System and methods for raised touch screens

• US 8,717,326 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2013
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tactus Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tactus Technology Inc.
• Inventors: Ciesla, Craig M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): MARINELLI, PATRICK
• Application Number:
  US14/014,014
• Publication Number:
  US 20130342466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 250 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184, 345/104, 178 1801- 2004, 434112-117
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04809 Textured surface identifying touch areas, e.g. overlay structure for a virtual keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0202 Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers

Abstract

A touch sensitive display assembly includes a touch screen and a button array. The touch screen is configured to display one or more input keys. The button array includes one or more buttons corresponding to the one or more input keys. The button array is formed by a substrate attached to a button membrane thereby creating a set of button cavities corresponding to the input keys. The button cavities are configured to be inflated and deflated by a pump coupled to a fluid reservoir. The cavities can be inflated/deflated together, in subsets, and/or individually. In some embodiments, the button array is sandwiched between a touch sensing layer and a display of the touch screen. In other embodiments, the button array can be located either above or below the touch screen.

Claims

1. A user interface system comprising:

an elastic membrane comprising a deformable region and a peripheral region adjacent the deformable region;

a substrate coupled to the membrane along a perimeter of the deformable region, cooperating with the deformable region to define a cavity, and defining a fluid channel fluidly coupled to the cavity;

a tactile layer arranged over the membrane opposite the substrate, disconnected from the deformable region, and coupled to the membrane at an area outside of the perimeter of the deformable region;

a displacement device configured to displace fluid into the cavity via the fluid channel to transition the deformable region from a deflated setting into an inflated setting, the deformable region substantially flush with the peripheral region in the deflated setting and raised above the peripheral region in the inflated setting;

a display coupled to the substrate and configured to display an image proximal the deformable region;

a sensor arranged across the substrate opposite the membrane; and

a processor configured to detect an input on the tactile layer proximal the deformable region in response to an output of the sensor.

2. The user interface of claim 1, further comprising a reservoir configured to contain fluid, wherein the substrate further defines an inlet manifold and an exhaust manifold fluidly coupled to the fluid channel, and wherein the displacement device comprises an inflating pump and a deflating pump, wherein the inflating pump is configured to displace fluid from the reservoir into the cavity via the inlet manifold to transition the deformable region from the deflated setting into the inflated setting and wherein the deflating pump is configured to displace fluid from the cavity into the reservoir via the exhaust manifold to transition the deformable region from the inflated setting into the deflated setting.

3. The user interface of claim 2, further comprising a processor configured to activate the inflating pump for a pre-determined period of time to transition the deformable region from the deflated setting into the inflated setting, and wherein the processor is configured to activate the deflating pump for a pre-determined period of time to transition the deformable region from the inflated setting into the deflated setting.

4. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the deflating pump comprises a valve arranged between the exhaust manifold and the reservoir.

5. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the displacement device is configured to increase a fluid pressure within the cavity by approximately two-tenths pounds-per-square-inch to transition the deformable region from the deflated setting into the inflated setting.

6. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the displacement device is configured to displace approximately three-hundredths of one milliliter of fluid into the cavity to transition the deformable region from the deflated setting into the inflated setting.

7. The user interface of claim 1, wherein a surface of the tactile layer over the deformable region is raised above a surface of the peripheral region by approximately one millimeter in the inflated setting.

8. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the deformable region and the peripheral region define a planar surface in the deflated setting.

9. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the display is configured to display the image comprising an input key proximal the deformable region, and wherein the processor is configured to respond to the input based on the input key displayed proximal the deformable region.

10. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the sensor further comprises a pressure sensor coupled to the cavity.

11. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the membrane comprises a transparent silicone-based polymer.

12. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the display comprises a flexible display, wherein the membrane and the display are physically coextensive.

13. A user interface system comprising:

an elastic membrane comprising a first deformable region, a second deformable region, and a peripheral region adjacent the first deformable region and the second deformable region;

a substrate coupled to the membrane along a perimeter of the first deformable region and along a perimeter of the second deformable region, cooperating with the first deformable region to define a first cavity, cooperating with the second deformable region to define a second cavity, defining a first fluid channel fluidly coupled to the first cavity, and defining a second fluid channel fluidly coupled to the second cavity;

a tactile layer arranged over the membrane opposite the substrate, disconnected from the first deformable region and from the second deformable region, and coupled to the membrane at an area outside of the perimeter of the first deformable region and outside of the perimeter of the second deformable region;

a displacement device configured to displace fluid into the first cavity via the first fluid channel to transition the first deformable region from a deflated setting into an inflated setting, the first deformable region substantially flush with the peripheral region in the deflated setting and raised above the peripheral region in the inflated setting;

a display coupled to the substrate and configured to display a first image of a first input key proximal the first deformable region and a second image of a second input key proximal the second deformable region;

a sensor arranged across the substrate opposite the membrane; and

a processor configured to detect an input on the tactile layer proximal the deformable region in response to an output of the sensor.

14. The user interface of claim 13, wherein the first deformable region, the second deformable region, and the peripheral region define a substantially continuous surface across the membrane opposite the substrate.

15. The user interface of claim 13, further comprising a sensor and a processor, the sensor coupled to the substrate, the processor configured to discern a first input on the tactile layer adjacent the first deformable region and a second input on the tactile layer adjacent the second deformable region based on outputs of the sensor.

16. The user interface of claim 13, wherein the display is coupled to the substrate opposite the membrane, and wherein the substrate comprises a material of a refractive index substantially similar to a refractive index of fluid within the first cavity and the second cavity.

17. The user interface of claim 13, wherein the display is configured to display a keyboard comprising the first input key and the second input key, wherein the first deformable region defines a first three-dimensional button corresponding to the first input key and the second deformable region defines a second button three-dimensional corresponding to the second input key in the inflated setting.

18. The user interface of claim 13, wherein the displacement device is configured to substantially simultaneously transition the first deformable region and the second deformable region into the inflated settings, wherein the tactile layer is elevated off of a portion of the peripheral region when the first deformable region and the second deformable region are in the inflated settings.