Visually consistent arrays including conductive mesh

• US 9,740,340 B1
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Issued: 08/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rosenberg, Ilya D., Beguin, Julien G., Perlin, Kenneth H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yang, Kwang-Su
• Application Number:
  US12/846,295
• Time in Patent Office: 2,581 Days
• Field of Search: 345173, 345174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04112 Electrode mesh in capacitive digitiser: electrode for touch sensing is formed of a mesh of very fine, normally metallic, interconnected lines that are almost invisible to see. This provides a quite large but transparent electrode surface, without need for ITO or similar transparent conductive material
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04144 using an array of force sensing means position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells G06F3/0447
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Components such as touch sensors, antennas, and so forth may use arrays of elements to form operational components. Disposition of such an array between the user and a display device, pre-printed image, and so forth may result in moiré patterns or other unpleasant visual distractions. Visually consistent arrays utilize conductive mesh regions which are less visible than larger individual conductors. Non-conductive regions may be formed within an otherwise conductive mesh by introducing breaks in the conductive elements comprising the mesh. Additionally, in some implementations the non-conductive regions provide additional mechanical support.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

emplacing a conductive mesh on a substrate;

designating at least one portion of the conductive mesh as a non-conductive region after emplacing the conductive mesh; and

establishing a plurality of breaks within the at least one portion of the conductive mesh, the plurality of breaks configured to render the at least one portion of the conductive mesh incapable of carrying electrical current from an input to an output.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing an anisotropic region by selectively breaking a portion of the conductive mesh.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising an unbroken portion of the conductive mesh configured to carry electrical current from an input to an output.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the unbroken portion and the non-conductive region are disposed in an alternating arrangement to form a plurality of mesh electrodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the breaks are configured such that each break is less than about 0.75 millimeters in length.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive mesh comprises a polygonal mesh.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive mesh comprises a mat of randomly oriented conductive fibers.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing the conductive mesh in front of a display device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the display device comprises an electrophoretic display, a light emitting diode display, or a pre-printed image.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the conductive mesh comprises a regular array of conductors, and further comprising placing the regular array of conductors such that an angle greater than zero is described between an axis of the regular array of conductors and an axis of pixel rows or columns within the display device.

11. A method comprising:

emplacing a plurality of conductive mesh elements on a first side of a substrate;

designating at least one portion of the plurality of conductive mesh elements as non-conductive regions; and

establishing, after emplacing the plurality of conductive mesh elements, the non-conductive regions within the plurality of conductive mesh elements by establishing a plurality of breaks within one or more portions of the plurality of conductive mesh elements, the plurality of breaks configured to render the portions incapable of carrying electrical current from an input to an output.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the conductive mesh elements comprise a portion of a touch sensor, an antenna, or a display.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of conductive mesh elements form at least a part of an interpolating force-sensing resistance (IFSR) sensor array that detects a measurement of force applied to a touch sensor.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the substrate is substantially transparent or translucent and further comprising a display disposed behind a touch sensor and configured to present an image through at least a portion of the touch sensor.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the breaks are configured such that each break is less than about 0.75 millimeters in length.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of conductive mesh elements comprises a polygonal mesh.