Touch sensitive device casing
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device comprising:
- at least one wall of a device casing;
at least one acoustic discontinuity on an inside of the at least one wall configured to reflect an ultrasonic acoustic signal and defining, in part, at least one touch sensitive region that is a sub-region of at least one surface; and
at least one piezoelectric transducer coupled to the at least one wall and defining, in part, the at least one touch sensitive region, the at least one piezoelectric transducer being configured to induce the ultrasonic acoustic signal in the at least one wall and receive a reflected ultrasonic acoustic signal;
wherein an occurrence and location of a touch incident on the at least one surface is determined by analyzing the reflected ultrasonic acoustic signal received by the at least one piezoelectric transducer.
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Abstract
A device is disclosed, comprising: at least one surface of a device casing, at least one acoustic discontinuity on the at least one surface configured to reflect an ultrasonic acoustic signal, at least one piezoelectric transducer coupled to the at least one surface, configured to induce the ultrasonic acoustic signal in the at least one surface and receive a reflected ultrasonic acoustic signal, wherein an occurrence and location of a touch incident on the at least one surface is determined by analyzing the reflected ultrasonic acoustic signal received by the piezoelectric transducer.
28 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device comprising:
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at least one wall of a device casing; at least one acoustic discontinuity on an inside of the at least one wall configured to reflect an ultrasonic acoustic signal and defining, in part, at least one touch sensitive region that is a sub-region of at least one surface; and at least one piezoelectric transducer coupled to the at least one wall and defining, in part, the at least one touch sensitive region, the at least one piezoelectric transducer being configured to induce the ultrasonic acoustic signal in the at least one wall and receive a reflected ultrasonic acoustic signal; wherein an occurrence and location of a touch incident on the at least one surface is determined by analyzing the reflected ultrasonic acoustic signal received by the at least one piezoelectric transducer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A mobile device comprising:
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at least one wall of a device casing; at least one acoustic discontinuity on an inside of the at least one wall configured to reflect a flexural acoustic signal and defining, in part, at least one touch sensitive region that is a sub-region of at least one surface; and at least one piezoelectric transducer coupled to the at least one wall and defining, in part, the at least one touch sensitive region, the at least one piezoelectric transducer being configured to induce the flexural acoustic signal in the at least one wall and receive a reflected acoustic signal; wherein an occurrence and location of a touch incident on an outside surface of the at least one wall is determined by analyzing the reflected acoustic signal received by the at least one piezoelectric transducer. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method, comprising:
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inducing ultrasonic acoustic waves in a device casing via at least one piezoelectric transducer coupled to at least one wall of the device casing, the at least one piezoelectric transducer defining, in part, at least one touch sensitive region that is a sub-region of at least one surface; receiving the ultrasonic acoustic waves reflected from acoustic discontinuities of the device at the at least one piezoelectric transducer, at least one acoustic discontinuity defining, in part, the at least one touch sensitive region; analyzing the received ultrasonic acoustic waves; determining whether a touch incident has occurred on the at least one surface based on the analysis of the received ultrasonic acoustic waves so performed; and when the touch incident has occurred, determining its location.
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Specification