Apparatus and Associated Methods

• US 20140049505A1
• Filed: 08/16/2012
• Published: 02/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: RADIVOJEVIC, Zoran, Beecher, Paul, Bower, Chris, Andrew, Piers, Haque, Samiul, Cotton, Darryl, Astley, Michael, Ahonen, Markus
• Granted Patent: US 9,110,545 B2
• 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 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• 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 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 6/00 Tactile signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems

Abstract

An apparatus including a plurality of adjacent repeated base units, each base unit formed from an active electrode of first, second and third touch sensor arrays, the first, second and third touch sensor arrays each including a plurality of active electrodes connected to a respective common terminal of the touch sensor array, wherein each base unit includes an active electrode of the second touch sensor array interlaced between an active electrode of the first touch sensor array and an active electrode of the third touch sensor array such that a swipe touch gesture applied to two or more adjacent active electrodes of the apparatus generates signalling at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays which allows the direction of the swipe touch gesture to be determined.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising a plurality of adjacent repeated base units, each base unit formed from an active electrode of first, second and third touch sensor arrays, the first, second and third touch sensor arrays each comprising a plurality of active electrodes connected to a respective common terminal of the touch sensor array, wherein each base unit comprises an active electrode of the second touch sensor array interlaced between an active electrode of the first touch sensor array and an active electrode of the third touch sensor array such that a swipe touch gesture applied to two or more adjacent active electrodes of the apparatus generates signalling at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays which allows the direction of the swipe touch gesture to be determined.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two or more adjacent active electrodes to which the swipe touch gesture is applied are two or more adjacent active electrodes of a single base unit, or two or more adjacent active electrodes spanning multiple adjacent base units.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of active electrodes of each touch sensor array are formed from different serial length portions of the same continuous active electrode, the continuous active electrodes of the first, second and third touch sensor arrays configured to radiate spirally to form adjacent repeated base units which allow the direction of a radial swipe touch gesture to be determined.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of active electrodes of each touch sensor array are formed from different parallel length portions of the same continuous active electrode, the different parallel length portions of each touch sensor array configured to extend parallel from the common terminal of the respective touch sensor array to form adjacent repeated base units which allow the direction of an axial swipe touch gesture to be determined.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to monitor the sequence in which the signalling was generated at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays to determine the direction of the swipe touch gesture.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the respective common terminals are input and/or output terminals of the first, second and third touch sensor arrays.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to vary the setting of a device output according to the determined direction of the swipe touch gesture.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide haptic feedback using the corresponding touch sensor arrays to indicate that the device output setting has been varied.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide the haptic feedback by applying a periodic potential to the active electrodes of the corresponding touch sensor arrays via the respective common terminals, and wherein the amplitude and/or frequency of the periodic potential is indicative of the device output setting.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus is configured to apply a periodic potential to the first, second and third touch sensor arrays via the respective common terminals to enable the swipe touch gesture to generate signalling at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the periodic potential applied to the touch sensor arrays to enable the swipe touch gesture to generate signalling is the same periodic potential applied to the touch sensor arrays to provide haptic feedback, or is different to the periodic potential applied to the touch sensor arrays to provide haptic feedback.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each active electrode is configured to couple capacitively to a stylus when the stylus is in proximity to the active electrode, capacitive coupling between the active electrode and the stylus configured to generate a touch input signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a discrete ground electrode located remote from the first, second and third touch sensor arrays.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of ground electrodes connected to a respective common terminal, and wherein the plurality of ground electrodes are interlaced between the active electrodes of the first, second and third touch sensor arrays such that each active electrode is located adjacent to a ground electrode of the plurality of ground electrodes.

15. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the device output is one or more of the volume of a loudspeaker, the frequency response of an audio equalizer, the playback progress of an audio recording, the playback progress of a video recording, the brightness of an electronic display, the contrast of an electronic display, and the currently displayed visual content of an electronic display.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is one or more of an electronic device, a portable electronic device, a portable telecommunications device, a module for any of the aforementioned devices, an accessory for any of the aforementioned devices, a casing for any of the aforementioned devices, and a protective cover for any of the aforementioned devices.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first, second and third touch sensor arrays are formed from, or on top of, the casing.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the casing comprises physical and/or visual demarcations configured to enable location of the first, second and third touch sensor arrays.

19. A method comprising determining the direction of a swipe touch gesture applied to two or more adjacent active electrodes of an apparatus, the apparatus comprising a plurality of adjacent repeated base units, each base unit formed from an active electrode of first, second and third touch sensor arrays, the first, second and third touch sensor arrays each comprising a plurality of active electrodes connected to a respective common terminal of the touch sensor array, wherein each base unit comprises an active electrode of the second touch sensor array interlaced between an active electrode of the first touch sensor array and an active electrode of the third touch sensor array, and wherein the direction of the swipe touch gesture is determined based on signalling generated at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays by the swipe touch gesture.

20. A computer program, recorded on a carrier, the computer program comprising computer code configured to perform the method of claim 19.