Touch screen for mobile telephone

• US 7,880,732 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2002
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Neonode Smartphone LLC (Aequitas Technologies, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Neonode, Inc.
• Inventors: Goertz, Magnus George
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala; Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holton; Steven E
• Application Number:
  US10/494,055
• Publication Number:
  US 20040263482A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,011 Days
• Field of Search: 345/175, 345/173, 178/175, 178/18.09, 715/838, 715/864
• US Class Current: 345/175
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 for a display module assembly

Abstract

A touch screen arrangement fitted to a mobile telephone apparatus and built-on or resting on a substrate. The touch screen includes a display unit and a number of light pulse emitting units and a number of light pulse receiving units, said units being edge-related to said display unit. The light pulse emitting units and the light pulse receiving units are orientated adjacent said display unit, with the directions of said emitted and received light pulses being at right angles, or at least generally at right angles, to a planar surface on the display unit. The touch screen also includes four light pulse deflecting devices positioned close to the display surface.

Claims

1. A touch screen for a mobile telephone, comprising:

a display unit on which a plurality of keypad characters are displayed;

a number of light pulse emitting units;

a number of light pulse receiving units,

wherein said light pulse emitting units send light pulses over said display unit, and said light pulse receiving units receive said light pulses; and

a calculating unit to disambiguate an intended one of the plurality of keypad characters, based on a pattern of light pulses emitted by the emitting units that are shadowed by a pointer, as determined from outputs of the receiving units, wherein the pattern of shadowed light pulses substantially completely covers more than one displayed keypad character, by determining which of the displayed keypad characters are substantially completely shadow-covered, and by selecting an appropriate one of the substantially completely shadow-covered displayed keypad characters.

2. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that the light pulse emitting units and the light pulse receiving units are orientated adjacent said display unit such as to send and receive the light pulses in directions perpendicular to, or at least generally perpendicular to, a planar surface on the display unit;

and in that mutually opposing light pulse deflecting devices are placed close to the display unit.

3. A touch screen according to claim 1, further comprising a printed circuit board comprising electronic circuits adapted to the mobile telephone, and carrying said light pulse emitting units and said light pulse receiving units.

4. A touch screen according to claim 3, further comprising a telephone casing, wherein said printed circuit board is fastened to a part of the telephone casing.

5. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that said light pulse emitting units and said light pulse receiving units are connected to respective pulse generating circuits and to pulse receiving circuits.

6. A touch screen according to claim 1, further comprising mutually opposing light pulse deflecting devices comprised of a number of mirror surfaces.

7. A touch screen according to claim 1, further comprising mutually opposing light pulse deflecting devices comprised of mirror units, that have mirror surfaces orientated at 45 degrees in relation to a light pulse propagation direction from said light pulse emitting units.

8. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that said light pulse emitting units and said light pulse receiving units are orientated in opposing rows and columns and in mutually perpendicular orientations, wherein the distance between said units only slightly exceeds the dimensions allocated to said display unit.

9. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that the calculating unit disambiguates the intended keypad character as being a character displayed between locations on said display unit representative of the pattern of shadowed pulses.

10. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that said light pulse emitting units are activated, via associated pulse generating circuits, in a predetermined order and during selected time slots;

and in that the corresponding pulse detecting circuits are also activated in said predetermined order and during said selected time slots.

11. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that a plurality of light pulse emitting units send light pulses consecutively during a selected time duration;

and in that one light pulse receiving unit is adapted to receive the emitted light pulses during said selected time duration.

12. A touch screen according to claim 1, characterised in that a plurality of light pulse receiving units are adapted to receive consecutively emitted light pulses from a light pulse emitting unit during a selected time duration.

13. A touch screen according to claim 1, wherein at least one substantially completely shadow-covered keypad character is farther away from a designated edge of said display unit than at least one other substantially completely shadow-covered keypad character, and wherein said calculating unit selects an appropriate one of the at least one farther substantially completely shadow-covered keypad characters.

14. A touch screen for a mobile telephone, comprising:

a display unit on which a plurality of keypad characters are displayed;

a number of light pulse emitting units;

a number of light pulse receiving units, characterised in that the light pulse emitting units and light pulse receiving units are orientated adjacent said display unit such as to send and receive the light pulses in directions perpendicular to, or at least generally perpendicular to, a planar surface on the display unit;

mutually opposing light pulse deflecting devices placed close to the display unit, wherein said light deflecting devices transmit light pulses through cover related sections; and

a calculating unit configured to disambiguate an intended one of the plurality of keypad characters, based on a pattern of light pulses shadowed by a pointer, as determined from outputs of the receiving units, wherein the pattern of shadowed light pulses substantially completely covers more than one displayed keypad character, by determining which of the displayed keypad characters are substantially completely shadow-covered, and by selecting an appropriate one of the substantially completely shadow-covered displayed keypad characters.

15. A touch screen according to claim 14, further comprising a casing for the mobile telephone, the casing comprising a rim for covering said light pulse deflecting devices, and being made of a transparent material.

16. A touch screen according to claim 14, characterised in that the material of said planar surface is transparent for IR-radiation.

17. A touch screen according to claim 14, wherein said light pulse deflecting devices are disposed along the edge of a raised rim, for co-action with a replaceable lid or cover, wherein said raised rim co-acts with a transparent protective plastic or glass sheet.

18. A touch screen according to claim 14, wherein at least one substantially completely shadow-covered keypad character is farther away from a designated edge of said display unit than at least one other substantially completely shadow-covered keypad character, and wherein said calculating unit selects an appropriate one of the at least one farther substantially completely shadow-covered keypad characters.