The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for data input and, more specifically, to methods and apparatus for data input to computers and other electronic instruments.
Pointing devices are common touch sensitive input devices for computers, laptops, cell phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and other electronic devices. Users may employ a pointing device, such as a mouse, trackball, track point, touchpad, or touch screen, to move a cursor on the screen to make selections.
Nestled between the G, H, and B keys on many laptop computers is a pointing stick. The pointing stick, often referred to as “the little red button”, may be used for moving a mouse pointer with an index finger. A TrackPoint® device consists of the pointing stick and three buttons, which are situated at the center, below the space bar, and may be pushed with a thumb. The left button and right button may correspond to a left and right mouse button. When a user moves the pointing stick while pushing the center button below the space bar, a scroll function may be activated.
A typical touchpad consists of one touch sensor and two buttons that are situated below the touch sensor. Touchpads offer a promise of having a spatial correspondence to the surface of the computer screen, so as the finger moves around the touchpad, the cursor or pointer on the screen moves correspondingly to a new position.
In recent years, “click touchpad” or “click pad” technology has been developed which allows touchpads, touch screens, and other touch sensors to provide tactile feedback by being at least partially depressible or “clickable.” The “click” may be purely tactile feedback or may be used to generate a signal that is used by the electronic system in which the click pad is installed.
Therefore, it can be seen that there is a continuing need for improvements in input devices, including those using click pad technology. In particular, there is a need for a better user experience with a simple looking and economical input device.
In one aspect, an input device comprises a touchpad having a touch sensitive surface, wherein the touch sensitive surface has a first end and a second end; and a hinge disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the touchpad is pivotably connected to the hinge to allow displacement of the touchpad from a flat position to an activate position at the first end when a force is applied to the first end of the touch surface.
In another aspect, an input device comprises a base plate; a touchpad having a touch sensitive surface; and a plurality of tension bars sandwiched between the base plate and the planar plate, wherein the tension bars biases the planar plate to a flat position.
In a further aspect, a computing system comprises a computing device capable of receiving, processing, and outputting data; and an input device adapted to send data to the computing device in order to perform an action in the computing device, wherein the input device comprises: a touchpad coupled to the computing device by a hinge and configured to generate touching signals; and a movement indicator configured to generate a button signal when the touchpad is depressed.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles, since the scope of the embodiments is best defined by the appended claims.
Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.
Broadly, exemplary embodiments may comprise an input device, such as a touchpad, for example, which may be used for various models or designs of electronic devices, such as a notebook PC, a smart phone, a cell phone, and a personal digital assistant, for example. More specifically, exemplary embodiments provide alternatives to an existing click pad by adding a hinge at a center of the touchpad. Exemplary embodiments optimize the user-friendliness of communications devices from a tactile input perspective. Additional input points and options enable complex applications of functions otherwise impractical for computing devices. In exemplary embodiments, the centered horizontal hinge may be used to support a touchpad, by eliminating buttons for convenience of multi-gesture input.
Exemplary embodiments may include a plurality of tension bars to resiliently support the touchpad in a flat position. Exemplary embodiments may further include a plurality of switches disposed under the touchpad. Through contact of an object, such as a user's finger, on the touchpad, the switches may be pressed to make contact with a base plate under the touchpad. When the object moves away from the touchpad, the tension bars may bias the touchpad back to the flat position. Two opposite ends of the touchpad may move up and down like a see-saw pivoted on the horizontal hinge. One end of the touchpad may be delineated into TrackPoint® button zones. Another end of the touchpad may be delineated into touchpad button zones. By using the combination of hinges, switches, and tension bars, exemplary embodiments may provide a user-friendly, economical, and simple-looking input device.
Still referring to
The keyboard 16 may further include a pointing stick 24, which is used for moving a mouse pointer with an object, such as an index finger. The notebook PC 10 may further include an input device adapted to send data to the notebook PC 10 in order to perform an action in the notebook PC 10. The input device may be a flat touchpad 30, for example.
Referring to
The touchpad 30 may be connected to the notebook PC 10 by the hinge 38, which may be disposed in the bottom case 11. The hinge 38 may be parallel to a first end 32 or a second end 34 in such way that the hinge 38 may allow displacement of the touchpad 30 from a flat position to an activate position (to activate a button function) at the first end 32 when a force is applied to the first end 32 of the touch surface. The top cover 36 of the touchpad 30 may have touch sensitive surface.
One end of the top cover 36 may be delineated, for example, into three button zones, which includes a left button zone 40, a center button zone 42, and a right button zone 44. The other end of the top cover 36 may be delineated, for example, into two button zones, which include a left touchpad button zone 46, and a right touchpad button zone 48. By replacing physical buttons with button zones, an exemplary embodiment may create a depth 49 of the touchpad 30.
Referring to 2B, the button zones may represent regions of the touchpad that may be moved by a user to implement distinct button functions. The dotted lines represent areas of the touchpad 30 that make up an individual button zone. Any number of button zones may be used. For example, two, three, four, five, six, for example.
The touchpad 30, together with the pointing stick 24 may be useful for a variety of applications. The pointing stick 24, with the left button zone 40, the center button zone 42, and the right button zone 44, may enable cursor control, typically performed by a mouse. For example, the pointing stick 24 may be used for moving a mouse pointer with an index finger. The left button zone 40 may correspond to the left mouse button. The right button zone 44 may correspond to the right mouse button, with the center button zone 44 corresponding to a scroll wheel of the mouse button.
Other exemplary applications for such a combination of the pointing stick 24 and button zones may include vertical and horizontal scrolling, 3D rotation, document navigation, gaming applications, pressure sensitive input, and multi-degree of freedom input. Another application for use with the touchpad 30 may include computer control other than cursor control, such as finger-based gesture shortcuts for menu selections, e.g., drawing an “O” across the top cover 36 to do an “Open File” command or menu pick.
Referring to
The touchpad 30 may further include a plurality of movement indicators. The movement indicators may be any combination of switches, such as mechanical switches 54, and sensors. Switches are generally configured to provide pulsed or binary data such as activate (on) or deactivate (off). By way of example, an underside portion of the touchpad 30 may be configured to contact or engage (and thus activate) a switch when the user presses on touchpad 30. The sensors, on the other hand, are generally configured to provide continuous or analog data. By way of example, the sensor may be configured to measure the position or the amount of tilt of touchpad 30 relative the bottom case 11 when a user presses on the touchpad 30. Any suitable mechanical, electrical or optical switch or sensor may be used. For example, tact switches, force sensitive resistors, pressure sensors, proximity sensors and the like may be used.
At least one switch 54 may be disposed at a center of the first end 32 of the touchpad 30, with another switch 54 disposed at a center of the second end 34 of the touchpad 30. When a force is pressed to the first end 32 of the touchpad 30, the first end 32 of the touchpad 30 may move downward from a flat position as shown in
The click actions may be generally arranged to actuate one or more switches 54. That is, a particular button zone moving from the flat or neutral position to a depressed position may be caused to actuate a switch 54. The switch 54 may be configured to sense movements of the button zones and touch positions from the touchpad 30 during the clicking action and send an activating signal (such as an “ON” signal, for example) and signals corresponding to the movements to the electronic device. After receiving the activating signal, the electronic device may check the touch position. If the touch position corresponds to a left button zone 40, for example, the electronic device may make an event corresponding to the left button zone click.
As should be appreciated, the button functions generated by press on each button zone may include selecting an item on the screen, opening a file or document, executing instructions, starting a program, viewing a menu, and/or the like. The button functions may also include functions that make it easier to navigate through the electronic system, for example, zoom, scroll, open different menus, home the input pointer, perform keyboard related actions such as enter, delete, insert, page up/down, and the like.
When an object, such as a finger, for example, moves away from the top cover 36, the tension bar 56 biases the first end 32 of the touchpad 30 back to the flat position.
Similarly, when a force is applied to the second end 34 of the touchpad 30, the second end 34 of the touchpad 30 may move downward from the flat position as shown in
It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relate to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country |
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Entry |
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Synaptics, Inc., “ClickPad”, http//www.synaptics.com/solutions/products/clickpad, 2004-2011, pp. 1-3. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20130050099 A1 | Feb 2013 | US |