Touch pad with force sensors and actuator feedback
First Claim
1. An electronic device, comprising:
- a housing;
a keyboard mounted within the housing;
a touch pad disposed within the housing along a side of the keyboard and comprising;
a cover layer defining a touch-sensitive surface;
a printed circuit layer positioned below the cover layer and having a capacitive touch sensor configured to produce a touch output that corresponds to a location of an object on the touch-sensitive surface;
a group of force sensors positioned below the printed circuit layer and configured to produce a force output that is non-binary and corresponds to an amount of force applied by the object; and
an output device configured to output non-visual feedback in response to a force output that exceeds a threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electronic devices may use touch pads that have touch sensor arrays, force sensors, and actuators for providing tactile feedback. A touch pad may be mounted in a computer housing. The touch pad may have a rectangular planar touch pad member that has a glass layer covered with ink and contains a capacitive touch sensor array. Force sensors may be mounted under each of the four corners of the rectangular planar touch pad member. The force sensors may be used to measure how much force is applied to the surface of the planar touch pad member by a user. Processed force sensor signals may indicate the presence of button activity such as press and release events. In response to detected button activity or other activity in the device, actuator drive signals may be generated for controlling the actuator. The user may supply settings to adjust signal processing and tactile feedback parameters.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An electronic device, comprising:
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a housing; a keyboard mounted within the housing; a touch pad disposed within the housing along a side of the keyboard and comprising; a cover layer defining a touch-sensitive surface; a printed circuit layer positioned below the cover layer and having a capacitive touch sensor configured to produce a touch output that corresponds to a location of an object on the touch-sensitive surface; a group of force sensors positioned below the printed circuit layer and configured to produce a force output that is non-binary and corresponds to an amount of force applied by the object; and an output device configured to output non-visual feedback in response to a force output that exceeds a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A portable computer comprising:
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an upper housing; a lower housing pivotally attached to the upper housing; a display positioned at least partially within the upper housing; a keyboard disposed at least partially within the lower housing; and a track pad disposed at least partially within the lower housing and proximate to the keyboard, the track pad comprising; a cover member; a circuit layer having a capacitive touch sensor positioned below the cover member and configured to produce a touch output that corresponds to a location of a touch on the cover member; and a group of force sensors positioned below the circuit layer and configured to produce a non-binary force output signal that corresponds to an amount of force of the touch on the cover member. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of receiving a user input on a surface of a touch pad of a notebook computing device, the method comprising:
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producing a location output that corresponds to a touch on a touch-sensitive surface on a cover layer mounted to a housing of the notebook computing device using a capacitive touch sensor that is positioned below the cover layer; producing a non-binary force output in response to a force of the touch using a set of force sensors positioned below the capacitive touch sensor and proximate to respective corners of the touch pad; determining an estimate of an applied force using the non-binary force output from the set of force sensors; triggering a button press event if the estimate of the applied force exceeds a threshold; and outputting a non-visual feedback in response to the button press event. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification