Patent Application
20110267300
The present invention generally relates to a touchpad having a strip-shaped input area, i.e. an input area having a straight or curved main line of extension whose width orthogonal to this main line of extension is comparably small.
Input devices, in particular capacitive input devices, with strip-shaped input areas are well known in the technical field, e.g. from document U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,903. The latter discloses a strip-shaped capacitive touchpad, comprising a solid panel having a front surface facing an operator of the touchpad and a rear surface facing away from the operator, a plurality of detection electrodes disposed along a predefined geometric curve (e.g. a straight line or an annular curve) and applied to the rear surface of the panel. The emplacement of the operator's finger on the front surface of the panel at a point upon the detection electrode pattern causes an additional capacitance between a pair of adjacent detection electrodes or one detection electrode and ground, which can be measured and which the position of the operator's finger can be derived from. The detection electrodes are shown as being interdigitated with the respective neighbouring detection electrode or detection electrodes.
To move a cursor (also referred to as a pointer) or another visual indicator on a display screen associated to a touchpad, the user puts his or her finger on the operating surface (the surface corresponding to the input area of the touchpad, which is, in the above example on the front surface of the panel) and then slides the finger while keeping it in light touch with the operating surface. In laptop computers and other electronic appliances, touchpads are often associated with one or more buttons, which provide mouse-click functionality, e.g. for selecting a displayed object currently highlighted or pointed at on the display, drag-dropping a displayed object (by positioning the cursor or visual indicator on the object to be dragged, pressing the button and keeping the button pressed while moving the cursor to the desired location, then releasing the button for “dropping” the object), etc. The disadvantage of separate buttons is that the user needs both his or her hands to access the mouse-click functionality. Indeed, the user usually depresses the button with the forefinger of one hand while moving the cursor with the forefinger or the middle finger of the other hand.
In certain touchpads, such mouse-click functionality can also be emulated by tapping the operating surface with the finger. Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,327 describes that touchpads with such “tapping” function, make it possible with one finger to perform not only the above-mentioned “single-click” operations (selecting, dragging, etc.) but also “double-click” operations (opening a folder, starting an application, etc.). Dragging can be carried out on a touchpad by first putting the cursor upon the displayed object to be dragged (e.g. an icon or window), then tapping the input area surface once, placing the finger on the input area surface immediately after the tapping and sliding the finger on the surface, thereby causing the cursor to move on the screen. Some touchpads even provide for the so-called drag-lock functionality, so that the finger may be lifted from the input area surface (e.g. when reaching the border of the input area) without causing the touchpad to leave the dragging mode. The touchpad may, in particular, be configured to go into drag-lock mode if the user's finger has been moved a predefined minimum distance after the touchpad had been placed into dragging mode.
While some people have no difficulty in using the tapping functionality provided by touchpads, others deliberately switch it off (if this is possible and if they know how this can be done) and work with the associated buttons or keys because they otherwise would often unintentionally trigger the tapping functionality. Accordingly, there is still room for making touchpads user-friendlier. In this regard, differentiation between intentional and unintentional user action is of particular concern.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,338 mentions that mouse-clicks can be implemented by a switch responsive to downward pressure, positioned underneath a touch pad surface. Document US 2006/0232559 A1 discloses a capacitive touchpad with a physical key function, comprising a soft flexible first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and a soft flexible insulator layer disposed between the first and second conductive layers. The insulator layer has holes therein for the first conductive layer to connect to the second conductive layer while the touchpad is pressed and to thus trigger a predetermined key function.
The invention provides a user-friendlier touchpad, in which the above-mentioned drawbacks are reduced or eliminated.
