Transparent touchpad with flat panel display for personal computers
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A touchpad for a personal computer comprising:
- a substantially transparent substrate having upper and lower surfaces;
a series of nontransparent conductive traces formed on the upper and lower surfaces of said substrate to form an array operable to capacitively sense a location of an object placed in proximity to the substrate, said traces having a series of capacitive elements arranged along said traces, said capacitive elements being shaped to have a length along said traces which is substantially greater than their width measured transversely to the length of said traces; and
a display, situated beneath said substrate so as to project a image upwardly through said substrate to enable a computer user to visualize said image, said image being arranged so as to substantially avoid interference from said capacitive elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A personal computer includes a flat panel or LCD display for displaying computer status information. The display includes an overlying transparent touchpad. When the touchpad is touched, appropriate signals are processed so that movements of the user'"'"'s finger on the touchpad can be indicated by displaying altered images on the display that correspond to the movement of the user'"'"'s finger. In this way, the user gets an immediate visual feedback through the LCD display of what changes can be or have been made by touchpad control.
165 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A touchpad for a personal computer comprising:
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a substantially transparent substrate having upper and lower surfaces; a series of nontransparent conductive traces formed on the upper and lower surfaces of said substrate to form an array operable to capacitively sense a location of an object placed in proximity to the substrate, said traces having a series of capacitive elements arranged along said traces, said capacitive elements being shaped to have a length along said traces which is substantially greater than their width measured transversely to the length of said traces; and a display, situated beneath said substrate so as to project a image upwardly through said substrate to enable a computer user to visualize said image, said image being arranged so as to substantially avoid interference from said capacitive elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A touchpad for a personal computer comprising:
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a substantially transparent substrate; an array of conductive traces formed on the upper and lower surfaces of said substrate; wherein said conductive traces include a series of capacitive elements arranged along said traces to allow finger position to be capacitively determined; wherein said capacitive elements have a length along the traces which is substantially greater than their width measured transversely to the length of said traces; wherein the aspect ratio of said elements is greater than 2; and a flat panel display situated beneath said substrate so as to project images upwardly through said substrate to enable the computer user to visualize said images, said conductive traces being adapted to allow the user'"'"'s finger to be located in response to user proximity said traces being arranged so as to permit the image produced by the display to be viewed by the user.
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8. A personal computer, comprising:
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a microprocessor and memory for controlling the operation of said computer; a housing containing said microprocessor and memory; a touchpad attached to said housing and coupled to said microprocessor, comprising; a substantially transparent substrate; and a series of nontransparent conductive traces on an upper and lower surface of said substrate to form an array operable to capacitively sense a location of an object placed in proximity to the substrate, said traces having a plurality of capacitive elements positioned along said traces, each capacitive element being shaped to have a length along said traces substantially greater than its width measured transversely to the length of said traces; and a display situated beneath said touchpad, coupled to said microprocessor, and operable to project an image, said image being arranged to project through said touchpad without substantial interference from said capacitive elements. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A personal computer comprising:
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a microprocessor and memory for controlling the operation of said computer; a housing containing said microprocessor and memory; a flat panel display on said housing connected to said microprocessor, said flat panel display including a substantially transparent touchpad, said touchpad situated on top of said display, said touchpad including a substantially transparent substrate and an array of conductive traces formed on the upper and lower surfaces of said substrate, wherein said conductive traces include a series of capacitive elements arranged along said traces to allow finger position to be capacitively determined, wherein said capacitive elements have a length along the traces which is substantially greater than their width measured transversely to the length of said traces, wherein the aspect ratio of said elements is greater than 2, said touchpad being adapted to convert proximity with said touchpad into signals indicative of the position of the user'"'"'s finger on said touchpad.
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15. A method for controlling the operation of a personal computer by monitoring various status information, said method comprising the steps of:
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forming a series of nontransparent conductive traces on an upper and lower surface of a substantially transparent substrate; forming a series of capacitive elements along said traces, said capacitive elements being shaped to have a length along the traces of at least twice their width measured transversely to the length of the traces; positioning said substrate over a display; and arranging images for said display to project in such fashion that said images substantially avoid interference from said capacitive elements. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification