Force sensing capacitive hybrid touch sensor
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- receiving a first plurality of capacitance measurements that are measured from a plurality of sensor elements affected by a first contact at a touch-sensing surface that overlays a display panel;
wherein the touch-sensing surface is flexible and includes a flexible overlay, a flexible substrate, and the plurality of sensor elements, the plurality of sensor elements being positioned between the flexible substrate and the flexible overlay, the touch-sensing surface being configured to deflect more with respect to the display panel in proximity to the first contact than remotely from the first contact and thereby modify capacitances of a first subset of the plurality of displaced sensor elements proximate to the first contact;
selecting, from the first plurality of capacitance measurements, a first capacitance measurement corresponding to a first sensor element that is a predetermined distance from a second sensor element associated with a peak capacitance value, wherein the first sensor element and the second sensor element are within a same set of rows or columns separated by the predetermined distance;
determining a magnitude of a first force applied to the touch-sensing surface at a location of the first contact based on location coordinates, which correspond to the location of the first contact on the touch-sensing surface, and on the first capacitance measurement; and
obtaining a corrected coordinate location for the first contact based on the magnitude of the first force.
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Abstract
A method for detecting a magnitude of force applied to a capacitive sensor array may comprise receiving a plurality of capacitance measurements affected by a contact at a touch-sensing surface, and determining a magnitude of a force applied to the touch-sensing surface at a location of the contact based on the location of the contact and a capacitance measurement of the first plurality of capacitance measurements.
88 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving a first plurality of capacitance measurements that are measured from a plurality of sensor elements affected by a first contact at a touch-sensing surface that overlays a display panel; wherein the touch-sensing surface is flexible and includes a flexible overlay, a flexible substrate, and the plurality of sensor elements, the plurality of sensor elements being positioned between the flexible substrate and the flexible overlay, the touch-sensing surface being configured to deflect more with respect to the display panel in proximity to the first contact than remotely from the first contact and thereby modify capacitances of a first subset of the plurality of displaced sensor elements proximate to the first contact; selecting, from the first plurality of capacitance measurements, a first capacitance measurement corresponding to a first sensor element that is a predetermined distance from a second sensor element associated with a peak capacitance value, wherein the first sensor element and the second sensor element are within a same set of rows or columns separated by the predetermined distance; determining a magnitude of a first force applied to the touch-sensing surface at a location of the first contact based on location coordinates, which correspond to the location of the first contact on the touch-sensing surface, and on the first capacitance measurement; and obtaining a corrected coordinate location for the first contact based on the magnitude of the first force. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus, comprising:
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a capacitance sensor configured to measure a plurality of capacitance measurements from a plurality of sensor elements of a capacitive sensor array, wherein the plurality of capacitance measurements are affected by one or more contacts, including a first contact, at a touch-sensing surface that overlays a display panel; wherein the touch-sensing surface is flexible and includes a flexible overlay, a flexible substrate, and the plurality of sensor elements of the capacitive sensor array, the plurality of sensor elements being positioned between the flexible substrate and the flexible overlay, the touch sensing surface being configured to deflect more with respect to the display panel in proximity to the first contact than remotely from the first contact and thereby modify capacitances of a first subset of the plurality of displaced sensor elements proximate to the first contact; and processing logic coupled with the capacitance sensor, wherein the processing logic is configured to; select, from the plurality of capacitance measurements, a first capacitance measurement corresponding to a first sensor element that is a predetermined distance from a second sensor element associated with a peak capacitance value, wherein the first sensor element and the second sensor element are within a same set of rows or columns separated by the predetermined distance and the first capacitance measurement and the peak capacitance value correspond to the first contact; determine location coordinates of each of the one or more contacts based on the plurality of capacitance measurements; determine a magnitude of a force corresponding to the first contact applied at a location based on the location coordinates, which correspond to the location of each of the one or more contacts on the touch-sensing surface, and on the first capacitance measurement; and obtain a corrected coordinate location for at least one of the one or more contacts based on the magnitude of the first force. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus, comprising:
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a capacitive sensor array comprising a plurality of sensor elements, wherein the capacitive sensor array is flexible and includes a flexible overlay and a flexible substrate, and wherein the plurality of sensor elements are positioned between the flexible substrate and the flexible overlay, the capacitive sensor array surface being configured to deflect more with respect to a display panel overlaid by the capacitive sensor array in proximity to a first contact than remotely from the first contact and thereby modify capacitances of a first subset of the plurality of displaced sensor elements proximate to the first contact; a capacitance sensor coupled with the capacitive sensor array, wherein the capacitance sensor is configured to measure a plurality of capacitance measurements from the plurality of sensor elements affected by the first contact at a touch-sensing surface of the capacitive sensor array; and a processing logic coupled with the capacitance sensor, wherein the processing logic is configured to; select, from the plurality of capacitance measurements, a first capacitance measurement corresponding to a first sensor element that is a predetermined distance from a second sensor element associated with a peak capacitance value, wherein the first sensor element and the second sensor element are within a same set of rows or columns separated by the predetermined distance; determine a location of the first contact at the capacitive sensor array based on the plurality of capacitance measurements; determine a magnitude of a first force applied to the capacitive sensor array at the location of the first contact based on location coordinates, which correspond to the location of the first contact on the capacitive sensor array, and on the first capacitance measurement of the plurality of capacitance measurements; and obtain a corrected coordinate location for the first contact based on the magnitude of the first force. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification