Optical Touch Screen with Reflectors
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A touch panel comprising:
- a generally planar surface;
at least two illuminators, for illuminating a sensing plane generally parallel to said generally planar surface;
at least one selectably actuable reflector operative, when actuated, to reflect light from at least one of said at least two illuminators;
at least one sensor for generating an output based on sensing light in said sensing plane; and
a processor which receives said output from said at least one sensor, and provides a touch location output indication.
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Abstract
A touch panel including a generally planar surface, at least two illuminators, for illuminating a sensing plane generally parallel to the generally planar surface, at least one selectably actuable reflector operative, when actuated, to reflect light from at least one of the at least two illuminators, at least one sensor for generating an output based on sensing light in the sensing plane and a processor which receives the output from the at least one sensor, and provides a touch location output indication.
67 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A touch panel comprising:
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a generally planar surface; at least two illuminators, for illuminating a sensing plane generally parallel to said generally planar surface; at least one selectably actuable reflector operative, when actuated, to reflect light from at least one of said at least two illuminators; at least one sensor for generating an output based on sensing light in said sensing plane; and a processor which receives said output from said at least one sensor, and provides a touch location output indication. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A touch panel comprising:
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a generally planar surface; at least one illuminator for illuminating a sensing plane generally parallel to said generally planar surface; at least one sensor for sensing light from said at least one illuminator indicating presence of at least one object in said sensing plane; and a processor comprising functionality operative to; receive inputs from said at least one sensor indicating angular regions of said sensing plane in which light from said at least one illuminator is blocked by the presence of said at least one object in said sensing plane; associate at least one two-dimensional shape to intersections of said angular regions; choose a minimum number of said at least one two-dimensional shape sufficient to represent all of said angular regions; and calculate at least one location of the presence of said at least one object with respect to said generally planar surface based on said minimum number of said at least one two-dimensional shape. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for calculating at least one location of at least one object located in a sensing plane associated with a touch panel, the method comprising:
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illuminating said sensing plane with at least one illuminator; sensing light received by a sensor indicating angular regions of said sensing plane in which light from said at least one illuminator is blocked by the presence of said at least one object in said sensing plane; associating at least one two-dimensional shape with intersections of said angular regions; selecting a minimum number of said at least one two-dimensional shape sufficient to reconstruct all of said angular regions; associating an object location in said sensing plane with each two-dimensional shape in said minimum number of said at least one two-dimensional shape; and providing a touch location output indication including said object location of said each two-dimensional shape. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A touch panel comprising:
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a generally planar surface; at least one illuminator, for illuminating a sensing plane generally parallel to said generally planar surface; at least one reflector operative to reflect light from said at least one illuminator; at least one 2-dimensional retro-reflector operative to retro-reflect light from at least one of said at least one illuminator and said at least one reflector; at least one sensor for generating an output based on sensing light in said sensing plane; and a processor which receives said output from said at least one sensor, and provides a touch location output indication. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification