Touch sensitive displays

• US 10,078,402 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2013
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zytronic Displays Limited (Zytronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Zytronic Displays Limited (Zytronic Plc)
• Inventors: Morrison, Andrew, Rudland, Philip Andrew, Ormston, Stephen Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Awad, Amr
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bray, Stephen
• Application Number:
  US14/400,616
• Publication Number:
  US 20150130750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,937 Days
• 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 3/041661 using detection at multiple resolutions, e.g. coarse and fine scanning; using detection within a limited area, e.g. object tracking window
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

Disclosed are a touch sensitive display and a method of operation thereof. The display comprises a sensor having an input put array of electrodes and, capacitively coupled thereto, an output array of electrodes and a controller operable to perform a scan operation at every intersection point of said input array. The scan operation comprises measuring a touch value for an intersection point; determining a proportional difference between said touch value and a base touch value for said intersection point as a proportion of said base touch value, wherein said base touch value is indicative of there being no touch event on the sensor; and comparing the proportional difference to a predetermined proportional touch threshold so as to determine whether there is a touch event at that point.

Claims

1. A touch sensitive display comprising:

a sensor having an input array of electrodes and an output array of electrodes, wherein the output array of electrodes is capacitively coupled to the input array of electrodes at a plurality of intersection points;

a controller operable to perform a scan operation at the plurality of intersection points of said input array using a plurality of base touch values and a predetermined proportional touch threshold, the plurality of base touch values reflecting touch-value variation at the plurality of intersection points when there is no touch event on the sensor;

wherein, for each intersection point of the plurality of intersection points, the scan operation comprises;

measuring a touch value for said intersection point;

determining a proportional difference between said touch value and a base touch value of the plurality of base touch values, wherein said proportional difference is determined based on the difference between said touch value and said base touch value as a proportion of said base touch value, wherein said base touch value is indicative of a touch-value measurement at said intersection point when there is no touch event on the sensor; and

comparing said proportional difference to said predetermined proportional touch threshold so as to determine whether there is a touch event at that point, wherein said predetermined proportional touch threshold is defined as the difference between a given touch value and a given base touch value, as a proportion of said given base touch value, indicative of there being a touch event.

2. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controller is further operable to measure said base touch value for each intersection point.

3. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said predetermined proportional touch threshold is between 10% and 30%.

4. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sensor is operable such that a change in voltage applied to one of the electrodes of said input array results in a voltage pulse on the output array electrodes, the magnitude of which is indicative of a touch event.

5. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the electrodes of said input array of electrodes and of said output array of electrodes comprises a conducting wire individually insulated with an insulating coating.

6. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 5, wherein the conducting wire is of diameter 8 μ

m to 18 μ

m.

7. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 5, wherein the insulating coating comprises a polyurethane coating having a thickness of 1 μ

m to 2 μ

m.

8. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrodes of said input array of electrodes are arranged substantially orthogonal to the electrodes of said output array of electrodes, each intersection point being where an input electrode crosses an output electrode.

9. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said input array of electrodes and said output array of electrodes are laid over each other so as to form a single electrode array layer in the sensor.

10. The touch sensitive display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controller is further operable to detect a touch at an intersection point by transmitting a pulse on an input electrode and monitoring a corresponding pulse energy on one or more output electrodes, said corresponding pulse energy arising due to capacitive coupling between the input electrode and the one or more output electrodes.

11. A method of operating a touch sensitive display, said touch sensitive display comprising a sensor having an input array of electrodes and an output array of electrodes, wherein the output array of electrodes is capacitively coupled to the input array of electrodes at a plurality of intersection points, said method comprising:

performing a scan operation at the plurality of intersection points of said input array using a plurality of base touch values and a predetermined proportional touch threshold, the plurality of base touch values reflecting touch-value variation at the plurality of intersection points when there is no touch event on the sensor;

wherein, for each intersection point of the plurality of intersection points, the scan operation comprises;

measuring a touch value for said intersection point;

determining a proportional difference between said touch value and a base touch value of the plurality of base touch values, wherein said proportional difference is determined based on the difference between said touch value and said base touch value as a proportion of said base touch value, wherein said base touch value is indicative of there being no touch event on the sensor; and

comparing said proportional difference to said predetermined proportional touch threshold so as to determine whether there is a touch event at that point, wherein said predetermined proportional touch threshold is defined as the difference between a given touch value and a given base touch value, as a proportion of said given base touch value, indicative of there being a touch event.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 further comprising the step of measuring said base touch value for each intersection point.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said predetermined proportional touch threshold is between 10% and 30%.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a change in voltage applied to one of the electrodes of said input array results in a voltage pulse on the output array electrodes, the magnitude of which is indicative of a touch event.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the electrodes of said input array of electrodes are arranged substantially orthogonal to the electrodes of said output array of electrodes, each intersection point being where an input electrode crosses an output electrode.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said input array of electrodes and said output array of electrodes are laid over each other so as to form a single electrode array layer in the sensor.

17. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said method further comprises detecting a touch at an intersection point by transmitting a pulse on an input electrode and monitoring a corresponding pulse energy on one or more output electrodes, said corresponding pulse energy arising due to capacitive coupling between the input electrode and the one or more output electrodes.

18. A non-transitory program carrier comprising computer readable instructions which, when run on a suitable apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of claim 11.

19. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said predetermined proportional touch threshold is defined as the difference between a touch value and a base touch value, as a proportion of said base touch value, indicative of there being a touch event.