Touch sensing technology

• US 8,711,109 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2009
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cherif Algreatly
• Original Assignee: Cherif Algreatly
• Inventors: Algreatly, Cherif Atia
• Primary Examiner(s): Boddie, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Said, Mansour M
• Application Number:
  US12/587,339
• Publication Number:
  US 20100090973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,666 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-179, 178/18.01
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04142 the force sensing means being located peripherally, e.g. disposed at the corners or at the side of a touch sensing plate

Abstract

The present touch sensing technology enables detecting the position of touch between an object and a surface, and the direction of this object in three dimensions while touching the surface. Said object can be a user'"'"'s finger, a pen, or the like, while said surface can be a touchpad, a touch screen, a computer mouse, a button of a computer keyboard, a 3D computer input device, or the like.

Claims

1. A device that detects the three-dimensional direction and the value of a force exerted from an object on a surface, wherein the three-dimensional direction is represented by a first angle located between the surface plane and a line representing the three dimensional direction, and a second angle located between the projection of the line on the surface plane and the x-axis of the surface plane, and said device is comprised of;

a touching cube with six faces wherein each face of the six faces is a surface that can be touched by the object to move the touching cube in three simultaneous directions relative to the x-axis, the y-axis, and the z-axis;

six force sensors wherein each one of the six force sensors is in touch with one face of the touching cube to detect the value of the force exerted on the one face wherein the value of the force exerted on the one face represents the movement of the one face along an axis, and three force sensors of the six force sensors simultaneously detect three values of three forces exerted on three faces of the six faces when the touching cube is moved in the three simultaneous directions; and

a microprocessor that simultaneously receives the three values from the three force sensors and analyzes the three values relative to each other to provide a computer system with a first input representing the three-dimensional direction, and a second input representing the value of the force exerted from the object on the surface.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the first direction of said three simultaneous directions is the positive x-axis or the negative x-axis, the second direction of said three simultaneous directions is the positive y-axis or the negative y-axis, and the third direction of said three simultaneous directions is the positive z-axis or the negative z-axis.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said touching cube returns to its default position once said force is released.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein each one of said six force sensors is two or more force sensors.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said three-dimensional direction represents a three-dimensional direction of an object'"'"'s movement on a computer display.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said value of said force represents a speed of an object'"'"'s movement on a computer display.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the movement of said touching cube relative to one axis of the x-axis, the y-axis, or the z-axis is equal to zero, which means said touching cube is moved only in the xy-plane, the xz-plane, or the yz-plane.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein said object is two objects simultaneously touching said touching cube at two points on one face of said six faces, and said three-dimensional direction represents the resultant direction of the two forces of said two objects, and said value represents the resultant value of said two forces.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein said object is two objects simultaneously touching said touching cube at two points on two faces of said six faces, and said three-dimensional direction represents the resultant direction of the two forces of said two objects, and said value represents the resultant value of said two forces.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein said touching cube is a panel that has a top side, a bottom side and four edges, and said six force sensors are five force sensors in touch with said bottom side and said four edges, and said object touches said panel only at said top side.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein said touching cube is in the form of other three-dimensional objects than a cube and at least one force sensor is in touch with each face of the faces of said other three-dimensional objects.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein said touching cube is a sphere with an interior void that allows said object to be positioned inside said interior void to exert said force on said sphere.

13. The device of claim 12 wherein the exterior surface of said sphere is fixed, which means said exterior surface doesn'"'"'t move when said force is exerted.

14. The device of claim 12 wherein said force sensors are located between said interior void and the exterior surface of said sphere.