Infrared sensor integrated in a touch panel
First Claim
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1. A touch panel system comprising:
- a touchable surface;
at least one infrared source integrated in the touch panel system and configured to direct infrared radiation through the touchable surface for illuminating one or more objects that are in contact with or adjacent to the touchable surface with infrared radiation; and
a touch panel display configured to illuminate pixels for radiating visible light through the touchable surface, the touch panel display including an active matrix backplane comprising;
a plurality of pixel circuits, each pixel circuit comprising a drive transistor directly connected to a common bias line that provides a non-ground voltage reference;
a plurality of infrared sensors distributed parallel to the touchable surface and configured to detect reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensors, wherein infrared radiation directed by the at least one infrared source and visible light radiated by the pixels are not incident on the infrared sensors, and wherein reflected infrared radiation directed through the touchable surface by the one or more objects is detected by the infrared sensors; and
a capacitor directly connected to the common bias line, to an infrared sensor of the plurality of infrared sensors, and to a readout transistor, wherein if reflected infrared radiation is incident on the infrared sensor;
a voltage imposed on the capacitor discharges through the infrared sensor,a charge to reset the voltage on the capacitor flows through the readout transistor,a measure of the reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensor is output based on the charge needed to reset the voltage on the capacitor, andreflected infrared radiation detected by the plurality of infrared sensors is processed to identify a detected infrared image.
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Abstract
An infrared source is configured to illuminate the underside of one or more objects on or above a touchable surface of a touch panel. Infrared light reflected from the underside of the object(s) is detected by an infrared sensor integrated in the touch panel below the touchable surface.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A touch panel system comprising:
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a touchable surface; at least one infrared source integrated in the touch panel system and configured to direct infrared radiation through the touchable surface for illuminating one or more objects that are in contact with or adjacent to the touchable surface with infrared radiation; and a touch panel display configured to illuminate pixels for radiating visible light through the touchable surface, the touch panel display including an active matrix backplane comprising; a plurality of pixel circuits, each pixel circuit comprising a drive transistor directly connected to a common bias line that provides a non-ground voltage reference; a plurality of infrared sensors distributed parallel to the touchable surface and configured to detect reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensors, wherein infrared radiation directed by the at least one infrared source and visible light radiated by the pixels are not incident on the infrared sensors, and wherein reflected infrared radiation directed through the touchable surface by the one or more objects is detected by the infrared sensors; and a capacitor directly connected to the common bias line, to an infrared sensor of the plurality of infrared sensors, and to a readout transistor, wherein if reflected infrared radiation is incident on the infrared sensor; a voltage imposed on the capacitor discharges through the infrared sensor, a charge to reset the voltage on the capacitor flows through the readout transistor, a measure of the reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensor is output based on the charge needed to reset the voltage on the capacitor, and reflected infrared radiation detected by the plurality of infrared sensors is processed to identify a detected infrared image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A touch panel system comprising:
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a touchable surface; a plurality of infrared sources integrated in the touch panel system and configured to direct infrared radiation through the touchable surface for illuminating one or more objects that are in contact with or adjacent to the touchable surface with infrared radiation; and a touch panel display configured to illuminate pixels for displaying an image viewable via the touchable surface, the touch panel display having an active matrix backplane comprising; a plurality of pixel circuits, each pixel circuit comprising a drive transistor directly connected to a common bias line that provides a non-ground voltage reference; a set of data lines for loading voltage data representative of the image; a set of select lines corresponding to the pixels; a plurality of infrared sensors distributed parallel to the touchable surface and configured to detect reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensors, wherein infrared radiation directed by the infrared sources through the touchable surface and visible light radiated by the pixels are not incident on the infrared sensors, and wherein reflected infrared radiation directed through the touchable surface by the one or more objects is detected by the infrared sensors; a readout transistor interconnected to a select line and a readout line; and a capacitor directly connected to the common bias line, to an infrared sensor of the plurality of infrared sensors, and to the readout transistor, wherein if reflected infrared radiation is incident on the infrared sensor; a voltage imposed on the capacitor discharges through the infrared sensor, a charge to reset the voltage on the capacitor flows from the readout line through the readout transistor, a measure of the reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensor is output based on the charge needed to reset the voltage on the capacitor, and reflected infrared radiation detected by the plurality of infrared sensors is processed to identify a detected infrared image. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method performed in a touch panel system, the method comprising:
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directing infrared radiation from at least one infrared source integrated in the touch panel system through a touchable surface of the touch panel system for illuminating one or more objects that are in contact with or adjacent to the touchable surface with infrared radiation; radiating visible light through the touchable surface by illuminating pixels of a touch panel display of the touch panel system, the touch panel display having an active matrix backplane comprising; infrared sensors distributed parallel to the touchable surface and configured to detect reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensors, a plurality of pixel circuits, each pixel circuit comprising a drive transistor directly connected to a common bias line that provides a non-ground voltage reference, and a capacitor directly connected to the common bias line, to an infrared sensor of the plurality of infrared sensors, and to a readout transistor; detecting reflected infrared radiation by a plurality of the infrared sensors, wherein infrared radiation directed by the at least one infrared source through the touchable surface and visible light radiated by illuminated pixels are not incident on the infrared sensors, and wherein reflected infrared radiation directed through the touchable surface by the one or more objects is detected by the infrared sensors; if reflected infrared radiation is incident on the infrared sensor; discharging a voltage imposed on the capacitor through the infrared sensor, turning on the readout transistor to pass a charge for resetting the voltage on the capacitor, and outputting a measure of the reflected infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensor based on the charge needed to reset the voltage on the capacitor; and processing reflected infrared radiation detected by the plurality of infrared sensors to identify a detected infrared image. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification