DETECTING A TOUCH EVENT USING A FIRST TOUCH INTERFACE AND A SECOND TOUCH INTERFACE

• US 20140049518A1
• Filed: 08/14/2012
• Published: 02/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hunt, John Miles, Nicholson, John Weldon
• Granted Patent: US 9,389,725 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/043 using propagating acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means

Abstract

An apparatus for detecting a touch event using a first touch interface and a second touch interface includes one or more touch-sensitive sensors, a first touch interface, and a second touch interface. The first touch interface includes an optical touch interface. The second touch interface is of a different type than the first touch interface. The apparatus also includes a storage device storing machine-readable code and a processor executing the machine-readable code. The machine-readable code includes a first interface module determining a touch position on the one or more touch-sensitive sensors using the first touch interface. The machine-readable code further includes a second interface module detecting a touch contact on the one or more touch-sensitive sensors using the second touch interface.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

one or more touch-sensitive sensors;

a first touch interface for the one or more touch-sensitive sensors, the first touch interface comprising an optical touch interface;

a second touch interface for the one or more touch-sensitive sensors, the second touch interface being of a different type than the first touch interface;

a storage device storing machine-readable code;

a processor executing the machine-readable code, the machine-readable code comprising;

a first interface module determining a touch position on the one or more touch-sensitive sensors using the first touch interface; and

a second interface module detecting a touch contact on the one or more touch-sensitive sensors using the second touch interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a combination module combining the touch position sensed by the first touch interface with the touch contact sensed by the second touch interface into a touch event.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a hovering module translating the touch position determined by the first interface module into a user interface response prior to the second interface module detecting the touch contact.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the touch position comprises a position of a touching object proximate to a surface associated with the one or more touch-sensitive sensors and wherein the touch contact comprises a contact of the touching object on the surface associated with the one or more touch-sensitive sensors.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second touch interface comprises a limited touch interface having one or more of limited touch contact sensing and touch position sensing capabilities.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second touch interface does not determine touch position information of the touch position on the touch-sensitive sensor.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second touch interface determines touch position information associated with the touch position on the one or more touch-sensitive sensor, wherein the second interface module disregards the touch position information from the second touch interface.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first touch interface determines touch contact information associated with the touch contact on the touch-sensitive sensor, wherein the first interface module disregards the touch contact information from the first touch interface.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second touch interface comprises one of a capacitive touch interface and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch interface.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more touch-sensitive sensors comprise a display.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the display has a diagonal display size greater than 20 inches.

12. A method comprising:

determining a touch position on one or more touch-sensitive sensors using a first touch interface, the first touch interface comprising an optical touch interface; and

detecting a touch contact on the one or more touch-sensitive sensors using a second touch interface, the second touch interface being of a different type than the first touch interface.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising combining the touch position sensed by the first touch interface with the touch contact sensed by the second touch interface into a touch event.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising translating the touch position from the first touch interface into a user interface response prior to detecting the touch contact using the second touch interface.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the second touch interface comprises one of a capacitive touch interface and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch interface.

16. A computer program product comprising a storage device storing machine readable code executed by a processor to perform the operations of:

determining a touch position on one or more touch-sensitive sensors using a first touch interface, the first touch interface comprising an optical touch interface; and

detecting a touch contact on the one or more touch-sensitive sensors using a second touch interface, the second touch interface being of a different type than the first touch interface.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, further comprising combining the touch position sensed by the first touch interface with the touch contact sensed by the second touch interface into a touch event.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the second touch interface comprises one of a capacitive touch interface and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch interface.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the second touch interface comprises a limited touch interface having one or more of limited touch contact sensing and touch position sensing capabilities.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the second touch interface does not determine touch position information of the touch position on the touch-sensitive sensor.