Multipoint touchscreen

• US 9,454,277 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2015
• Issued: 09/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Hotelling, Steve, Strickon, Joshua A., Huppi, Brian Q.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIMNHUNG T
• Application Number:
  US14/670,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20150199053A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-179, 178 1801- 1804
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• 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

Abstract

A touch panel having a transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time and at distinct locations in the plane of the touch panel and to produce distinct signals representative of the location of the touches on the plane of the touch panel for each of the multiple touches is disclosed.

Claims

1. A touch panel comprising a transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at a same time and at distinct locations in a plane of the touch panel and to produce distinct signals representative of a location of the touches on the plane of the touch panel for each of the multiple touches, the touch panel configured to allow a display to be viewed therethrough, wherein the transparent capacitive sensing medium comprises:

a first layer having a plurality of transparent first conductive lines that are electrically isolated from one another; and

a second layer spatially separated from the first layer and having a plurality of transparent second conductive lines that are electrically isolated from one another, the second conductive lines being positioned transverse to the first conductive lines, the intersection of transverse lines being positioned at different locations in the plane of the touch panel, each of the second conductive lines being operatively coupled to capacitive monitoring circuitry;

wherein the capacitive monitoring circuitry is configured to detect changes in charge coupling between the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines.

2. The touch panel as recited in claim 1 wherein the conductive lines on each of the layers are substantially parallel to one another.

3. The touch panel as recited in claim 2 wherein the conductive lines on different layers are substantially perpendicular to one another.

4. The touch panel as recited in claim 1 wherein the transparent first conductive lines of the first layer are disposed on a first member, and wherein the transparent second conductive lines of the second layer are disposed on a second member, the first member being disposed over the second member.

5. The touch panel as recited in claim 4 further including a third member disposed over the first member, the first and second members being attached to one another via an adhesive layer, the third member being attached to the first member via another adhesive layer.

6. The touch panel as recited in claim 1 wherein the conductive lines are formed from indium tin oxide (ITO).

7. The touch panel as recited in claim 1, wherein the capacitive sensing medium is a mutual capacitance sensing medium.

8. The touch panel as recited in claim 1, the transparent capacitive sensing medium formed on both sides of a single substrate.

9. A display arrangement comprising:

a display having a screen for displaying a graphical user interface; and

a transparent touch panel allowing the screen to be viewed therethrough and capable of recognizing multiple touch events that occur at different locations on the touch panel at a same time and to output this information to a host device to form a pixilated image;

wherein the touch panel includes a multipoint sensing arrangement configured to simultaneously detect and monitor the touch events and a change in capacitive coupling associated with those touch events at distinct points across the touch panel; and

wherein the touch panel comprises;

a first member disposed over the screen of the display;

a first transparent conductive layer disposed over the first member, the first transparent conductive layer comprising a plurality of spaced apart parallel lines having the same pitch and linewidths;

a second member disposed over the first transparent conductive layer;

a second transparent conductive layer disposed over the second member, the second transparent conductive layer comprising a plurality of spaced apart parallel lines having the same pitch and linewidths, the parallel lines of the second transparent conductive layer being substantially perpendicular to the parallel lines of the first transparent conductive layer;

a third member disposed over the second transparent conductive layer; and

one or more sensor integrated circuits operatively coupled to the lines.

10. The display arrangement as recited in claim 9 further including dummy features disposed in the space between the parallel lines, the dummy features optically improving the visual appearance of the touch screen by more closely matching the optical index of the lines.