A touchpad comprises a support element (e.g. a board, a plate, a sheet or a film), a cover (e.g. a board, a plate, a sheet or a film) having a first surface facing away from the support element and a second surface facing towards the support element. The cover is mounted in spaced relationship with respect to the support element in such a way that it spans over the support element in the input area while being depressible towards the support element by a force acting on the input area of the touchpad. According to the invention, a resistive trace is so arranged on the support element that it extends along the main line of extension of the input area and at least one terminal contacts the resistive trace at a particular point of the main line of extension of the input area. A set of detection electrodes (preferably detection electrodes having a resistivity of not more than 2 kΩ/square) is arranged on the second surface of the cover in facing relationship with the resistive trace (having a resistivity of preferably not more than 100 μM/square, more preferably not more than 10 kΩ/square, and still more preferably between 2 and 10 kΩ/square). The detection electrodes are configured and arranged, e.g. individually connectable to an evaluation circuit, for capacitively detecting a position of a user's finger or stylus when the user's finger or stylus is in proximity of or in light touch with the first surface of the cover, and for resistively detecting a position of a user's finger or stylus when the user's finger or stylus depresses the cover and so brings at least one of the detection electrodes into electrical contact with the resistive trace. Those skilled will note that if the user uses a stylus to operate the touchpad, the tip of the stylus has to be configured such that it capacitively couples to the detection electrodes. This is the case, for instance, for a conductive stylus (e.g. a metal stylus). As it will be apparent for those skilled in the art, the support element preferably comprises an insulating, mechanically substantially rigid plate or a combination of a mechanically substantially rigid base plate and an insulating sheet or film on the side of the base plate facing the cover.
Those skilled will appreciate that the function of the detection electrodes on the second surface of the cover is twofold. On the one hand, when the cover is not depressed, the detection electrodes are electrically isolated from the resistive trace and they may be used for detecting the position of the user's finger or stylus by suitable capacitance measurements or by measurements of any quantity from which the capacitance could be derived. On the other hand, when the user depresses the cover with sufficient force, some (or all, depending on the configuration) of the detection electrodes are put into electrical contact with the resistive trace. The position of the user's finger can thus be determined e.g. by applying a potential gradient through the resistive trace and detecting the voltage resulting on the detection electrodes on the cover, or by measuring the resistance between a terminal contacting the resistive trace and the detection electrodes.
The touchpad according to the invention may therefore be operated in two different ways and thus unites two input devices in a single one. Different actions may result from operating the touchpad, depending on whether the user's finger or stylus touches the operating surface lightly (i.e. without causing the cover to be pressed onto the support element) or hardly (i.e. so as to cause the cover to be pressed onto the support element). Nevertheless, the present invention eliminates the need for providing separate detection electrodes for the capacitive measurement and the resistive measurement, which leads to a simplified touchpad structure and saves production costs.
It shall be noted that a great variety of methods of capacitive measurement is known in the art. The most common ones of these methods include current-versus-voltage phase shift measurement, charging time measurement, the so-called charge transfer technique (wherein the capacitor being sensed is cyclically switched to a voltage source and to a summing capacitor, so that the charge on the summing capacitor increases with each cycle, and wherein the number of cycles or the time necessary to reach a predefined charge or voltage on the summing capacitor is determined), the so-called relaxation oscillator method (wherein the capacitor being sensed is connected to a current source so that the voltage on the capacitor increases with time, the voltage of the capacitor is fed to a comparator, which goes high for a time period having a certain minimum duration and closes a switch which resets the capacitor voltage to ground; the frequency of the peaks in the comparator output indicates the capacitance), and many more. Detection circuits for measuring capacitance are commercially available, e.g. from Cypress, Quantum Research Group, etc.
The touchpad of the present invention is preferably a one-dimensional touchpad, in the sense that the touchpad preferably detects only the position of the user's finger or stylus on the main line of extension of the input area while it does not detect the offset of the user's finger or stylus perpendicular from the main line of extension. Those skilled will note, however, that by suitably arranging the detection electrodes and providing additional terminals contacting the resistive trace, the touchpad could be carried out as a two-dimensional touchpad, in the sense that such a touchpad detects not only the position of the user's finger or stylus on the main line of extension of the input area but also the offset of the user's finger or stylus perpendicular from the main line of extension. Alternatively, a plurality of one-dimensional touchpads capable of sensing the position in a first direction could be arranged adjacent to one another in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
The resistive trace of the touchpad may be provided as a continuous resistive strip or, alternatively, as an arrangement of serially interconnected resistive spots or patches. If the resistive trace is a continuous strip, the outputted position of the finger or stylus may vary continuously; if, however, the resistive trace comprises several resistive spots or patches, there is some quantization of the output position as a function of the true position of the finger or stylus. Preferably, the density of such serially interconnected resistive spots or patches is chosen sufficiently high to avoid jumps in the output position when the true position is continuously varied. Preferably, the detection electrodes of the cover are also arranged in such a way that the capacitive coupling between the individual detection electrodes and the user's finger or stylus also varies substantially without jumps as the finger or stylus moves continuously (e.g. at constant speed) over the operating surface.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the main line of extension of the input area and the resistive trace form a closed geometrical line (e.g. a rectangle, a circle, an ellipse or the like). If there are at least two terminals, the locations where the at least two terminals contact the resistive trace, respectively, are disposed at intervals (preferably regular ones) along the resistive trace.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the main line of extension of the input area and the resistive trace form an open straight or curved line with a first end and a second end. If there is a single terminal, it preferably contacts the resistive trace either at the first or the second end, so that when a detection electrode is brought into contact with the resistive trace, the resistance measured between that detection electrode and the terminal indicates the distance between the point of contact and the end of the resistive trace. If there are at least two terminals contacting the resistive trace, at least two of these are preferably disposed at the first and second ends of the resistive trace, respectively. By applying a potential gradient between the terminals at the first and second ends, through the resistive trace, and measuring the voltage that results on a detection electrode when is put into contact with the resistive trace, one can determine the point where the electrical contact occurred on the resistive trace.
