MOUSE PADS AND METHOD FOR USING THE SAME

• US 20140152561A1
• Filed: 06/17/2013
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing FUNATE Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Beijing FUNATE Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: QIAN, LI, WANG, YU-QUAN, FENG, CHEN
• Granted Patent: US 9,471,160 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04112 Electrode mesh in capacitive digitiser: electrode for touch sensing is formed of a mesh of very fine, normally metallic, interconnected lines that are almost invisible to see. This provides a quite large but transparent electrode surface, without need for ITO or similar transparent conductive material
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0395 Mouse pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• 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
• 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

Abstract

A mouse pad includes a body having a surface, a touch panel and a processor is provided. The touch panel is located on the surface and electrically connected to the processor. The processor receives signals from the touch panel and can divide the touch panel into a first area and a second area, the first area and the second area respectively acting as a left mouse button (for left clicks) and as a right mouse button (for right clicks). Methods for using the mouse pad are also provided.

Claims

1. A mouse pad comprising:

a body comprising a surface;

a touch panel located on the surface, the touch panel is configured to detect touch signals; and

a processor electrically connected with the touch panel, the processor is configured to receive the touch signals and divide the touch panel into a first area and a second area according to the touch signals;

wherein the first area acts as a left mouse button for selecting an icon of an electronic device by clicking the first area, and the second area acts as a right mouse button for displaying a taskbar or a drop-down menu of the electronic device by clicking within the second area.

2. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is located on the surface of the body and is coplanar with the touch panel.

3. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is located in the body.

4. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch panel is selected from the group consisting of a multi-touch capacitive touch panel, a multi-touch resistive touch panel, a pressure sensitive touch panel, a infrared touch panel, and a combination thereof.

5. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 1, wherein a material of the body is flexible resins or flexible plastics.

6. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch panel comprises a substrate comprising a first surface and a second surface, a first electrode layer located on the first surface, and a second electrode layer located on the second surface.

7. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first electrode layer comprises a plurality of first conductive strips substantially parallel with each other and a plurality of first electrodes electrically connected to an end of the plurality of first conductive strips;

the second electrode layer comprises a plurality of second conductive strips substantially parallel with each other and a plurality of second electrodes electrically connected to an end of the plurality of second conductive strips.

8. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 7, wherein an angle a between the plurality of first conductive strips and the plurality of second conductive strips is about 90 degrees.

9. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 7, wherein a material of the plurality of first conductive strips and the plurality of second conductive strips is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys and carbon nanotubes.

10. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 7, wherein a material of the plurality of first conductive strips and the plurality of second conductive strips are a plurality of carbon nanotubes layers.

11. The mouse pad as claimed in claim 6, wherein the substrate comprises a material that is selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, polyethylene glycol terephthalate, polyether sulfone, cellulose ester, benzocyclobutene, polyvinylchloride and acrylic resin.

12. A method for using the mouse pad of claim 1, comprising steps of:

obtaining more than five touch signals by the processer;

obtaining a touch point B (X_B,Y_B) having a minimum abscissa and a touch point C (X_C,Y_C) having a maximum abscissa by the processor 30; and

defining the first area and the second area according to the touch point B (X_B,Y_B) and the touch point C (X_C,Y_C).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein an area of the touch panel, having an abscissa less than about X_B+⅖

(X_C-X_B), is defined as the first area; and

an area of the touch panel, having an abscissa greater than about X_B+⅖

(X_C-X_B) is defined as the second area.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the mouse pad receives input from a hand of an user, and the touch point B (X_B,Y_B) is the touch point corresponding to a thumb of the user, and the touch point C (X_C,Y_C) is the touch point corresponding to a pinkie of the user.

15. A method for using the mouse pad of claim 1, comprising steps of:

obtaining more than five touch signals by the processer;

obtaining a touch point B (X_B,Y_B) having a minimum ordinate and a touch point C (X_C,Y_C) having a maximum ordinate by the processor 30; and

defining the first area and the second area according to the touch point B (X_B,Y_B) and the touch point C (X_C,Y_C).

16. The method of claim 15, wherein an area of the touch panel having an ordinate less than about Y_B+⅖

), is defined as the first area; and

an area of the touch panel having an ordinate greater than about Y_B+⅖

(Y_C-Y_B), is defined as the second area.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the mouse pad receives input from a hand of an user, and the touch point B (X_B,Y_B) is the touch point corresponding to a thumb of the user, and the touch point C (X_C,Y_C) is the touch point corresponding to a pinkie of the user.