Ultrasound-Based Force and Touch Sensing
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Accused Products
Abstract
A touch input/output device for a computing device. The touch device includes a touch sensor for providing touch location information and a force sensor for providing force of touch information. The touch sensor determines touch location information. The force sensor determines the force of touch information. Both the touch sensor and the force sensor are integrated into a circuit responsive to signals, the signals occurring at discernible times in response to whether the signals are in response to contact or in response to an amount of force. Additionally, the touch device includes a circuit coupled to the touch sensor and to the force sensor, and capable of combining information from the touch sensors and from the force sensors.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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11. A method, including operations of:
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providing touch location information in response to operation of one or more touch sensors, the touch location information including one or more locations at which a contact or near-contact occurs; providing force of touch information in response to operation of one or more force sensors, the force of touch information including a measure of an amount of force presented at the one or more locations at which a contact or near-contact occurs; providing the signals at discernible times in response to whether the signals are in response to contact or in response to an amount of force; and combining information from the touch sensors and from the force sensor;
whereinthe one or more touch sensors are integrated with the one or more force sensors in a common circuit. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. Apparatus, including:
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one or more touch circuit drivers and one or more touch circuit sensors disposed in a pattern, wherein activating one of the one or more touch circuit drivers and one of the one or more touch circuit sensors couples a touch circuit at a designated touch identifier location; one or more force circuit drivers and one or more force circuit sensors disposed in a pattern, wherein activating one of the one or more force circuit drivers and one of the one or more force circuit sensors couples a force circuit at a designated force identifier location, the designated force identifier location being substantially collocated with the touch identifier location; a touch controller disposed to trigger the one or more touch circuit drivers and the one or more touch circuit sensors; a force controller disposed to trigger the one or more force circuit drivers and the one or more force circuit sensors;
whereinthe touch controller and the force controller trigger substantially the same location at substantially the same time; the one or more touch circuit sensors and the one or more force circuit sensors are integrated; and the touch controller receives a designated response at a substantially different time from the force controller. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. (canceled)
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27. An electronic apparatus, comprising:
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one or more touch circuit drive lines disposed in a first pattern; one or more touch circuit sense lines disposed in a second pattern and operationally connected to the one or more touch circuit drive lines; one or more force circuit drive lines disposed in a third pattern; one or more force circuit sense lines disposed in a fourth pattern and operationally connected to the one or more force circuit drive lines; one or more controllers configured to; trigger the touch circuit drive lines and the force circuit drive lines at substantially the same time; receive touch signals from the touch circuit sense lines, the touch signals indicative of a touch or near-touch at a designated touch identifier location; receive force signals from the force circuit sense lines, the force signals indicative of a force of a touch at a designated force identifier location; and determine a touch location and force of touch at the touch location based on touch and force signals received at substantially different times. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 28, 29)
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Specification