Those skilled will appreciate that the minimum force or pressure for establishing an initial contact between the detection electrodes and the resistive trace depends on various parameters, such as e.g. the geometry of the input area (width, length, shape, etc.), the configuration of the spacer or spacers that mount the cover on the support element (in terms of compressibility, height, etc.), as well as the configuration of the cover. For a given geometry and spacer arrangement, the rigidity of the cover is preferably chosen such that the initial contact between the detection electrodes and the resistive trace is established for a load comprised in the range from 50-500 g (corresponding to about 0.5-5 N), more preferably in the range from 100-500 g, and still more preferably in the range from 100-300 g. Those skilled will appreciate that this “hard touch threshold” lies well above the loads that need to be applied for the capacitive sensing. Indeed, reliable capacitive detection of the user's finger or stylus is possible even when the user holds the finger immediately above the operating surface. Typically, the user of a touchpad applies a load in the range from 5-20 g, which is sufficient for obtaining a certain tactile feedback when operating the touchpad. The above hard touch threshold being well above these values, unintentionally exceeding the hard touch threshold is seldom.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the resistive traces and the set of detection electrodes comprises a pressure-sensitive layer arranged thereon in facing relationship with the other one of resistive trace and the set of detection electrodes. Those skilled will note that the presence of a pressure-sensitive layer (i.e. a layer whose transversal resistance gradually decreases when pressure applied thereon increases) makes it possible to determine also the amount of pressure the user exerts on the input area.
The touchpad preferably comprises a detection circuit configured and arranged for operating in a first and a second mode of detection, the first mode of detection being associated to the capacitive measurement and the second mode of detection being associated to the resistive measurement. While in the first mode of detection, the detection circuit measures quantities indicative of capacitive coupling between the detection electrodes and a user's finger or
stylus and outputs the position of a user's finger or stylus based upon these quantities. While in the second mode of detection, the detection circuit measures quantities indicative of resistive coupling between the detection electrodes and the at least two terminals and outputs the position of a user's finger or stylus based upon the quantities indicative of resistive coupling. For the purposes of the present, a “quantity indicative of capacitive coupling” can be any measurable physical quantity that is linked to the capacitance between an individual one of the detection electrodes and the user's finger or stylus or between a pair of (preferably adjacent) detection electrodes, via the user's finger or stylus. Furthermore, for the purposes of the present, a “quantity indicative of resistive coupling” can be any measurable physical quantity that is linked to the resistance between an individual one of the detection electrodes and an individual one of the terminals contacting the resistive trace. The term “resistive coupling” has been chosen mainly for symmetry reasons, in order to summarise the fact that in the second mode of detection, the detection circuit measures parameters of possible resistive current paths between the detection electrodes and the terminals contacting the resistive trace.
The detection circuit might operate as follows. When operating in the first mode of detection reveals that one or more of the detection electrodes are in contact with the resistive trace, the detection circuit switches to the second mode of operation and determines the position of the activation by the resistive measurements. When operating in the second mode of detection reveals that there is no contact between the detection electrodes and the resistive trace, the detection circuit switches to the first mode of detection and determines the position of the activation by the capacitive measurements. If the detection circuit is so implemented that it cannot determine, while in the first mode of detection, whether the detection electrodes are in contact with the resistive trace or not, the detection circuit may periodically be switched to the second mode of detection to check this. Unless this check reveals that there is indeed a contact, the first mode of detection may be resumed.
