PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TRACKPAD

• US 20150084868A1
• Filed: 10/08/2013
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tenuta, Matthew Dominic
• Granted Patent: US 9,619,044 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04106 Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0213 Arrangements providing an integrated pointing device in a keyboard, e.g. trackball, mini-joystick for pointing devices integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/169; joysticks G05G9/047; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04184 Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

A trackpad device includes a top surface, a capacitive sensor operably coupled to the top surface, a resistive sensor disposed below the capacitive sensor and at least one controller operably coupled to the capacitive sensor and to the resistive sensor. The at least one controller and the capacitive sensor are configured to detect one or more objects on the top surface. The at least one controller and the resistive sensor are configured to detect the one or more objects on the top surface independent of the detection by the at least one controller and the capacitive sensor. The at least one controller is configured to determine locations of the one or more objects on the top surface using information from the detection by the at least one controller and capacitive sensor and information from the detection by the at least one controller and the resistive sensor.

Claims

1. A trackpad device, comprising:

a top surface;

a capacitive sensor operably coupled to the top surface;

a resistive sensor disposed below the capacitive sensor; and

at least one controller operably coupled to the capacitive sensor and to the resistive sensor,

wherein;

the at least one controller and the capacitive sensor are configured to detect one or more objects on the top surface,

the at least one controller and the resistive sensor are configured to detect the one or more objects on the top surface independent of the detection by the at least one controller and the capacitive sensor, and

the at least one controller is configured to determine locations of the one or more objects on the top surface using information from the detection by the at least one controller and capacitive sensor and information from the detection by the at least one controller and the resistive sensor.

2. The trackpad device of claim 1, wherein the resistive sensor includes:

a top resistive layer;

a bottom resistive layer; and

a spacer matrix disposed between the top resistive layer and the bottom resistive layer, wherein the at least one controller and the resistive sensor are configured to detect the one or more objects on the top surface by measuring a force applied by the one or more objects using the top resistive layer, the bottom resistive layer and the spacer matrix.

3. The trackpad device of claim 1, wherein the at least one controller includes:

a first controller that is operably coupled to the capacitive sensor; and

a second controller that is operably coupled to the resistive sensor, wherein the first controller is different from the second controller.

4. The trackpad device of claim 3, further comprising a synchronizer that is operably coupled to the first controller and the second controller, the synchronizer being configured to synchronize detection scans from the first controller and the capacitive sensor with detection scans from the second controller and the resistive sensor.

5. The trackpad device of claim 4, wherein the synchronizer is configured to run the detection scans from the first controller and the capacitive sensor simultaneously with the detection scans from the second controller and the resistive sensor.

6. The trackpad device of claim 1, wherein:

the top surface is divided into a plurality of regions; and

the at least one controller is configured to determine the locations of the one or more objects on the top surface by using the detections with the capacitive sensor in one or more of the regions to filter the detections with the resistive sensor in the same regions.

7. The trackpad device of claim 1, wherein the capacitive sensor is a single layer capacitive sensor.

8. The trackpad device of claim 1, wherein the capacitive sensor is a multi-layer capacitive sensor.

9. The trackpad device of claim 1, wherein:

the trackpad device includes both a trackpad area and a keyboard area; and

the at least one controller is configured to use the capacitive sensor and the resistive sensor to distinguish between keystrokes on the keyboard area and movement on the trackpad area.

10. The trackpad device of claim 9, wherein at least a portion of the trackpad area and the keyboard area overlap.

11. A computing device, comprising:

a display device, the computing device being configured to render a graphical user interface (GUI) on the display device;

a trackpad apparatus configured to facilitate user interaction with the GUI, the trackpad apparatus comprising;

a top surface;

a capacitive sensor operably coupled to the top surface;

a resistive sensor disposed below the capacitive sensor; and

at least one controller operably coupled to the capacitive sensor and to the resistive sensor,

wherein;

the at least one controller and the capacitive sensor are configured to detect one or more objects on the top surface,

the at least one controller and the resistive sensor are configured to detect the one or more objects on the top surface independent of the detection by the at least one controller and the capacitive sensor, and

the at least one controller is configured to determine locations of the one or more objects on the top surface using information from the detection by the at least one controller and capacitive sensor and information from the detection by the at least one controller and the resistive sensor.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein:

the at least one controller and the resistive sensor are collectively further configured to, for one or more corresponding locations on the top surface of the trackpad apparatus, detect a respective amount of pressure applied to the top surface of the trackpad apparatus; and

user interaction with the GUI is further based on the detected respective amounts of pressure for the one or more corresponding locations on the top surface of the trackpad apparatus.

13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the resistive sensor comprises:

a top resistive layer;

a bottom resistive layer; and

a spacer matrix disposed between the top resistive layer and the bottom resistive layer, wherein the at least one controller and the resistive sensor are configured to detect the one or more objects on the top surface by measuring a force applied by the one or more objects using the top resistive layer, the bottom resistive layer and the spacer matrix.

14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the at least one controller includes:

a first controller that is operably coupled to the capacitive sensor; and

a second controller that is operably coupled to the resistive sensor, wherein the first controller is different from the second controller.

15. The computing device of claim 14, further comprising a synchronizer that is operably coupled to the first controller and the second controller, the synchronizer being configured to synchronize detection scans from the first controller and the capacitive sensor with detection scans from the second controller and the resistive sensor.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the synchronizer is configured to run the detections scans from the first controller and the capacitive sensor simultaneously with the detection scans from the second controller and the resistive sensor.

17. The computing device of claim 11, wherein:

the trackpad apparatus includes both a trackpad area and a keyboard area; and

the at least one controller is configured to use the capacitive sensor and the resistive sensor to distinguish between keystrokes on the keyboard area and movement on the trackpad area.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein at least a portion of the trackpad area and the keyboard area overlap.

19. A method, comprising:

detecting one or more objects on a top surface of a trackpad device using at least one controller and a capacitive sensor;

detecting one or more objects on the top surface using the at least one controller and a resistive sensor independent of the detection by the at least one controller and the capacitive sensor; and

determining locations of the one or more objects on the top surface using information from the detection by the at least one controller and capacitive sensor and information from the detection by the at least one controller and the resistive sensor.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the trackpad device includes both a trackpad area and a keyboard area, the method further comprising distinguishing between keystrokes on the keyboard area and movement on the trackpad area using the capacitive sensor and the resistive sensor.