VEHICLE ACCESSORY CONTROL INTERFACE HAVING CAPACTIVE TOUCH SWITCHES

• US 20110001722A1
• Filed: 07/02/2009
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uusi LLC (Nartron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nartron Corporation
• Inventors: Newman, Todd R., Washeleski, John M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,046,967 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• 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 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

A system for enabling an operator to control a vehicle accessory includes a control interface and a processor. The control interface has a display surface and a touch area defined by an electrically conductive layer adjacent the display surface. The conductive layer capacitively couples to an electrically conductive object upon the object touching or being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with an electrical charge. The processor drives the conductive layer with the electrical charge, detects the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the object upon the object touching or being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layer is driven, generates a signal indicative of the object touching or being in proximity with the touch area upon detecting the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the object, and provides the signal to the accessory for controlling the accessory accordingly.

Claims

1. A system for enabling an operator to control an accessory of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a control interface having a display surface and a touch area defined by an electrically conductive layer adjacent to a portion of the display surface, wherein the conductive layer capacitively couples to an electrically conductive object upon the conductive object touching the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with an electrical charge; and

a processor for driving the conductive layer with the electrical charge, for detecting the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object upon the conductive object touching the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with the electrical charge, for generating a signal indicative of the conductive object touching the touch area upon detecting the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object, and for providing the signal to an accessory of a vehicle for controlling the accessory as a function of the conductive object touching the touch area.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object is based on mutual capacitance.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the control interface includes a plurality of touch areas each defined by an electrically conductive pad adjacent to respective portions of the display surface so as to define unique touch sensitive areas on the display surface.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein:

at least one of the display surface and the conductive layer is optically transparent to allow for light to freely pass through.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein:

the conductive layer is optically transparent and is formed by one of Indium Tin Oxide and a clear conductive polymer.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the display surface is a dielectric substrate.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the display surface acts as a support for attachment of the conductive layer to the portion of the display surface.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the display surface acts as a protective layer over the conductive layer.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the conductive layer is positioned on an external side of the display surface that is accessible for being touched by the conductive object.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the conductive layer is positioned on an internal side of the display surface that is inaccessible from being touched by the conductive object.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the conductive layer is positioned within the display surface.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the conductive layer is positioned between two or more materials that together comprise the display surface.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the display surface is a non-conductive material and includes at least one of glass and plastic.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the conductive layer capacitively couples to an electrically conductive object upon the conductive object being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with an electrical charge;

wherein the processor is further operable for detecting the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object upon the conductive object being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with the electrical charge, for generating a proximity signal indicative of the conductive object being in proximity with the touch area upon detecting the capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object, and for providing the proximity signal to the accessory for controlling the accessory as a function of the conductive object being in proximity with the touch area.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the display surface has a complex contour and the conductive layer is formed to be mutually parallel with the display surface.

16. A system for enabling an operator to control an accessory of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a control interface having a display surface and a touch area defined by electrically conductive layers adjacent to a portion of the display surface, wherein the conductive layers are isolated from one another by a non-electrically conductive substrate, wherein the conductive layers capacitively couple to an electrically conductive object upon the conductive object either touching the touch area or being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layers are electrically driven with an electrical charge; and

a processor for driving the conductive layers with the electrical charge, for detecting the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layers to the conductive object upon the conductive object either touching the touch area or being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layers are driven with the electrical charge, for generating a signal indicative of the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layers to the conductive object and indicative of the position of the touch area, and for providing the signal to an accessory of a vehicle for controlling the accessory as a function of the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layers to the conductive object and the position of the touch area.

17. A system for enabling an operator to control an accessory of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a control interface having a display surface and a touch area defined by an electrically conductive layer adjacent to a portion of the display surface, wherein the conductive layer capacitively couples to an electrically conductive object upon the conductive object either touching the touch area or being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with an electrical charge; and

a processor for driving the conductive layer with the electrical charge, for detecting the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object upon the conductive object touching the touch area or being in proximity with the touch area while the conductive layer is driven with the electrical charge, and for generating a signal indicative of the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object;

the processor including a microprocessor for receiving the signal indicative of the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object, for computing an output command based on the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object, and for providing the output command to an accessory of a vehicle for controlling the accessory as a function of the amount of capacitive coupling of the conductive layer to the conductive object.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to a single point touch input of the conductive object on the touch area.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to a multipoint touch input of the conductive object on the touch area.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to sequential single point touch inputs of the conductive object on the touch area.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to sequential multipoint touch inputs of the conductive object on the touch area.

22. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to a single point proximity input of the conductive object to the touch area prior to the conductive object touching the touch area.

23. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to a multipoint proximity input of the conductive object to the touch area prior to the conductive object touching the touch area.

24. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to sequential single point proximity inputs of the conductive object to the touch area prior to the conductive object touching the touching area.

25. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor computes an output command in response to sequential multipoint proximity inputs of the conductive object to the touch area prior to the conductive object touching the touch area.

26. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor employs haptic feedback as part of the output command.

27. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the microprocessor employs audio feedback as part of the output command.

28. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the processor achieves proximity detection of an electrically conductive object to the touch area by lowering a sensitivity threshold of the processor to make the touch area more sensitive to nearby electrically conductive objects.

29. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the processor achieves proximity detection of an electrically conductive object to the touch area by reading capacitive coupling amounts at a multitude of touch areas of the control interface and summing the capacitive coupling amounts to produce a summed capacitive coupling amount.

30. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the control interface further includes a plurality of other touch areas each defined by an electrically conductive layer adjacent to a respective portion of the display surface, wherein the processor achieves proximity detection of an electrically conductive object to the touch area by electrically connecting the touch area with at least one of the other touch areas to make the touch area more sensitive to nearby electrically conductive objects.

31. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the control interface further includes a proximity sensitive touch area defined by an electrically conductive layer adjacent to the portion of the display surface, wherein the processor achieves proximity detection of an electrically conductive object to the portion of the display surface by sensing the capacitive coupling of the proximity sensitive touch area with the conductive object.

32. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the processor further includes a transceiver for remotely communicating with a wireless electronic device.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein:

the processor controls the accessory in accordance with an output command received from the wireless electronic device.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein:

the processor transmits information indicative of the status of at least one of the control interface and the accessory to the wireless electronic device.

35. The system of claim 32 wherein:

the processor exchanges data between the control interface and the wireless electronic device.