More preferably, the detection circuit cyclically carries out the steps of detecting whether the cover is depressed or not; if it is detected that
the cover is not depressed, switching to the first detection mode; if it is detected that the cover is depressed, switching to the second detection mode and outputting the position determined and an indication whether the position determined in the first detection mode or in the second detection mode.
Preferably, the detection circuit outputs, while in operation, a status flag indicating whether a currently outputted position of a user's finger or stylus is based on quantities indicative of capacitive coupling or on quantities indicative of resistive coupling. This is advantageous, in particular, if the detection circuit outputs the position information over a channel common to both the capacitive and the resistive measurements. Such a status flag may be any kind of signal understandable by an electronic appliance of which the touchpad may be a component or which the touchpad may communicate with. The status flag may, for instance be provided over a wire or lead separate from the wire(s) or lead(s) used for outputting the position information. Alternatively, when such flag is transmitted over the same wire(s) or lead(s) as the position information, each individual piece of position information may comprise its individual flag indicating the origin of the position information.
Alternatively, the detection circuit could have two (physical or virtual) channels for outputting the “capacitive” position information and the “resistive” position information, respectively. It may then be up to the electronic appliance in communication with the touchpad to determine which information is currently meaningful.
An electronic appliance (e.g. a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a media player, a household appliance, a car appliance, a navigation system, etc.) comprising a touchpad according to the present invention is preferably configured and arranged for operating in a first and a second input modes causing different responses of the electronic appliance to the position of a user's finger or stylus outputted by the detection circuit. Whether the first or the second input mode is active depends on whether at least one of the detection electrodes is in contact with the resistive trace or not. In the first input mode, the electronic appliance is responsive to the position of a user's finger or stylus
outputted by the detection circuit based upon the quantities indicative of capacitive coupling, whereas, in the second input mode, the electronic appliance is responsive to the position of a user's finger or stylus outputted by the detection circuit based upon the quantities indicative of resistive coupling. Those skilled will appreciate that various responses of the electronic appliance may be associated to the different input modes. Preferably, if the electronic appliance comprises a display screen and a display controller for controlling the display screen, the display controller indicates on the display screen whether the electronic appliance is in the first or the second input mode. For instance, the appearance of a cursor may vary according to the input mode, a visual control element may appear, etc.
Advantageously, the first input mode may comprise at least one of a pointing mode and a scrolling mode, and wherein the second input mode comprises at least one of a selecting mode and a drag-and-drop mode. Those skilled will appreciate that the invention is especially useful in an electronic appliance in which the touchpad and the display are separate, e.g. in a laptop computer. Indeed, when using such appliances, the operator often has to first move the cursor or visual indicator to the desired location, before he can choose another action by clicking a button or tapping. If the touchpad according to the present invention is used, the operator may move the cursor or visual indicator by lightly touching the operating surface and moving the finger thereon. When the cursor is in the desired location, the second action may be initiated by depressing the cover of the touchpad. Drag-dropping may be considerably simplified since appliance can be so configured that the operator may move a selected item to another location by keeping the cover depressed when moving his or her finger or stylus.
Of course, the touchpad of the present invention may be used as the touch-sensitive input device of a touch-screen. However, since on a touchscreen it is normally not necessary to move a cursor to an item to be selected (instead, the operator directly puts his or her finger or stylus to the desired location), the provision of two different input modes may be less useful, in general, than in the case the touchpad and the display screen are separate
from one another. Notwithstanding that, there might be touch-screen applications, where the touchpad of the present invention would be greatly appreciated.
If the electronic appliance comprises an audio output and an audio controller for converting audio files into audio signals for the audio output, the first input mode preferably comprises one of (a) a volume adjustment mode for enabling a user of adjusting a sound volume by moving his/her finder or stylus and (b) a search mode for moving forward or backward through the audio files, whereas the second input mode comprises the other one of the volume adjustment mode and the search mode.
As shall be appreciated, the support element, the cover, the one or more spacers, the detection electrodes, the resistive trace, the terminals and/or any other components of the touchpad discussed herein may be made of or comprise parts of transparent, semi-transparent or translucent material(s), in such a way that the touchpad may be back-illuminated and/or positioned on top of a display screen.
