Mutual-capacitance touch apparatus and highly sensitive mutual-capacitance touch sensing method for the same

• US 10,268,298 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2017
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Superc-Touch Corporation
• Original Assignee: Superc-Touch Corporation
• Inventors: Lee, Hsiang-Yu, Chin, Shang, Lin, Ping-Tsun, Tu, Chia-Hsun
• Primary Examiner(s): Marinelli, Patrick F
• Application Number:
  US15/588,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20180321762A1
• Time in Patent Office: 716 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• 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 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1213 the pixel elements being TFTs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/40 OLEDs integrated with touch screens

Abstract

A mutual-capacitance touch apparatus and highly sensitive mutual-capacitance touch sensing method thereof, the method includes: providing a touch apparatus including: a plurality of first touch electrodes and a plurality of second touch electrodes, a touch controller including a touch driving signal generator, a touch receiver, and an amplifier with gain larger than zero. The touch controller sequentially or randomly applies a touch driving signal to a selected first touch electrode, and senses a touch sensing signal at a second touch electrode by the touch receiver, and processes the touch sensing signal by the amplifier with gain larger than zero, then outputs the processed touch sensing signal to at least a conductor close to the second touch electrode.

Claims

1. A highly sensitive mutual-capacitance touch sensing method comprising:

(a) providing a touch apparatus, the touch apparatus comprising;

a plurality of first touch electrodes arranged along a first direction;

a plurality of second touch electrodes arranged along a second direction, wherein the first direction is different from the second direction; and

a touch controller comprising;

a touch driving signal generator;

a touch receiver; and

an amplifier with gain larger than zero; and

(b) the touch controller sequentially or randomly applying a touch driving signal to a selected first touch electrode, and sensing a touch sensing signal at a second touch electrode by the touch receiver, and processing the touch sensing signal by the amplifier with gain larger than zero, then outputting the processed touch sensing signal to at least a conductor close to the second touch electrode and a reference point of a display controller;

wherein the amplifier with gain larger than zero is arranged outside the touch receiver;

wherein the touch sensing signal is sent to the touch receiver through a first path and the touch sensing signal is sent to the amplifier with gain larger than zero through a second path different from the first path,

wherein there is only one physical connection point between the display controller and the touch controller during a touch sensing operation, and

wherein the reference point of the display controller is a power source output point of the display controller, a grounded point of the display controller, a node of a dc loop of the display controller of the display controller, or an output point of a driving stage of the display controller.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductor close to the second touch electrode is a common voltage electrode of a liquid crystal display, a common cathode or common anode of an organic light emitting display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductor close to the second touch electrode is a casing of the touch apparatus.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductor close to the second touch electrode is a shielding electrode of the touch apparatus.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductor close to the second touch electrode is a non-selected first touch electrode or non-selected second touch electrode.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the touch controller successively increasing or decreasing a gain of the amplifier by a predetermined increment or decrement according to the inputted touch sensing signal to obtain an improved touch sensing signal.

7. A highly sensitive mutual-capacitance touch sensing method comprising:

(a) providing a touch display apparatus, the touch display apparatus comprising;

a plurality of first touch electrodes arranged along a first direction;

a plurality of second touch electrodes arranged along a second direction, wherein the first direction is different from the second direction;

a transistor substrate;

a thin film transistor layer comprising a plurality of thin film transistors, a plurality of data lines and a plurality of gate lines;

a plurality of pixel electrodes electrically connected to the thin film transistors;

a display material layer being arranged on a side of the plurality of pixel electrodes, the side being opposite to the transistor substrate;

at least a common electrode;

a display controller comprising a display power source;

a touch controller comprising;

a touch power source;

a touch driving signal generator generating a touch driving signal; and

a touch receiver and an amplifier with gain larger than zero; and

(b) the touch controller sequentially or randomly applying the touch driving signal to a selected first touch electrode, and sensing a touch sensing signal at a second touch electrode by the touch receiver, and processing the touch sensing signal by the amplifier with gain larger than zero, then outputting the processed touch sensing signal to at least a conductor close to the second touch electrode and a reference point of the display controller,

wherein the display controller and the touch controller have no common current loop therebetween during touch sensing operation;

wherein the amplifier with gain larger than zero is arranged outside the touch receiver;

wherein the display power source and the touch power source have different grounds,

wherein there is only one physical connection point between the display controller and the touch controller during touch sensing operation, and

wherein the reference point of the display controller is a power source output point of the display controller, a grounded point of the display controller, a node of a dc loop of the display controller of the display controller, or an output point of a driving stage of the display controller.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the display material layer is a liquid crystal material layer.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the display material layer is an organic light emitting material layer, the pixel electrode is a pixel anode or pixel cathode, the common electrode is a common cathode or common anode.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the display controller and the touch controller have a common current loop therebetween during non-touch-sensing operation.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

the touch controller successively increasing or decreasing the gain of the amplifier by a predetermined increment or decrement according to the inputted touch sensing signal to obtain an improved touch sensing signal.

12. A mutual-capacitance touch display apparatus comprising:

a plurality of first touch electrodes arranged along a first direction;

a plurality of second touch electrodes arranged along a second direction, wherein the first direction is different from the second direction;

a transistor substrate;

a thin film transistor layer comprising a plurality of thin film transistors, a plurality of data lines and a plurality of gate lines;

a plurality of pixel electrodes being electrically connected to the thin film transistor;

a display material layer being arranged on a side of the plurality of pixel electrodes, the side being opposite to the transistor substrate;

a common electrode layer;

a display controller comprising a display power source; and

a touch controller comprising;

a touch power source;

a touch driving signal generator generating a touch driving signal; and

a touch receiver and an amplifier with gain larger than zero;

wherein the touch controller sequentially or randomly applies the touch driving signal to a selected first touch electrode, and senses a touch sensing signal at a second touch electrode by the touch receiver, and processes the touch sensing signal by the amplifier with gain larger than zero, then outputs the processed touch sensing signal to at least a conductor close to the second touch electrode and a reference point of the display controller;

wherein the display controller and the touch controller have no common current loop therebetween during touch sensing operation,

wherein the display power source and the touch power source have different grounds,

wherein there is only one physical connection point between the display controller and the touch controller during touch sensing operation, and

wherein the reference point of the display controller is a power source output point of the display controller, a grounded point of the display controller, a node of a dc loop of the display controller of the display controller, or an output point of a driving stage of the display controller.

13. The mutual-capacitance touch display apparatus of claim 12, wherein the display material layer is a liquid crystal material layer.

14. The mutual-capacitance touch display apparatus of claim 12, wherein the display material layer is an organic light emitting material layer, the pixel electrode is a pixel anode or pixel cathode, the common electrode is a common cathode or common anode.

15. The mutual-capacitance touch display apparatus of claim 12, wherein the display controller and the touch controller have a common current loop therebetween during non-touch-sensing operation.

16. The mutual-capacitance touch display apparatus of claim 12, wherein the touch controller is configured to successively increase or decrease the gain of the amplifier by a predetermined increment or decrement according to the inputted touch sensing signal to obtain an improved touch sensing signal.