User interface system

• US 8,199,124 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2010
• Issued: 06/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Tactus Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tactus Technology Inc.
• Inventors: Ciesla, Craig Michael, Yairi, Micah B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): KING, JONATHAN R
• Application Number:
  US12/652,708
• Publication Number:
  US 20100171720A1
• Time in Patent Office: 889 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-179, 345168-169, 345/104, 345/172, 463 37- 38, 455/466, 178 1801- 2002, 434112-117, 3404071-4072
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0202 Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 13/84 characterised by ergonomic functions, e.g. for miniature keyboards; characterised by operational sensory functions, e.g. sound feedback legends H01H13/83
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2215/046 Inflatable bubble or cell
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2217/018 Indication of switch sites

Abstract

A user interface system of one embodiment includes a layer defining a surface; a substrate supporting the layer and at least partially defining a cavity; a displacement coupled to the cavity that expands the cavity, thereby deforming a particular region of the surface; and a touch sensor coupled to the substrate and adapted to sense a user touch proximate the particular region of the surface. The layer and the substrate are connected at an attachment point, and the location of the attachment point relative to the layer, substrate, and cavity at least partially defines the shape of the deformed particular region of the surface.

Claims

1. A user interface system comprising:

a volume of fluid;

a tactile layer defining a tactile surface, touchable by a user, and a back surface opposite the tactile surface, and including a first region and a second region, wherein the second region is of a pliable material and is operable between;

a retracted state, wherein the second region is flush with the first region; and

an expanded state, wherein the second region is proud of the first region;

a substrate joined, by an attachment point, to a portion of the back surface of the first region, wherein the attachment point retains the first region in a substantially planar form and partially defines the shape of the second region;

the substrate defining a support surface that is adjacent to the second region, is disconnected from the second region, is in contact with the second region in the retracted state, and prevents deformation of the second region inward past the plane of the first region when a force is applied to the tactile surface by the user;

the substrate further defining a fluid conduit that communicates a portion of the fluid through a portion of the substrate, to the back surface of the second region;

a displacement device configured to manipulate a portion of the fluid, through the fluid conduit, to the back surface of the second region to transition the second region from the retracted state to the expanded state; and

a touch sensor coupled to the substrate and configured to detect a user touch on the tactile surface.

2. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the tactile layer includes at least two sub-layers.

3. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the first and second regions are substantially continuous at the tactile surface.

4. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the displacement device increases fluid pressure within the fluid conduit and the fluid conduit communicates the fluid pressure to the back surface of the second region to outwardly deform the second region.

5. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the second region, in the expanded state, forms a button and the touch sensor detects a user touch substantially proximal to the button.

6. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is joined to the back surface of the first region with a plurality of attachment points.

7. The user interface system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of attachment points define a border between the first region and the second region.

8. The user interface system of claim 7, wherein the arrangement of the plurality of attachment points defines the shape of the second region in the expanded state.

9. The user interface system of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of attachment points are located substantially proximal to each other and form a continuous seal around the second region to substantially prevent leakage of a portion of the fluid between the substrate and the back surface of the first region.

10. The user interface system of claim 9, wherein the attachment points form a continuous seal around the fluid conduit.

11. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the second region defines a first portion of a first material characteristic and a second portion of a second material characteristic, and wherein the pliability of the second portion is higher than that of the first portion.

12. The user interface system of claim 11, wherein the first portion of the second region is substantially rigid, and wherein, in the expanded state, the second portion outwardly deforms and the first portion defines a raised and substantially planar surface.

13. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the second region defines a first portion of a first thickness and a second portion of a second thickness, less than the first thickness, and wherein the first and second portions form a continuous tactile surface at the second region.

14. The user interface system of claim 13, wherein the substrate includes a raised feature adjacent to the back surface of the second region at the second portion to support, in the retracted state, the reduced thickness of the tactile layer at the second portion.

15. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the second region defines a first portion of a first pliability and a second portion of a second pliability greater than that of the first portion.

16. The user interface system of claim 11, wherein the second region comprises a material that is more pliable when a force is applied in a first direction than when a force is applied in a second direction, and wherein the material is oriented in a first direction at the first portion of the second region and the material is oriented in a second direction at the second portion of the second region.

17. The user interface system of claim 16, wherein the structure of the material is selected from the group consisting of:

fibrous structure;

polymer chain molecules arranged in a parallel structure; and

polymer chain molecules arranged in a lattice structure.

18. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the second region defines a first portion comprising a first material and a second portion comprising a second material, wherein the second material is more pliable than the first material.

19. The user interface system of claim 18, wherein the second region includes a base material and a modifier material, wherein the modifier material modifies the pliability of the base material.

20. The user interface system of claim 19, wherein the pliability of the base material is modified through a chemical reaction with the modifier material.

21. The user interface system of claim 19, wherein the modifier material modifies the pliability of the base material by mechanically interacting with the base material.

22. The user interface system of claim 21, wherein the modifier material is embedded in the base material.

23. The user interface system of claim 19, wherein the first material includes a combination of the base material and the modifier material, wherein the second material includes the base material, and wherein the modifier material decreases the pliability of the base material.

24. The user interface system of claim 19, wherein the first material includes the base material, wherein the second material includes a combination of the base material and the modifier material, and wherein the modifier material increases the pliability of the base material.

25. The user interface system of claim 15, wherein the first portion of the second region is continuous throughout the thickness of the tactile layer and the second portion of the second region defines a void, within the thickness of the tactile layer, that increases the pliability of the second portion.

26. The user interface system of claim 15, wherein the second portion is located adjacent to the attachment point.

27. The user interface system of claim 15, wherein the pliability of the first portion and the pliability of the second portion partially define the shape of the second region in the expanded state.

28. The user interface system of claim 1, wherein the attachment point is located within the fluid conduit.