Pressure-sensing touch system utilizing optical and capacitive systems
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hybrid touch system for sensing both a touch location of a touch event and an amount of pressure at the touch location, comprising:
- a. a capacitive touch sensor;
b. an optical touch sensor operably arranged relative to the capacitive touch sensor, wherein the optical touch sensor includes;
i. a transparent sheet having a monolithic body in the form of a single element made of a single material, the monolithic body having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a perimeter that includes an edge, wherein the touch event occurs on the top surface at the touch event location and has an amount of contact area that corresponds to the amount of pressure;
ii. at least one light source operably arranged relative to the transparent sheet and that emits light that is coupled into the transparent sheet so that the light travels within the monolithic body of the transparent sheet via total internal reflection from the top and bottom surfaces only; and
iii. at least one detector operably disposed immediately adjacent to the transparent sheet and that generates a detector electrical signal having a signal strength representative of a detected intensity of light traveling within the monolithic body of the transparent sheet, wherein the touch event at the top surface of the transparent sheet scatters the light traveling within the monolithic body of the transparent sheet, thereby causing a change in the detected light intensity that corresponds to a change in the amount of contact area at the touch location that is representative of a change in the pressure applied at the touch location;
c. a software means for utilizing the capacitive touch sensor to determine the touch location of the touch event; and
d. a software means for utilizing the optical touch sensor to determine the amount of pressure at the touch location based on the detector electrical signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hybrid touch system that utilizes a combination of a capacitive touch system for position sensing and an optical touch system for pressure sensing is disclosed. The optical touch system includes a transparent sheet having a surface, at least one light source and at least one detector which are operably arranged relative to the transparent sheet to transmit light through the sheet and to detect the transmitted light. Performing position sensing using the capacitive touch system simplifies the pressure-sensing optical touch system.
421 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A hybrid touch system for sensing both a touch location of a touch event and an amount of pressure at the touch location, comprising:
-
a. a capacitive touch sensor; b. an optical touch sensor operably arranged relative to the capacitive touch sensor, wherein the optical touch sensor includes; i. a transparent sheet having a monolithic body in the form of a single element made of a single material, the monolithic body having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a perimeter that includes an edge, wherein the touch event occurs on the top surface at the touch event location and has an amount of contact area that corresponds to the amount of pressure; ii. at least one light source operably arranged relative to the transparent sheet and that emits light that is coupled into the transparent sheet so that the light travels within the monolithic body of the transparent sheet via total internal reflection from the top and bottom surfaces only; and iii. at least one detector operably disposed immediately adjacent to the transparent sheet and that generates a detector electrical signal having a signal strength representative of a detected intensity of light traveling within the monolithic body of the transparent sheet, wherein the touch event at the top surface of the transparent sheet scatters the light traveling within the monolithic body of the transparent sheet, thereby causing a change in the detected light intensity that corresponds to a change in the amount of contact area at the touch location that is representative of a change in the pressure applied at the touch location; c. a software means for utilizing the capacitive touch sensor to determine the touch location of the touch event; and d. a software means for utilizing the optical touch sensor to determine the amount of pressure at the touch location based on the detector electrical signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of determining touch locations of one or more touch events on a touch surface, and amounts of pressure associated with each touch event, comprising:
-
a. detecting x- and y-positions of each of one or more touch events via a capacitive touch sensor; b. resolving the x- and y-positions of each of the one or more touch events via the capacitive touch sensor; c. detecting the amounts of pressure of each of the one or more touch events via an optical touch sensor that includes a transparent sheet having a monolithic body in the form of a single element made of a single material, the monolithic body having a lower surface and an upper surface, wherein the one or more touch events occur at the upper surface, wherein light travels within the monolithic body by total internal reflection (TIR) from the upper and lower surfaces only, and wherein the TIR light is scattered by each touch event at the top surface in proportion to an amount of contact area associated with each touch event so that a detector arranged immediately adjacent the transparent sheet generates a detector signal representative of a change in the amount of transmitted TIR light due to said light scattering in proportion to the amount of contact area; and d. resolving the amounts of pressure of each of the one or more touch events via the optical touch sensor based on the amount of contact area associated with each touch event. - View Dependent Claims (11)
-
-
12. A method of determining an (x,y) touch location of a touch event on a touch surface, and an amount of pressure associated with the touch event, comprising:
-
a. detecting an occurrence of the touch event on the touch surface via an optical touch sensor; b. determining whether the touch event is detected by a capacitive touch sensor operably arranged relative to the optical touch sensor; c. whenever the touch event is detected by the capacitive touch sensor, resolving the (x,y) touch location of the touch event via a capacitive touch sensor; d. whenever the touch event is not detected by the capacitive touch sensor, resolving the (x,y) touch location of the touch event via the optical touch sensor; and e. resolving the amount of pressure at the (x,y) touch location using the optical touch sensor, wherein the optical touch sensor includes a transparent sheet having a monolithic body in the form of a single element made of a single material, the monolithic body having a lower surface and an upper surface, wherein the upper surface defines the touch surface and wherein light travels within the body by total internal reflection (TIR) from the upper and lower surfaces only, and wherein the TIR light is scattered by the touch event at the top upper surface in proportion to an amount of contact area associated with the touch event so that a detector arranged immediately adjacent the transparent sheet generates a detector signal representative of a change in the amount of transmitted TIR light due to said light scattering, and wherein resolving the amount of pressure of the touch event is based on the amount of contact area. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification