Patent Application
20090073134
This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง 119(a) on Patent Application No. 096134844, filed in Taiwan on Sep. 19, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1.Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a touch screen, and more particularly, to a dual-mode touch screen of a portable apparatus.
2. Background of the Invention
Along with the improvement of the semi-conductor technology, the mobile phone becomes smaller and more convenient for a user to carry.
Although the small size of the mobile phone is the current market trend, a mobile phone with a big-size screen is convenient for a user to easily review the images and characters. For this purpose, the designer of a mobile phone usually removes a group of keys from the phone to get enough room for a bigger size screen. Thus, a touch panel is equipped on the screen of the mobile phone, and a virtual keyboard can be displayed on the screen of the mobile phone for a user to operate with fingers or stylus for replacing the removed physical keys. When a virtual key of the virtual keyboard on the screen of the mobile phone is selected, a function such as making a phone call or opening a document can be executed correspondingly.
The touch screen of a mobile device generally can be classified into two types, i.e., the resistive type touch screen and the capacitive type touch screen. The resistive type touch screen is now a commonly used technology, and the principle of which is to calculate the coordinates according to the voltage drop. The X-axis and the Y-axis are separately driven by a pair of 0-5V voltage. When the resistive touch panel (screen) is touched or pressed, the circuit of the resistive touch panel becomes a closed loop, and then a voltage drop is generated. According to the proportion of the generated voltage drop, a controller of the resistive touch panel can calculate the coordinates. Compared with the resistive type touch screen, the capacitive type touch screen is totally different and is much simpler in structure. Basically, the capacitive type touch screen has an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) conductive glass. By discharging the ITO conductive glass in the four corners thereof, there will be an even-distributed electric field established on the surface of the ITO conductive glass. When the glass is touched by any conductive matter such as human fingers, a small amount of current on the ITO conductive glass is absorbed. The controller of capacitive touch screen will measure the proportion of the absorbed current to calculate the value of X-axis and Y-axis.
Because those two types of touch screen are separately used in different mobile devices, none of the prior art disclose an apparatus or a method using these two types of touch screen simultaneously in a single touch screen.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a dual-mode touch panel for use on a screen of a mobile device, includes: a substrate; a first touch panel, attached to a first side of the substrate; and a second touch panel, attached to a second side of the substrate
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a dual-mode touch panel for a display screen of a mobile device, includes: a substrate; a resistive touch panel, attached to a first side of the substrate; and a capacitive touch panel, attached to a second side of the substrate.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method for operating a dual-mode touch screen includes determining whether the first touch panel or the second touch panel is activated; if it is determined that the first touch panel is activated, showing at least one icon corresponding to the first touch panel on the first touch panel; and executing a function of the at least one icon corresponding to the first touch panel; and if it is determined that the second touch panel is activated, showing at least one icon corresponding to the second touch panel on the second touch panel; and executing a function of the at least one icon corresponding to the second touch panel.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus with dual-mode touch panel, includes a first touch panel for generating a voltage drop; a first controller electrically connected to the first touch panel for calculating a value of a coordinate axis according to the voltage drop; a second touch panel for generating a change of capacitance; a second controller electrically connected to the first touch panel for calculating the value of the coordinate axis according to the change of the capacitance; and a multiplexer, electrically connected to the first and second controller, for receiving a first signal from the first controller and a second signal from the second controller and selectively outputting one of the first and second signals to a processing system.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals will be used to identify the same or similar -elements throughout the several views. It should be noted that the drawings should be viewed in the direction of orientation of the reference numerals.
Referring to
The second touch panel 3 is a capacitive touch panel, attached on the other side of the substrate 1. A flexible wire 31 such as Flat Flexible Cable (FFC) is electrically connected to the second touch panel 3 and the main circuit board of the mobile device (not shown), for transmitting the signal of the second touch panel 3 to the main circuit board for processing.
Referring to
When a user switches the display mode to the small icon mode, the screen 44 will display the small icons 6 as shown in
Referring to
When the user presses the transparent protective film 42 with a stylus to select one of the small icons 6, the first touch panel 2 is used to sense the pressure and then generates a signal for processing. Through the flexible conductive wires 21 of the first touch panel 2, the signal can be transmitted to the main circuit board of the mobile device, and then a function of the selected small icon 6 can be executed or displayed.
The first touch panel 2, e.g., a resistive touch panel, can be pressed to generate a voltage drop. The first controller 22, electrically connected to the first touch panel 2, can calculate the value of the coordinate according to the voltage drop.
The second touch panel 3, e.g., a capacitive touch panel, can be touched to generate a change of capacitance. The quantity of the transparent electric charge on the surface of the ITO conductive glass can be changed because the transparent electric charge can be neutralized by the static electricity of the fingers of the user.
The second controller 32, electrically connected to the second touch panel 3, can calculate the value of coordinate axis according to the change of the current value caused by the change of the capacitance.
The multiplexer 7 is electrically connected to the first controller 22 and the second controller 32. The multiplexer 7 can receive more than one signal, and only outputs one signal at a time. Therefore, when the signals from the first controller 22 and the second controller 32 are transmitted to the multiplexer 7, the multiplexer 7 will selectively output one of the signals from the first controller 22 and the second controller 32.
When receiving the signal of the first touch panel 2, the operating system 8 of the mobile device 4 can show at least one icon on the first touch panel 2 or execute a function corresponding to the icon. On the contrary, when receiving the signal of the second controller 32, the operating system 8 of the mobile device 4 can show at least one icon on the second touch panel 3 or execute a function corresponding to the icon.
First, in step 100, the mobile device is in the standby mode.
In step 102, it is determined that whether the touch panel is activated. If the touch panel is not activated, the mobile device keeps in the standby mode. If the touch panel is activated, the process goes to step 104.
In step 104, it is determined whether the first touch panel 2 or the second touch panel 3 is activated. If the first touch panel 2 is activated, the process goes to step 106 for transmitting the signal of the first touch panel 2 to the main circuit board of the mobile device 4, and then the process goes to step 108. In step 108, the operating system 8 of the mobile device 4 can show at least one icon corresponding to the first touch panel 2 on the first touch panel 2 so that a function corresponding to the at least one icon on the first touch panel 2 can be executed if selected by the user.
On the other hand, if the second touch panel 3 is activated, the process goes to step 110 for transmitting the signal of the second panel 3 to the main circuit board of the mobile device, and then the process goes to step 112. In step 112, the operating system 8 of the mobile device 4 can show at least one icon corresponding to the second touch panel 3 on the second touch panel 3 so that a function corresponding to the at least one icon on the second touch panel 3 can be executed if selected by the user.
It should be noted that the first touch panel 2 and the second touch panel 3 can also be activated simultaneously to respectively show at least one icon corresponding to the first touch panel 2 and at least one icon corresponding to the second touch panel 3 at the same time, as shown in
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 096134844 | Sep 2007 | TW | national |
