Interface apparatus and methods

• US 9,677,952 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2015
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Original Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Inventors: Bao, Zhenan, Tee, Chee-Keong, Mannsfeld, Stefan Christian Bernhardt, Opatkiewicz, Justin P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chatly, Amit
• Application Number:
  US14/828,049
• Publication Number:
  US 20160041652A1
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-178
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/146 for measuring force distributions, e.g. using force arrays G01L1/148 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/148 using semiconductive material, e.g. silicon
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04107 Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/84 controllable by variation of applied mechanical force, e.g. of pressure
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 10/464 Lateral top-gate IGFETs comprising only a single gate
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/623 containing five rings, e.g. pentacene
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making

Abstract

Input devices are provided. In accordance with an example embodiment, an input device includes an interface layer that flexes in response to pressure, a plurality of sense electrodes, a dielectric between the sense electrodes and the interface layer, and interconnecting circuitry. The dielectric compresses or expands in response to movement of the interface layer, and exhibits dielectric characteristics that vary based upon a state of compression of the dielectric. The interconnecting circuitry is to the sense electrodes and provides an output indicative of both the position of each sense electrode and an electric characteristic at each sense electrode that provides an indication of pressure applied to the dielectric adjacent the respective sense electrodes.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an interface layer configured and arranged to flex in response to an input signal presented to the interface in the form of pressure;

an elastomer including a plurality of elastomer regions separated by one another by gaps, wherein at least one of the plurality of elastomer regions has at least one cross-section of less than 50 microns in terms of width dimension, and is shaped and sized to compress at the cross-section thereof and thereby exhibits a changed dielectric constant in response to an applied pressure or a change in pressure of less than 1 kPa, and the plurality of elastomer regions have width and thickness dimensions and are configured and arranged to, in response to an application of pressure or a change in pressure exhibit a changed dielectric constant corresponding to a state of compression of the elastomer; and

a sense circuit, including a portion of the elastomer, configured and arranged to respond to the changed dielectric constant by providing an electrical output indicative of the pressure applied or the change in pressure applied to the elastomer.

2. An apparatus comprising:

an interface layer configured and arranged to flex in response to an input signal presented to the interface in the form of pressure;

an elastomer including a plurality of elastomer regions separated by one another by gaps, wherein the plurality of elastomer regions have width and thickness dimensions and are configured and arranged to, in response to an application of pressure or a change in pressure exhibit a changed dielectric constant corresponding to a state of compression of the elastomer; and

a sense circuit, including a portion of the elastomer and including opposing, electrodes which are separated by the portion of the elastomer by a distance of less than 100 um before the state of compression, and the plurality of elastomer regions are shaped and sized to compress at a cross-section thereof and thereby exhibit the changed dielectric constant in response to sequential applications of pressure, and recover from each application of pressure in less than 300 msec, the sense circuit being configured to respond to the changed dielectric constant by providing an electrical output indicative of the pressure applied or the change in pressure applied to the elastomer.

3. An apparatus comprising:

an elastomer including a plurality of elastomer regions separated from one another by gaps, wherein the plurality of elastomer regions have width and thickness dimensions and are shaped and sized to compress at a cross-section thereof and are configured and arranged to respond to a change in pressure applied to the elastomer of less than 1 kPa and thereby exhibit a changed dielectric constant corresponding to a state of compression of the elastomer; and

a sense circuit, including a portion of the elastomer and having opposing electrodes separated by the portion of the elastomer, the sense circuit configured and arranged to respond to the changed dielectric constant by providing an indication of the pressure applied to the portion of the elastomer between the opposing electrodes of the sense circuit.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the elastomer and the sense circuit are configured and arranged to sense pulsed signals by tactile engagement with skin of a user and respond to the changed dielectric constant by providing the indication of the pressure applied to the portion of the elastomer at each of a plurality of sequential applications of pressure.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein

the sense circuit further includes a plurality of pairs of opposing electrodes arranged on a planar substrate, and

the elastomer is configured and arranged to compress between at least one of the pairs of opposing electrodes in response to pressure applied to the portion of the elastomer over the at least one of the electrodes.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sense circuit includes a plurality of opposing electrodes, each opposing electrode being configured and arranged to respond to a change in the dielectric constant of one of the plurality of elastomer regions of the elastomer immediately adjacent the opposing electrode, relative to elastomer regions adjacent other opposing electrodes, therein providing an indication of both the pressure applied to the elastomer and a position of the applied pressure.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further including a logic circuit connected to the opposing electrodes and configured and arranged to process outputs from the opposing electrodes to determine pressure applied to the elastomer region immediately adjacent at least one of the opposing electrodes and a location of the applied pressure, and wherein the elastomer includes conductors therein, the conductors being arranged as address and data lines through which the outputs from the opposing electrodes are accessible.

8. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein respective ones of the plurality of elastomer regions are differently-shaped with differently sized cross-sections and are configured and arranged to set different pressure-sensing characteristics for different portions of the elastomer.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the opposing electrodes are separated by the portion of the elastomer by a distance of less than 100 um before the state of compression.