TOUCH DEVICE

• US 20120306804A1
• Filed: 01/04/2012
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lite-On Electronics Company Limited (Lite-On Technology Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lite-On Technology Corporation, Silitek Electronic Guangzhou Co Ltd (Lite-On Technology Corporation)
• Inventors: CHEN, ER-HAO, YEN, TAO-CHENG, HSU, YI-PING
• Application Number:
  US13/343,020
• Publication Number:
  US 20120306804A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes

Abstract

A touch device including a first touch-sensing unit, a second touch-sensing unit, a touch-sensing strip module, and a control module is disclosed for controlling functions performed by an electronic device. The first and the second touch-sensing unit respectively generate a first and a second touch signal while touched. The touch-sensing strip module includes sequentially arranged M third touch-sensing units, and the touch-sensing strip module generates a first sliding signal when the third touch-sensing units are touched in a first predetermined sequence. The control module drives the electric device to perform a first function while receiving the first touch signal and the first sliding signal simultaneously, and the control module drives the electric device to perform a second function while receiving the second touch signal and the first sliding signal simultaneously.

Claims

1. A touch device for controlling an electronic device, comprising:

a first touch-sensing unit for generating a first touch signal when touched;

a second touch-sensing unit for generating a second touch signal when touched;

a touch-sensing strip module, having M third touch-sensing units arranged in series, for generating a first sliding signal while the M third touch-sensing units are touched in a first predetermined sequence; and

a control module, coupled with the first touch-sensing unit, the second touch-sensing unit, and the touch-sensing strip module respectively, for controlling the electronic device to perform a first function while detecting the first touch signal and the first sliding signal at the same time, and for controlling the electronic device to perform a second function while detecting the second touch signal and the first sliding signal at the same time;

wherein M is an integer larger than 1.

2. The touch device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a comparing module, coupled with the first touch-sensing unit, the second touch-sensing unit, and the control module, for comparing a magnitude of the first touch signal and the second touch signal, and transmitting one of the first touch signal and the second touch signal with the larger magnitude to the control module.

3. The touch device according to claim 2, wherein the magnitude of the first touch signal and the second touch signal are determined by capacitance variations of the first touch-sensing unit and the second touch-sensing unit;

when the capacitance variation of the first touch-sensing unit is larger than the capacitance variation of the second touch-sensing unit, the magnitude of the first touch signal is determined larger;

otherwise the magnitude of the second touch signal is determined larger.

4. The touch device according to claim 1, wherein the first touch-sensing unit, the second touch-sensing unit, and the touch-sensing strip module are coplanarly disposed on a substrate, and the touch-sensing strip module is disposed between the first touch-sensing unit and the second touch-sensing unit.

5. The touch device according to claim 1, wherein the k^th third touch-sensing unit generates a k^th third touch signal when touched, the (k+1)^th third touch-sensing unit generates a (k+1)^th third touch signal when touched, and the touch-sensing strip module generates the first sliding signal when the touch-sensing strip module detects the k^th third touch signal before detecting the (k+1)^th third touch signal, wherein both k and k+1 are integers larger than 1 and smaller than M.

6. The touch device according to claim 5, wherein when the touch-sensing strip module detects the k^th third touch signal before detecting the (k+1)^th third touch signal and further determines a presence of a first time interval between the detected k^th third touch signal and the detected (k+1)^th third touch signal, the touch-sensing strip module generates a first sliding speed signal.

7. The touch device according to claim 1, wherein the touch-sensing strip module generates a second sliding signal while the M third touch-sensing units being touched in a second predetermined sequence, the control module controls the electronic device to perform a third function while detecting the first touch signal and the second sliding signal at the same time, and the control module controls the electronic device to perform a fourth function while detecting the second touch signal and the second sliding signal at the same time.

8. The touch device according to claim 7, wherein the k^th third touch-sensing unit generates a k^th third touch signal when touched, the (k−

1)^th third touch-sensing unit generates a (k−

1)^th third touch signal when touched, and the touch-sensing strip module generates the second sliding signal when the touch-sensing strip module detects the k^th third touch signal before detecting the (k−

1)^th third touch signal, wherein both k and (k−

1) are integers smaller than M with (k−

1) larger than 1.

9. The touch device according to claim 8, wherein when the touch-sensing strip module detects the k^th third touch signal before detecting the (k−

1)^th third touch signal and further determines a second time interval between the detected k^th third touch signal and the detected (k−

1)^th third touch signal, and the touch-sensing strip module generates a second sliding speed signal.

10. The touch device according to claim 1, wherein the control module controls the electronic device to perform a fifth function while detecting the first touch-sensing unit, the k^th third touch-sensing unit, and the second touch-sensing unit are touched sequentially, wherein k is an integer not larger than M.

11. The touch device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a housing for containing the first touch-sensing unit, the second touch-sensing unit, and the touch-sensing strip module, an exterior surface of the housing having a first groove and a second groove, the first groove being configured to ensure the first touch-sensing unit and the touch-sensing strip module are simultaneity touched, the second groove being configured to ensure the second touch-sensing unit and the touch-sensing strip module are simultaneity touched.