TOUCH SENSOR WITH FORCE-ACTUATED SWITCHED CAPACITOR
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a first substantially transparent substrate;
first rows of substantially transparent conductor formed on the first substrate;
a first substantially transparent insulator formed on the first rows of conductor;
a second substantially transparent conductor formed in discontinuous areas of second rows on the first insulator;
a second substantially transparent and flexible substrate;
a third substantially transparent conductor formed in columns on the second substrate, the columns being substantially orthogonal to the rows; and
substantially transparent elastomeric material formed in second portions of the discontinuous areas of the second conductor, the elastomeric material extending from the discontinuous areas to the second substrate between the columns on the second substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This disclosure provides apparatus, systems and methods of fabricating force-sensitive switches. In some implementations, an array of force-sensitive switches and local capacitors of a combined sensor device may be used to connect the local capacitor into associated projected capacitive touch (PCT) detection circuitry. In some implementations, each capacitor may be formed with a thin dielectric layer to achieve a high capacitance increase when the force-sensitive switch is closed, e.g., by the pressing of a stylus or finger. In some implementations, the same PCT detection circuitry can be used to detect changes in mutual capacitance when touched with a finger (touch mode) and changes in sensel capacitance when the force-sensitive switch is depressed (stylus or fingerprint mode).
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a first substantially transparent substrate; first rows of substantially transparent conductor formed on the first substrate; a first substantially transparent insulator formed on the first rows of conductor; a second substantially transparent conductor formed in discontinuous areas of second rows on the first insulator; a second substantially transparent and flexible substrate; a third substantially transparent conductor formed in columns on the second substrate, the columns being substantially orthogonal to the rows; and substantially transparent elastomeric material formed in second portions of the discontinuous areas of the second conductor, the elastomeric material extending from the discontinuous areas to the second substrate between the columns on the second substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A multi-touch sensing apparatus, comprising:
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first substantially transparent substrate means; first rows of substantially transparent conductor means formed on the first substrate means; first substantially transparent insulator means formed on the first rows of conductor means; second substantially transparent conductor means formed in discontinuous areas of second rows on the first insulator means; second substantially transparent and flexible substrate means; third substantially transparent conductor means formed in columns on the second substrate means, the columns being substantially orthogonal to the rows; and substantially transparent elastomeric means formed in second portions of the discontinuous areas of the second conductor means, the elastomeric means extending from the discontinuous areas to the second substrate means between the columns on the second substrate means. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of forming a multi-touch sensing apparatus, comprising:
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forming first rows of substantially transparent conductor material on a first substantially transparent substrate; forming a first substantially transparent insulator on the first rows of conductor material; forming second substantially transparent conductor material in discontinuous areas of second rows on the first insulator; forming third substantially transparent conductor material in columns on a second substantially transparent and flexible substrate, the columns being substantially orthogonal to the rows; and forming substantially transparent elastomeric material in second portions of the discontinuous areas of the second conductor, the elastomeric material extending from the discontinuous areas to the second substrate between the columns on the second substrate. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification