Interleaved piezoelectric tactile interface

• US 9,383,848 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2012
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intermec Technologies Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intermec Technologies Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Daghigh, Hamoon Ghasemzadeh
• Primary Examiner(s): Okebato, Sahlu
• Application Number:
  US13/715,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20130257759A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04144 using an array of force sensing means position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells G06F3/0447

Abstract

A piezoelectric tactile input device and method in a computing environment. An embodiment disclosed herein includes a touch screen having several piezoelectric regions within a piezoelectric material layer that may generate a voltage when deformed in a localized area. The piezoelectric layer may be disposed between sensor layers of rows and columns of sensor traces for detecting the voltage generated at any particular piezoelectric region. The detected voltage signals may then be used to extrapolate the position of the localized area in which the piezoelectric layer was deformed (e.g., from a finger touch or a stylus). Further, because the piezoelectric layer generates a greater voltage in the presence of a greater pressure, the device may further decipher a relative level of force for the tactile input on the touch screen and detect multiple touch locations.

Claims

1. An interface, comprising:

a first signal layer having a plurality of rows of sensing regions aligned in a first direction;

a second signal layer having a plurality of columns of sensing regions aligned in a second direction;

a plurality of piezoelectric regions, each piezoelectric region being positioned at an intersection of a row and a column, at least one piezoelectric region generating a voltage when deformed by tactile input;

a sensing circuit coupled the first and second signal layers configured to determine a tactile input from signals generated by at least one of the piezoelectric regions in the interface; and

a voltage recovery circuit coupled to at least one of the piezoelectric regions configured to receive the voltage generated in the interface by the tactile input and charge a battery coupled to the voltage recovery circuit.

2. The interface of claim 1, wherein the first and second signal layers comprise indium-tin oxide layers.

3. The interface of claim 1, wherein the first and second signal layers comprise a diamond-shaped interleaving pattern.

4. The interface of claim 1, further comprising a first protective layer adjacent to a first surface of the piezoelectric layer.

5. The interface of claim 1, wherein the sensing circuit further comprises an analog-to-digital converter.

6. The interface of claim 1, wherein each piezoelectric region further comprises a transparent polyvinylidene fluoride film having a thickness of approximately nine micrometers.

7. The interface of claim 1, wherein each piezoelectric region is disposed in a plane between the first signal layer and the second signal layer and each piezoelectric region further comprises a direction of polarization that is orthogonal to the plane.

8. The interface of claim 1, wherein each piezoelectric region comprises a circular shape having an area that is at least as large as an area of intersection between one row of the first signal layer and one column of the second signal layer.

9. A computing device, comprising

a processor;

a display coupled to the processor and configured to display graphics under the control of the processor;

a touch screen overlaying the display and coupled to the processor;

the touch screen including;

a first signal layer having a plurality of rows of sensing regions aligned in a first direction;

a second signal layer having a plurality of columns of sensing regions aligned in a second direction;

a plurality of piezoelectric regions, each piezoelectric region being positioned at an intersection of a row and a column, at least one piezoelectric region generating a voltage when deformed by tactile input; and

a sensing circuit coupled the first and second signal layers configured to determine the tactile input from signals generated by at least one of the piezoelectric regions in the touch screen;

a voltage recovery circuit coupled to at least one of the piezoelectric regions in the touch screen configured to receive the voltage generated in the touch screen; and

a battery coupled to the voltage recovery circuit and configured to be charged by the voltage generated in the touch screen.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the touch screen further comprises a first polyethylene terephthalate layer adjacent to a first surface of the piezoelectric layer;

and

a protective layer adjacent to the first polyethylene terephthalate layer; and

a glass backer adjacent to a second surface of the piezoelectric layer.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to determine multiple locations of tactile input.

12. The device of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to determine a shape of the tactile input.

13. The device of claim 9, further comprising

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store data about the tactile input over time;

and

a communication module coupled to the processor and configured to communicate data stored in the memory to a remote computing device.

14. The device of claim 9 further comprising a stylus input device for generating tactile input.

15. The device of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured for keeping a data log of tactile input.

16. An interface, comprising:

a piezoelectric layer configured to overlay a display, the piezoelectric layer having at least one piezoelectric region generating a voltage when deformed by tactile input;

a plurality of sensors disposed in a pattern over the piezoelectric layer, the sensors configured to sense signals generated by the piezoelectric layer in the interface;

a sensing circuit coupled to the piezoelectric layer and configured to determine the tactile input from signals sensed by the sensors in the interface; and

a voltage recovery circuit coupled to the piezoelectric layer configured to receive a voltage generated in the interface by tactile input to the at least one piezoelectric region and charge a battery coupled to the voltage recovery circuit.

17. The interface of claim 16, wherein the sensors further comprise indium-tin oxide sensors.

18. The interface of claim 17, wherein the pattern comprises four indium-tin oxide sensors arranged in a pattern suited to triangulate a tactile input from any location on the piezoelectric layer.

19. The interface of claim 16, wherein the piezoelectric layer further comprises a transparent polyvinylidene fluoride film having a thickness of approximately nine micrometers.

20. The interface of claim 16, wherein the piezoelectric layer further comprises a first direction of polarization, the interface further including a second piezoelectric layer adjacent to the piezoelectric layer having the first direction of polarization, the second piezoelectric layer having a direction of polarization that is orthogonal to the direction of polarization of the first piezoelectric layer.