Acoustic touch apparatus

• US 8,896,564 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2012
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elo Touch Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Elo Touch Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Scharff, Daniel H., Kent, Joel C., Berget, Damien
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow, Van
• Application Number:
  US14/351,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20140253517A1
• Time in Patent Office: 771 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0436 in which generating transducers and detecting transducers are attached to a single acoustic waves transmission substrate

Abstract

An improved acoustic touch apparatus that has a logo or application icon applied on the back surface of a propagating substrate which can be viewed through the substrate and an acoustic element situated adjacent the logo or application icon that can compensate for phase velocity shifts of surface acoustic waves in propagating over the logo or application icon.

Claims

1. An acoustic touch apparatus, comprising:

a substrate having surfaces configured to propagate surface acoustic waves;

at least one acoustic wave transducer on a first surface; and

at least one reflective array on the first surface, said transducer configured to at least transmit or receive surface acoustic waves to or from the reflective array and said reflective array configured to acoustically couple surface acoustic waves to propagate between surfaces of the substrate, and said substrate having a first acoustic element disposed on the first surface that is configured to intercept propagating surface acoustic waves on the first surface and is configured to cause variations in the phase velocity of the propagating surface acoustic waves and a second acoustic element disposed on the first surface to equalize the variations, wherein the second acoustic element is formed with a shape that is a compensating pattern of the first acoustic element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second acoustic element is configured to cancel out the phase advance or delay of any portion of the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second acoustic element is disposed on the first surface in proximity to the first acoustic element.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second acoustic element is disposed on the first surface as physically close as possible to the first acoustic element.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second acoustic element is configured to intercept propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second acoustic element is configured to intercept propagating surface acoustic waves parallel to the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second acoustic element counteracts the phase advance of any portion of the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second acoustic element counteracts the phase advance of a portion of the propagating surface acoustic waves parallel to the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first acoustic element comprises a patch of acoustic material applied over a cut-out of a layer of acoustically benign material applied along a border of the first surface.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the layer of acoustically benign material comprises a first opaque ink and the patch of acoustic material comprises a second opaque ink having different visual properties than the first opaque ink.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the second acoustic element comprises acoustic material disposed adjacent the cut-out over the layer of acoustically benign material applied along the border of the first surface and either over or under the patch.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the second acoustic element comprises acoustic material disposed on the patch over the cut-out.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the reflective array is disposed over the layer of acoustically benign material along the border of the first surface and at least a portion of the cut-out and the patch of the first acoustic element, said propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element comprising a portion of the surface acoustic waves that interact with the reflective array.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first acoustic element comprises a cut-out of a layer of acoustically benign material applied along a border of the first surface and an acoustic material filling in the cut-out, said first and second materials being visually distinguished from one another.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first acoustic element comprises acoustic material applied on the first surface and disposed under a layer of acoustically benign material applied along a border of the first surface.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the layer of acoustically benign material comprises a first opaque ink and the acoustic material of the first acoustic element comprises a second opaque ink having different visual properties than the first opaque ink.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second acoustic element comprises acoustic material disposed adjacent the first acoustic element and either over or under the layer of acoustically benign material applied along the border of the first surface.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second acoustic element is formed with a composite of two or more separated shapes that combine to form a split compensating pattern of the first acoustic element.

19. An acoustic touch apparatus, comprising:

a substrate having surfaces configured to propagate surface acoustic waves;

at least one acoustic wave transducer on a first surface; and

at least one reflective array on the first surface, said transducer configured to at least transmit or receive surface acoustic waves to or from the reflective array and said reflective array configured to acoustically couple surface acoustic waves to propagate between surfaces of the substrate, and said substrate having a first acoustic element disposed on the first surface that is configured to intercept propagating surface acoustic waves on the first surface and is configured to cause variations in the phase velocity of the propagating surface acoustic waves and a second acoustic element disposed on the first surface to equalize the variations, wherein the second acoustic element is formed with a composite of two or more separated shapes that combine to form a split compensating pattern of the first acoustic element.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second acoustic element is configured to cancel out the phase advance or delay of any portion of the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second acoustic element is disposed on the first surface in proximity to the first acoustic element.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second acoustic element is disposed on the first surface as physically close as possible to the first acoustic element.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second acoustic element is configured to intercept propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the second acoustic element is configured to intercept propagating surface acoustic waves parallel to the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the second acoustic element counteracts the phase advance of any portion of the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the second acoustic element counteracts the phase advance of a portion of the propagating surface acoustic waves parallel to the propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first acoustic element comprises a patch of acoustic material applied over a cut-out of a layer of acoustically benign material applied along a border of the first surface.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the layer of acoustically benign material comprises a first opaque ink and the patch of acoustic material comprises a second opaque ink having different visual properties than the first opaque ink.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the second acoustic element comprises acoustic material disposed adjacent the cut-out over the layer of acoustically benign material applied along the border of the first surface and either over or under the patch.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the second acoustic element comprises acoustic material disposed on the patch over the cut-out.

31. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the reflective array is disposed over the layer of acoustically benign material along the border of the first surface and at least a portion of the cut-out and the patch of the first acoustic element, said propagating surface acoustic waves intercepted by the first acoustic element comprising a portion of the surface acoustic waves that interact with the reflective array.

32. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first acoustic element comprises a cut-out of a layer of acoustically benign material applied along a border of the first surface and an acoustic material filling in the cut-out, said first and second materials being visually distinguished from one another.

33. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first acoustic element comprises acoustic material applied on the first surface and disposed under a layer of acoustically benign material applied along a border of the first surface.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the layer of acoustically benign material comprises a first opaque ink and the acoustic material of the first acoustic element comprises a second opaque ink having different visual properties than the first opaque ink.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the second acoustic element comprises acoustic material disposed adjacent the first acoustic element and either over or under the layer of acoustically benign material applied along the border of the first surface.