Further details and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of several not limiting embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:
Touchpad 10 of
Each one of
When the user brings his or her finger 22 into close proximity with or in light touch with the operating surface, the touchpad measures the capacitive coupling of the individual detection electrodes with the finger 22 and evaluates these measurements so as to derive the position of the finger 22 with respect to the detection electrodes. As the user moves his or her finger 22 on the operating surface along the main line of extension of the input area 24 while exerting no or little force (e.g. below 50 g) onto the cover plate 14 (
As the user increases the pressure on the cover plate 14, the latter eventually bends and is depressed onto the support plate 12, whereby one or
more of the detection electrodes 18 come into electrical contact with the resistive trace 20 (
As the user then moves his or her finger 22 along the input area while keeping the cover plate 14 depressed (
When the user lifts his finger 22 (
When the user's finger (or stylus) is in proximity with the interdigitated detection electrodes (e.g. lightly touches the cover plate), the detection electrodes 18 capacitively couple to the finger or stylus. The capacitance of the capacitor formed by a detection electrode 18 and the finger or stylus depends on how much of the area of the detection electrode is in close vicinity of the finger or stylus. Accordingly, if the user moves his or her finger to the left (in
The spacer 16 of the touchpad 1310 extends circumferentially around the input area, in such a way that a small gap is provided between the detection electrodes 18 and the resistive trace 20 on the support plate (not shown in
When the position of the point of application of a force is to be determined, a potential gradient is applied through the resistive trace 20 by means of the terminals 38. In other words, one of the terminals is brought to a first potential (e.g. 5 V or 12 V) and the other terminal is brought to a second potential (e.g. ground), different from the first potential. If the detection electrodes 18 of the cover plate are locally brought into electrical contact with the resistive trace, the voltage thus resulting one or both of the detection electrodes 18 indicates where the contact occurred.
being insulated from the others. Each detection electrode includes a plurality of tapered, arcuate finger portions, extending in one or the other direction about the annulus, from the centre line, respectively, of each detection electrode. These centre lines (which extend substantially radially from the central point of the arrangement) are spaced with substantially equal angular separation, of about 360/M degrees, about the annulus. The fingers of any detection electrode 18 extend toward the centre lines of the adjacent detection electrodes and the angular extent of each detection electrode is thus 2*360/M degrees.
Each of the detection electrodes 18 has a separate electrical lead, respectively, extending therefrom to circuitry for detecting a change in capacitance between the detection electrodes 18 and a user's finger or stylus. Most preferably, the electrical leads between the detection electrodes and the detection circuit are shielded, so that the capacitance of the leads remains essentially constant and is not affected by the proximity of the user's finger or stylus. Shielding may be necessary, in particular, if the leads run in proximity to the input area.
The spacer 20 of the touchpads 1410 and 1510 comprises a radially inner portion and a radially outer portion delimiting therebetween an opening, which, itself defines the regions where the detection electrodes 18 may be brought into contact with the annular resistive trace 20 disposed on the support plate (not shown in
In the embodiment illustrated in
The terminals 38, contacting the resistive trace, are disposed between the support element and the resistive trace at diametrically opposed positions about the annulus. It is important to note that both terminals are
arranged underneath two of the centre lines of the detection electrodes 18 on the cover. The point of contact between the detection electrodes 18 on the cover and the resistive trace 20 is determined by applying different voltages to the terminals 18 and measuring the resulting voltages on those detection electrodes that extend between the angular positions defined by the terminals 38. In
In the embodiment illustrated in
The touchpad 1510 comprises three terminals 38 that contact the resistive trace 20 at regular intervals about the annulus, between the support element and the resistive trace, in the “6 o'clock”, “2 o'clock” and “10 o'clock” positions, respectively. The position of a point of contact between the detection electrodes 18 on the cover and the resistive trace is determined by applying different voltages to two of the terminals 38, and measuring the resulting voltages on the detection electrode 18 that covers the 240°segment between the two concerned terminals 38. If the voltage on that detection electrode is not defined, the voltage on at least one of the other detection electrodes is measured to determine whether and where the activation occurred in the 120′ segment between the concerned terminals.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07114195.6 | Aug 2007 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2008/059903 | 7/29/2008 | WO | 00 | 5/5/2010 |
