Touchpad overlay with tactile response
First Claim
1. A computer system, comprising:
- a processor;
a display device coupled to said processor;
a keyboard coupled to said processor;
a touchpad coupled to said processor; and
an overlay comprising a plurality of separated and distinct tactile response elements positioned on top of said touchpad, each of said tactile response elements having a deformable surface that deforms in response to a sufficient amount of force applied to said response element by a computer operator to provide tactile feedback.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system includes a touchpad with one or more overlays providing the computer system with various input control functions. The overlay preferably includes tactile response elements to provide tactile feedback to the operator as an indication that a portion of the overlay has been pressed. The touchpad includes a capacitive sensor. Electronics coupled to the touchpad determine which portion of the touchpad sensor surface area has been touched or pressed. The amount of tactile feedback to the computer operator can be varied through the design and construction of the overlay and the overlay may be provided with no tactile feedback, if desired. As such, numerous overlays can be placed on the touchpad of the computer system, thereby providing the computer system with multiple different input control functions. The computer operator may manually input the type of overlay being used into the computer. Alternatively, a portion of the touchpad surface area maybe dedicated to encoding overlay identification information using any one of a variety of techniques. Thus, the computer system may automatically detect the type of overlay used.
221 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A computer system, comprising:
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a processor; a display device coupled to said processor; a keyboard coupled to said processor; a touchpad coupled to said processor; and an overlay comprising a plurality of separated and distinct tactile response elements positioned on top of said touchpad, each of said tactile response elements having a deformable surface that deforms in response to a sufficient amount of force applied to said response element by a computer operator to provide tactile feedback. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification