System and method for determining touch positions based on position-dependent electrical charges

• US 8,059,103 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2007
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Geaghan, Bernard O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe; Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARKER, JEFFREY ALAN
• Application Number:
  US11/944,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20090127003A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/173, 345/174, 178/18.03
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041661 using detection at multiple resolutions, e.g. coarse and fine scanning; using detection within a limited area, e.g. object tracking window
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0444 using a single conductive element covering the whole sensing surface, e.g. by sensing the electrical current flowing at the corners

Abstract

Systems and methods determine the position of a touch on a surface of a device, such as a touch-sensitive device, by using position-dependent electrical charges. In such a method, the position of a touching implement is determined on the sensing surface of a device. The method includes generating signals on the surface of the device to create a position-dependent electrical charge on the touching implement; and measuring the position-dependent electrical charge to indicate a coordinate on the sensing surface for establishing the position of the touching implement.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining the position of a touching implement on the sensing surface of a device, comprising:

a signal generation circuit, including four circuit paths arranged relative to different positions on the sensing surface and configured to be synchronously operated, to create a position-dependent electrical charge on a touching implement that has engaged an area on the sensing surface of the device; and

a signal processing circuit, responsive to the position-dependent electrical charge, to locate the area on the sensing surface of the device by respective measurements relative to four different values from the four circuit paths, the signal processing circuit and the four circuit paths being configured and arranged to compute the position of the touching implement on the sensing surface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a switched circuit to isolate the electrical charge.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a switched circuit to isolate the electrical charge and wherein the position-dependent electrical charge is generated in response to a voltage gradient that corresponds to a coordinate on the sensing surface of the device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the signal generation circuit includes a plurality of switched drivers to create the position-dependent electrical charge, each of the plurality of switched drivers being switchable to a high-impedance state to isolate the electrical charge.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the signal processing circuit measures the electrical charge using at least one integrator, the integrator being switched to isolate the electrical charge between measurements.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the signal processing circuit measures the electrical charge using at least one integrator, the integrator being switched to isolate the electrical charge between measurements.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the signal processing circuit measures the electrical charge using an integrator, the integrator being switched to isolate the electrical charge while a position-dependent electrical charge is created on a touching implement.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a processor programmed to execute an application that provides a predetermined reduced surface portion for engaging the area on the sensing surface of the device, wherein the signal processing circuit is adapted to locate the area on the sensing surface of the device as a function of the position-dependent electrical charge measured and the predetermined reduced surface portion.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the signal generation circuit is composed of less than four switching circuits for coupling charge to the surface.

10. An apparatus for determining the position of a touching implement on the sensing surface of a device, comprising:

a signal drive circuit, coupled to the surface of the device, including four circuit paths arranged relative to different positions on the sensing surface and configured to be synchronously operated, to generate signals on the surface for creating a position-dependent electrical charge on the touching implement; and

a charge measurement circuit, coupled to the surface of the device, to measure the position-dependent electrical charge for indicating a coordinate on the sensing surface for establishing the position of the touching implement, by respective measurements relative to four different values from the four circuit paths, the charge measurement circuit and the four circuit paths being configured and arranged to compute the position of the touching implement on the sensing surface.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein non-simultaneous measurements are performed and modified using temporal interpolation prior to establishing the position of the touching implement.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the charge measurement circuit is part of circuit adapted to perform non-simultaneous measurements for calculating the position of the touching implement.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the charge measurement circuit is part of circuit adapted to perform non-simultaneous measurements for calculating the position of the touching implement, and wherein the non-simultaneous measurements are modified using temporal interpolation prior to establishing the position of the touching implement for increasing position accuracy.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the charge measurement circuit is part of circuit adapted to perform measurements of at least two measurement channels for calculating the position of the touching implement.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein measurements of the measurement channels are temporally interleaved to increase position accuracy.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein durations of each of multiple measurements are varied inversely with the total number of measurements in a sequence, so total measurement time remains constant as the number of measurements in a sequence is changed.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the durations of each of multiple measurements are varied inversely with the total number of measurements in a sequence, so that the total measurement time remains constant as the number of measurements in a sequence is changed.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the multiple measurement channels measures a different parameter, and the parameter measured by each channel is changed periodically.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the multiple measurement channels measures a different parameter, and parameter measurements of different channels are averaged together.

20. A method for determining the position of a touching implement on the sensing surface of a device, comprising:

generating signals on the surface of the device, using four circuit paths arranged relative to different positions on the sensing surface, to create a position-dependent electrical charge on the touching implement; and

measuring the position-dependent electrical charge via different values from the four circuit paths, to indicate a coordinate on the sensing surface for establishing the position of the touching implement.

21. A method for determining the position of a touching implement on a sensing surface of a touch-sensitive device, the method comprising:

(a.) during a first time period, connecting two adjacent corners of the sensing surface to a reference voltage while maintaining the two opposite corners in a floating state disconnected from any voltage source, the first time period being sufficient to raise the potential of the sensing surface edge between the two adjacent corners to a level at or near the reference voltage while the potential of the sensing surface edge between the two opposite corners remains at a level lower than the reference voltage commensurate with an R-C time constant delay across the sensing surface; and

(b) at the end of the first time period, disconnecting the two adjacent corners from the reference voltage, and connecting the sensing surface to an integrator capacitor for a second time period sufficient for the integrator capacitor to accumulate the charge from the sensing surface;

(c) repeating steps (a) and (b) to accumulate sufficient charge in the integrator capacitor for measurement, and in response thereto measuring the charge stored in the integrator capacitor.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising repeating steps (a) through (c) for each of the four pairs of adjacent corners of the sensing surface, resulting in four charge measurements each associated with a different sensing surface edge.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising calculating the position of the touching implement on the sensing surface using the four charge measurements.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising adjusting the first and second time periods so that the measured charge falls within a selected range for a touching implement positioned in a known location on the sensing surface.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising repeating steps (a) through (c) and the adjusting step for each of the four pairs of adjacent corners of the sensing surface.