Capacitive touchscreen mirror device and method of manufacturing

• US 10,775,949 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2017
• Issued: 09/15/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke NV
• Inventors: Godlieb, Robert, Nijdam, Jeroen Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Edouard, Patrick N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shen, Peijie
• Application Number:
  US16/334,397
• Publication Number:
  US 20190220116A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/0808 having a single reflecting layer G02B5/0883, G02B5/0891 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9622 using a plurality of detectors, e.g. keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2017/9602 characterised by the type or shape of the sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/96077 comprising an electrode which is floating

Abstract

Touchscreen mirror device (100) comprising a touchscreen panel (10) and a mirror surface (20). The touchscreen panel (10) comprises a grid of capacitive sensors (12) for detecting a position of an input object such as a fingertip (F) near the touchscreen panel (10). The mirror surface (20) is configured to at least partially reflect a mirror image (M) at a front side of the mirror surface (20). The mirror surface (20) comprises a reflective metal layer (21) divided in separate metal islands (21a,21b) that are electrically isolated from each other by a single contiguous gap (G) for allowing the capacitive sensor (12) to detect a position of the input object through the mirror surface (20).

Claims

1. A touchscreen mirror device comprising:

a touchscreen panel having capacitive sensors defining a grid of sensor positions for detecting a position of an input object such as a fingertip across a surface of the mirror device; and

a mirror surface covering the touchscreen panel at a front side thereof, facing a front side of the mirror device, and configured to at least partially reflect a mirror image at the front side of the mirror surface;

wherein the mirror surface comprises a reflective metal layer divided in separate metal islands that are electrically isolated from each other;

wherein respective capacitive sensors are associated with respective nearby metal islands, wherein the capacitive sensors are configured to measure a capacitive coupling with their associated metal islands;

wherein at least a subset of the metal islands comprises pairs of neighboring metal islands having respective pairs of associated neighboring capacitive sensors, comprising a first capacitive sensor associated with a first metal island and a neighboring second capacitive sensor associated with a neighboring second metal island;

wherein the neighboring metal islands are electrically isolated from each other by one contiguous non-conducting gap having a width between 10 and 200 micrometers without metal layer there between, wherein the touchscreen panel is configured to register a simultaneous coupling between the input object and two or more neighboring metal islands across the contiguous non-conducting gap by measuring a relative capacitive coupling between the respective two or more neighboring metal islands and their respective associated capacitive sensors at the respective sensor positions, wherein a positional mapping is calculated by at least one of interpolating and smoothing variable amounts of capacitive coupling measured across the grid of sensor positions.

2. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1, wherein the touchscreen panel is configured to provide a positional mapping of variable amounts of capacitive coupling as a function of position across the grid of sensor positions.

3. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1 wherein respective capacitive sensors are separated from their respective associated nearest metal islands by a distance between 0.05 and 5 millimeters, preferably between 0.1 and 3 millimeters.

4. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1, wherein the separate metal islands of the reflective metal layer are separated from each other by a gap having a width between 10 and 100 micrometers.

5. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1, wherein separation lines are present between the separate metal islands of the reflective metal layer, and wherein the separation lines form an irregular pattern, wherein the separation lines between the separate metal islands extend in three or more different directions and/or wherein the separation lines have a straight portion with a maximum length of less than five millimeters.

6. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1, wherein a maximum dimension of the separate metal islands in a direction parallel to the mirror surface is at most twelve millimeters.

7. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1, wherein the neighboring metal islands have dimensions that are comparable to or smaller than a separation between the neighboring capacitive sensors.

8. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 1, comprising a controllable display for providing an illuminated display image, wherein the mirror surface is configured to at least partially transmit the illuminated display image from a back side of the mirror surface through the mirror surface to the front side of the mirror surface.

9. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 8, wherein the display comprises pixels configured to form the display image.

10. The touchscreen mirror device according to claim 9, wherein the mirror device comprises a display controller configured to control the display image by controlling the pixels.

11. A method of manufacturing a touchscreen mirror device comprising:

providing a touchscreen panel having capacitive sensors defining a grid of sensor positions for detecting a position of an input object such as a fingertip across a surface of the mirror device;

covering the touchscreen panel at a front side thereof, facing a front side of the mirror device, with a mirror surface comprising a reflective metal layer configured to at least partially reflect a mirror image at a front side of the mirror surface; and

dividing the reflective metal layer in separate metal islands that are electrically isolated from each other;

wherein respective capacitive sensors are associated with respective nearby metal islands, wherein the capacitive sensors are configured to measure a capacitive coupling with their associated metal islands;

wherein at least a subset of the metal islands comprises pairs of neighboring metal islands having respective pairs of associated neighboring capacitive sensors, comprising a first capacitive sensor associated with a first metal island and a neighboring second capacitive sensor associated with a neighboring second metal island;

wherein the neighboring metal islands are electrically isolated from each other by one contiguous non-conducting gap having a width between 10 and 200 micrometers without metal layer there between, wherein the touchscreen panel is configured to register a simultaneous coupling between the input object and two or more neighboring metal islands across the contiguous non-conducting gap by measuring a relative capacitive coupling between the respective two or more neighboring metal islands and their respective associated capacitive sensors at the respective sensor positions, wherein a positional mapping is calculated by at least one of interpolating and smoothing variable amounts of capacitive coupling measured across the grid of sensor positions.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the mirror surface is formed by providing the metal layer on a substrate and by etching gap lines into the metal layer to form the separate metal islands that are electrically isolated from each other.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein a pattern of gap lines is etched into the metal layer using a mask pattern.

14. The method according to claim 11, comprising transmission of a first capacitive coupling between a finger and a plurality of the metal islands via a second capacitive coupling between the plurality of the metal islands and their respective associated capacitive sensors.

15. The method according to any of claim 14, comprising establishing a capacitive coupling between neighboring metal islands across the non-conductive gap there between.