SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING MULTI-DIMENSIONAL TOUCH INPUT VECTOR
First Claim
1. A method for detecting an id, position, size and convex contour of at least one touch object placed on a touch region W within a perimeter of a touch panel, the touch panel including on its periphery at least one light transmitter and at least one light sensor, said method comprising steps of:
- (a) acquiring light intensity data from a subset of light paths L between at least one light transmitter and at least one light sensor of the touch panel, at least one of the light paths being interrupted by placement of at least one touch object within the touch region W;
(b) computing hot regions H={hi;
i≦
NH, where hi is the ith hot region and NH is the number of hot regions} from a subset of said light intensity data by calculating the shape and boundary of interrupted light paths;
(c) computing expected object area S by overlaying said hot regions H and comparing it with a predetermined overlay region P;
(d) deriving totally disconnected expected object area S′
from S;
(e) computing spatial properties, including position, size and convex contour, of said totally disconnected expected object area S′
;
(f) associating touch objects with a subset of said totally disconnected expected object area S′
;
(g) assigning to each said touch objects an ID and said spatial properties as a touch input vector representing the placement of each touch object on the touch panel.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A touch panel method and system detects one or more touch objects placed on a surface of a touch panel and assigns consistent ID, position, size and convex contour to each touch object. The method and system allows multiple simultaneous touch objects on the touch panel to be distinguished. The touch panel includes on its periphery at least one light transmitter and at least one light sensor, each positioned around at least a portion of a perimeter of the touch panel. A processor in communication with the at least one light sensor acquires light intensity data from the sensor(s), wherein any one or more touch objects placed within a touch detectable region of the panel interrupts at least a subset of light paths between transmitter and sensor. Based on the interrupted light paths, the processor generates a touch input vector (assigned ID and spatial properties) that represents the placement of each touch object on the touch panel.
28 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for detecting an id, position, size and convex contour of at least one touch object placed on a touch region W within a perimeter of a touch panel, the touch panel including on its periphery at least one light transmitter and at least one light sensor, said method comprising steps of:
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(a) acquiring light intensity data from a subset of light paths L between at least one light transmitter and at least one light sensor of the touch panel, at least one of the light paths being interrupted by placement of at least one touch object within the touch region W; (b) computing hot regions H={hi;
i≦
NH, where hi is the ith hot region and NH is the number of hot regions} from a subset of said light intensity data by calculating the shape and boundary of interrupted light paths;(c) computing expected object area S by overlaying said hot regions H and comparing it with a predetermined overlay region P; (d) deriving totally disconnected expected object area S′
from S;(e) computing spatial properties, including position, size and convex contour, of said totally disconnected expected object area S′
;(f) associating touch objects with a subset of said totally disconnected expected object area S′
;(g) assigning to each said touch objects an ID and said spatial properties as a touch input vector representing the placement of each touch object on the touch panel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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- 10. A touch system for detecting an id, position, size and convex contour of at least one object placed on a surface within a perimeter of a touch panel comprising at least one light transmitter and at least one light sensor, each positioned around at least a portion of the perimeter of said touch panel, said at least one light transmitter comprising a LED semiconductor die and a lens wherein said lens has a wider x-axis view angle than y-axis view angle.
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13. A touch system for detecting an id, position, size and the convex contour of at least one object placed on a surface within a perimeter of a touch panel comprising:
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at least one light transmitter positioned around at least a portion of the perimeter of said touch panel; and at least one light sensor positioned around at least a portion of the perimeter of said touch panel, wherein said at least one light sensor is of L-shape or linear shape, wherein at least one touch object placed on the surface within the perimeter of the touch panel interrupts at least a subset of light paths between said at least one light transmitter and said at least one light sensor. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A touch system for detecting an id, position, size, and convex contour of at least one object placed on a surface within a perimeter of a touch panel comprising:
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at least one light transmitter positioned around at least a portion of the perimeter of said touch panel; at least one light sensor positioned around at least a portion of the perimeter of said touch panel, said at least one light sensor providing light intensity data from a subset of light paths between said at least one light transmitter and said at least one light sensor, one or more of said light paths being interrupted by placement of at least one touch object onto the surface of the touch panel; at least one internal processor in communication with said at least one light sensor so as to obtain light intensity data; means for computing hot regions H={hi;
i≦
NH, where hi is the ith hot region and NH is the number of hot regions} from a subset of said light intensity data by calculating the shape and boundary of interrupted light paths;means for computing expected object area S by overlaying said hot regions H and comparing it with a predetermined overlay region P; means for deriving totally disconnected expected object area S′
from S;means for computing spatial properties, including position, size and convex contour, of said totally disconnected expected object area S′
;means for associating touch objects with a subset of said totally disconnected expected object area S′
; andmeans for assigning to each said touch objects an ID and said spatial properties as a touch input vector representing the placement of each touch object on the touch panel. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification