Capacitive touch screen with force detection
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A capacitive touch-screen device with force detection of a deformable touch element, comprising:
- a first array of drive electrodes and a second array of sense electrodes in association with a touch-detection area on a surface of a touch screen; and
a touch-detection circuit connected to the drive electrodes and connected to the sense electrodes for detecting capacitance at a touch location in the touch-detection area, the touch-detection circuit for;
sensing no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the absence of the deformable touch element proximate to the touch location and reporting a no-touch signal;
sensing light-touch capacitance different from the no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the presence of a light-touch deformation of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the touch location and reporting a light-touch signal at least partially responsive to a touch area of the light-touch deformation;
sensing heavy-touch capacitance different from both the no-touch capacitance and the light-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the presence of a heavy-touch deformation of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the touch location and reporting a heavy-touch signal at least partially responsive to a touch area of the heavy touch deformation greater than the touch area of the light-touch deformation; and
determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from no-touch to light-touch to heavy-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively more forceful touches or determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from heavy-touch to light-touch to no-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively less forceful touches.
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Abstract
A capacitive touch-screen device with force detection of a deformable touch element includes drive and sense electrode arrays and a touch-detection circuit connected to the electrodes for detecting capacitance at a touch location. The touch-detection circuit senses no-touch capacitance, light-touch capacitance, and heavy-touch capacitance at the touch location in response to forcible deformation of the deformable touch element proximate to the touch. The touch-detection circuit reports a force signal.
37 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A capacitive touch-screen device with force detection of a deformable touch element, comprising:
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a first array of drive electrodes and a second array of sense electrodes in association with a touch-detection area on a surface of a touch screen; and a touch-detection circuit connected to the drive electrodes and connected to the sense electrodes for detecting capacitance at a touch location in the touch-detection area, the touch-detection circuit for; sensing no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the absence of the deformable touch element proximate to the touch location and reporting a no-touch signal; sensing light-touch capacitance different from the no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the presence of a light-touch deformation of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the touch location and reporting a light-touch signal at least partially responsive to a touch area of the light-touch deformation; sensing heavy-touch capacitance different from both the no-touch capacitance and the light-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the presence of a heavy-touch deformation of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the touch location and reporting a heavy-touch signal at least partially responsive to a touch area of the heavy touch deformation greater than the touch area of the light-touch deformation; and determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from no-touch to light-touch to heavy-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively more forceful touches or determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from heavy-touch to light-touch to no-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively less forceful touches. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A capacitive touch-screen device for force detection of a deformable touch element with a capacitive touch-screen device, comprising:
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a first array of drive electrodes and a second array of sense electrodes in association with a touch-detection area on a surface of a touch screen; and a touch-detection circuit connected to the drive electrodes and connected to the sense electrodes for detecting capacitance at multiple touch locations in the touch-detection area, the touch-detection circuit for; sensing no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the multiple touch locations in the absence of the deformable touch element proximate to the multiple touch locations and reporting a no-touch signal; sensing light-touch capacitance different from the no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the multiple touch locations in the presence of a light-touch deformation of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the multiple touch locations and reporting a light-touch signal at least partially responsive to a touch area of the light-touch deformation; sensing heavy-touch capacitance different from both the no-touch capacitance and the light-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the multiple touch locations in the presence of a heavy-touch deformation of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the multiple touch locations and reporting a heavy-touch signal at least partially responsive to a touch area of the heavy-touch deformation greater than the touch area of the light-touch deformation; and determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from no-touch to light-touch to heavy-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively more forceful touches or determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from heavy-touch to light-touch to no-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively less forceful touches. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A capacitive touch-screen device for force detection of a deformable touch element in a capacitive touch-screen device, comprising:
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a first array of drive electrodes and a second array of sense electrodes in association with a touch-detection area on a surface of a touch screen, and; a touch-detection circuit connected to the drive electrodes and connected to the sense electrodes for detecting capacitance at a touch location in the touch-detection area, the touch-detection circuit for; sensing a no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the absence of a deformable touch element proximate to the touch location and reporting a no-touch signal; sensing a touch capacitance different from the no-touch capacitance with the touch-detection circuit at the touch location in the presence of the same deformable touch element on the surface proximate to the touch location at least partially responsive to a touch area of the deformable touch element on the surface; determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from no-touch to light-touch to heavy-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively more forceful touches or determining a sequential progression of sensed capacitance values from heavy-touch to light-touch to no-touch indicating a sequential series of progressively less forceful touches; producing a force signal associated with the touch capacitance; and reporting the force signal. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification