Selective input signal rejection and modification

• US 8,445,793 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Westerman, Wayne Carl, Mullens, Christopher Tenzin
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Prabodh M
• Application Number:
  US13/251,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20120019468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 599 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345173-184, 178 1801- 1809, 178 1901- 1907, 178 2001- 2004, 338/68
• US Class Current: 178/18.03
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04186 Touch location disambiguation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

This invention is related to user input devices that accept complex user input including a combination of touch and push (or pick) input. The invention provides for selective ignoring or rejection of input received from such devices in order to avoid interpreting unintentional user actions as commands. Furthermore, some input signals can be modified. The selective rejection or modification can be performed by the user interface device itself or by a computing device that includes or is attached to the user interface device. The selective rejection or modification may be performed by a module that processes input signals, performs the necessary rejections and modifications and sends revised input signals to higher level modules.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a user interface device including

a touch sensing panel configured to sense one or more touch inputs thereon, and

a mechanical sensor configured to sense one or more pick inputs causing physical deformations or displacements of the touch sensing panel; and

a modification module configured to

receive user input data defining sensed touch and pick inputs from the user interface device, and

modify the user input data to remove or reduce an effect at least one of the sensed touch or pick inputs in response to a touch pattern formed by the one or more sensed touch or pick inputs,

wherein the touch sensing panel is configured to sense one or more touch inputs independently of the mechanical sensor.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to perform no modification of a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with a plurality of finger touch inputs and no other touch inputs are received.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to reject a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with a plurality of finger touch inputs, the number of finger touch inputs being higher than a predefined number.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to perform no modification of a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with a finger touch input at an edge of the touch panel.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to reject a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with one or more palm touch inputs positioned close to the sides of the touch panel.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to reject a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with a palm touch input positioned close to side of the touch panel and a finger touch input positioned at the top of the touch panel.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to perform no modification of a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with a palm touch input positioned close to side of the touch panel and a finger touch input not positioned at the top of the touch panel.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to reject a pick input when the pick input is entered simultaneously with a palm touch input positioned close to side of the touch panel and a finger touch input positioned at the top of the touch panel.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module is configured to reject a pick input when the pick input is entered while touch inputs which are recognized by the modification module to be part of an ongoing gesture are being entered.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module receives input data indicating a first finger touch input that is initially positioned in a lower portion of the touch panel and subsequently moves out of the lower portion, and a second finger touch input that moves while the first finger touch input is moving out of the lower portion, the modification module being configured to reject the first finger touch input if the second finger touch input moves a distance longer than a predefined distance.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module receives input data indicating a first finger touch input that is moving and a second finger touch input that is detected while the first finger touch input is moving, the modification module being configured to reject the first finger touch input when the second finger touch input appears, if the second finger touch input appears after the first finger touch input has been moving for at least a predefined period of time.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module receives input data indicating a plurality of finger touch inputs and a pick input, the modification module being configured to select a lowest path input from the plurality of finger touch inputs, and reject the lowest path input.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the lowest path input is rejected at least while one or both of the following is true:

(i) the pick input is ongoing, and (ii) the lowest path is not the only detected touch.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module receives input data indicating one or more finger touch inputs, at least one of said finger touch inputs having a non-zero velocity and a pick input, the modification module being configured to modify the velocities of all finger touch inputs having non-zero velocities for a non-zero period of time after the detection of the pick input.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the modification module receives input data indicating one or more finger touch inputs, at least one of said finger touch inputs having a non-zero velocity, and a cessation of an ongoing pick input, the modification module being configured to modify the velocities of all finger touch inputs having non-zero velocities for a non-zero period of time after the cessation of the ongoing pick input.

16. A method for processing user interface inputs detected by a combination user interface device comprising a touch sensing panel and a mechanical sensor, the method including:

detecting one or more touch inputs by the touch sensing panel independently of the mechanical sensor;

detecting one or more pick inputs causing physical deformations or displacements of the touch sensing panel by the mechanical sensor;

receiving user input data defining sensed touch and pick inputs from the user interface device; and

modifying the user input data to remove or reduce an effect of ignore at least one of the sensed touch or pick inputs in response to a touch pattern formed by the one or more sensed touch or pick inputs.

17. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with a plurality of finger touch inputs and no other touch inputs; and

performing no modification to the pick input.

18. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with a plurality of finger touch inputs, the number of finger touch inputs being higher than a predefined number; and

rejecting the pick input.

19. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with a finger touch input at an edge of the touch sensing panel; and

performing no modification to the pick input.

20. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with one or more palm touch inputs positioned close to the sides of the touch sensing panel; and

rejecting the pick input.

21. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with a palm touch input positioned close to side of the touch sensing panel and a finger touch input positioned at the top of the touch sensing panel; and

rejecting the pick input.

22. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with a palm touch input positioned close to side of the touch sensing panel and a finger touch input not positioned at the top of the touch sensing panel; and

performing no modification to the pick input.

23. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a pick input entered simultaneously with a palm touch input positioned close to side of the touch sensing panel and a finger touch input positioned at the top of the touch sensing panel; and

rejecting the pick input.

24. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving user input data indicating a plurality of moving touch inputs;

recognizing the plurality of moving touch inputs as part of an ongoing touch gesture;

receiving user input data indicating a pick input being entered while the touch inputs recognized as part of an ongoing gesture are being entered; and

rejecting the pick input.

25. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving input data indicating a first finger touch input that is initially positioned in a lower portion of the touch sensing panel and subsequently moves out of the lower portion, and a second finger touch input that moves while the first finger touch input is moving out of the lower portion;

determining that the second finger touch input had moved a distance greater than a predefined distance before the first finger touch input exited the lower portion; and

rejecting the first finger touch input.

26. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving input data indicating a first finger touch input that is moving and a second finger touch input that is detected while the first finger touch input is moving;

determining that the second finger touch input appeared after the first finger touch input has been moving for a predefined period of time; and

rejecting the first finger touch input.

27. The method of claim 16, further including

receiving input data indicating one or more finger touch inputs, at least one of said finger touch inputs having a non-zero velocity and a pick input;

and

modifying the velocities of all finger touch inputs having non-zero velocities for a non-zero period of time after the detection of the pick input.

28. The method of claim 16, further including:

receiving input data indicating one or more finger touch inputs, at least one of said finger touch inputs having a non-zero velocity and cessation of an ongoing pick input; and

modifying the velocities of all finger touch inputs having non-zero velocities for a non-zero period of time after the cessation of the ongoing pick input.

29. A computer comprising:

a user interface device including

a touch sensing panel configured to sense one or more touch inputs thereon, and

a mechanical sensor configured to sense one or more pick inputs causing physical deformations or displacements of the touch sensing panel; and

a modification module configured to

receive user input data defining sensed touch and pick inputs from the user interface device, and

modify the user input data to remove or reduce an effect ignore at least one of the sensed touch or pick inputs in response to a touch pattern formed by the one or more sensed touch or pick inputs,

wherein the touch sensing panel is configured to sense one or more touch inputs independently of the mechanical sensor.

30. A computer mouse comprising:

a user interface device including

a touch sensing panel configured to sense one or more touch inputs thereon, and

a mechanical sensor configured to sense one or more pick inputs causing physical deformations or displacements of the touch sensing panel; and

a modification module configured to

receive user input data defining sensed touch and pick inputs from the user interface device, and

modify the user input data to remove or reduce an effect of ignore at least one of the sensed touch or pick inputs in response to a touch pattern formed by the one or more sensed touch or pick inputs,

wherein the touch sensing panel is configured to sense one or more touch inputs independently of the mechanical sensor.