US 8,278,571 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 178/18.30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04162 for exchanging data with external devices, e.g. smart pens, via the digitiser sensing hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0442 using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for transmitting changes in electrical potential to be received by the digitiser
• 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

There is provided an electronic device having a mutual capacitance touchscreen or touchpad having combined finger navigation and active stylus navigation and character entry capabilities. According to one such embodiment, first and second pluralities of sense and drive electrodes are disposed in or on at least one substrate, and form an array configured to permit a first location corresponding to a finger or a second location corresponding to an active stylus to be detected thereby. The drive electrodes in the array are configured to operate as drive electrodes when the touchscreen or touchpad operates in a first finger touch mode, and to operate as additional sense electrodes when the touchscreen or touchpad operates in a second active stylus mode.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a mutual capacitance combined finger and active stylus sensing touchscreen or touchpad comprising an outer touch surface, at least one substrate disposed beneath the touch surface, a first plurality of mutual capacitance drive electrodes arranged in first rows or columns on the at least one substrate, a second plurality of mutual capacitance sense electrodes arranged in second rows or columns on the at least one substrate, the first rows or columns not being parallel to the second rows or columns;

electrode driving and sensing circuitry operably connected to the drive and sense electrodes and configured to permit at least some of the drive electrodes to be switchably configured thereby for operation as either drive electrodes in a first finger touch mode or as additional sense electrodes in a second active stylus mode, and

an active stylus comprising stylus driving circuitry configured to emit an active signal from the active stylus when the touchscreen or touchpad is operating in the second mode;

wherein the outer touch surface is configured for a user to place and move the finger or active stylus thereon and thereacross, the first and second pluralities of electrodes form an electrode array, and the electrode driving and sensing circuitry and the electrode array are together configured to permit a first finger position on the outer touch surface to be detected capacitively thereby when operating in the first mode and to detect a second active signal location on the outer touch surface to be detected capacitively thereby when operating in the second mode.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second rows or columns of the sense electrodes are scanned sequentially by the electrode driving and sensing circuitry when the touchscreen or touchpad is operating in the first mode.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein all the first rows or columns of the drive electrodes and all the second rows or columns of the sense electrodes are scanned substantially simultaneously by the electrode driving and sensing circuitry when the touchscreen or touchpad is operating in the second mode.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the finger position in respect of the electrode array is interpolated between electrodes.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the active stylus position in respect of the electrode array is interpolated between electrodes.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second rows or columns of electrodes are substantially perpendicular to the first rows or columns of electrodes.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of drive electrodes is disposed on a first surface of the at least one substrate, and the second plurality of sense electrodes is disposed on a second surface of the at least one substrate, the first and second surfaces opposing one another.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first and second pluralities of electrodes are disposed substantially in a single plane.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein a spacing between rows or columns of at least one of the first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes ranges between about 1 mm and about 10 mm.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second pluralities of electrodes comprises indium tin oxide (ITO).

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one substrate and the touch surface comprises at least one of glass, plastic and acrylic.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one substrate and the touch surface is substantially optically transparent.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the touchscreen or touchpad is configured to sense multiple touch locations in the array substantially simultaneously.

14. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electrode driving and sensing circuitry further comprises an electrode drive signal circuit operably connected to the first plurality of electrodes and configured to provide electrical drive signals thereto.

15. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein at least portions of the electrode driving and sensing circuitry are incorporated into an integrated circuit.

16. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electrode driving and sensing circuitry further comprises A/D converters for each of the first rows or columns of drive electrodes, the A/D converters being configured to permit the first rows or columns of drive electrodes to operate as sense electrodes when the touchscreen or touchpad is operating in the second mode.

17. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the active signal is a radio frequency (“

RF”

) signal.

18. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second mode is activated when the active stylus is removed from a stylus holder.

19. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second mode is activated when a barrel button disposed at or near a tip of the active stylus is actuated.

20. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second mode is activated when a barrel button disposed at or near a tip of the active stylus is de-actuated.

21. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first mode is activated when the active stylus placed in a stylus holder.

22. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the active stylus is wireless or batteryless.

23. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the active stylus is configured to harvest electromagnetic energy from an in-range reader operably connected to the electronic device.

24. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the active stylus is configured to power an integrated circuit disposed therein using the harvested electromagnetic energy.

25. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the active signal emitted by the active stylus contains encoded frequency or phase information that may be employed by the electrode driving and sensing circuitry to emit a synch signal for reception by the active stylus to maintain synchrony between the active stylus and the touchscreen or touchpad.

26. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an LCD, a computer display, a laptop computer, a personal data assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a radio, an MP3 player, a portable music player, a stationary device, a television, a stereo, an exercise machine, an industrial control, a control panel, an outdoor control device and a washing machine.

27. A method of sensing a position of a finger or an active stylus on a touchscreen or touchpad, comprising:

detecting a first position of the finger on the touchscreen or touchpad when a mutual capacitance changes between a first plurality of electrodes and a second plurality of electrodes near the first position, the first and second pluralities of electrodes forming an electrode array in the touchscreen or touchpad, and

detecting a second position of the active stylus on the touchscreen or touchpad when an active signal emitted by the active stylus is detected by the first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes near the second position.