Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110163998 | LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SCREEN WITH SHIFT-ALIGNED EMITTER AND RECEIVER LENSES - A touch screen including a housing, a display mounted in the housing, a plurality of collimating lenses mounted in the housing along two opposite edges of the display and arranged along the two edges so as to be shift-aligned relative to one another, a plurality of light pulse emitters mounted in the housing that are spaced apart from and transmit light pulses through the collimating lenses of one of the two edges over the display, a plurality of light pulse receivers mounted in the housing that are spaced apart from and receive the light pulses through the collimating lenses of the opposite of the two edges, and a calculating unit, mounted in the housing and connected to the receivers, that determines a location of a pointer on the display that partially blocks the light pulses transmitted by the emitters, based on outputs of the receivers. | 07-07-2011 |
20110167628 | COMPONENT BONDING USING A CAPILLARY EFFECT - A method of attaching a component to a substrate, including providing a component guide attached to a substrate, the component guide having a cavity substantially conforming to contours of a portion of a component, attaching a first solder pad to the component, inserting the component into the guide cavity, providing a second solder pad, offset from the first solder pad and near the cavity, and inserting the component, the component guide and the substrate into an oven heating the solder pads, wherein the component is drawn further into the guide cavity by a capillary effect of the heated solder pads. | 07-14-2011 |
20110169780 | METHODS FOR DETERMINING A TOUCH LOCATION ON A TOUCH SCREEN - A method of determining a touch coordinate on a touch screen, including providing a display, a plurality of collimating lenses along two opposite edges of the display, the collimating lenses being arranged along the two edges so as to be shift-aligned relative to one another, a plurality of light pulse emitters that transmit light pulses through the collimating lenses of a first of the two edges over the display, and a plurality of light pulse receivers that receive the light pulses through the collimating lenses of the opposite of the two edges, and that output values representing the received light pulses, wherein light pulses emitted by each emitter are detected by at least two of the receivers, wherein each receiver detects light pulses emitted by at least two emitters, and wherein each receiver has expected values for emitter-receiver pairs when light pulses are not blocked, selecting receiver output values for emitter-receiver pairs that deviate significantly from corresponding receiver expected values, wherein the selected values indicate at least that light pulses transmitted by two emitters are blocked from reaching one receiver, or that light pulses transmitted by one emitter are blocked from reaching two receivers, associating a screen coordinate along a first screen axis with each selected receiver output, and calculating a touch coordinate by interpolating the associated screen coordinates according to the respective deviations between the selected receivers' output values and corresponding expected values. | 07-14-2011 |
20110169781 | TOUCH SCREEN CALIBRATION AND UPDATE METHODS - A method of calibrating optical components in a light-based touch screen, including providing (i) a display, (ii) a row of light pulse emitters that sequentially transmit light pulses over the display according to calibrated pulse current and pulse duration controls, and (iii) a row of light pulse receivers that receive the light pulses and that output values representing the received light pulses, each receiver having expected values for emitter-receiver pairs when the light pulses are not blocked, determining if each receiver output value for a receiver-emitter pair is within a respective designated range from the corresponding receiver expected value, and when a receiver output value for a receiver-emitter pair is outside the designated range, recalibrating the emitter, including adjusting at least one of the emitter pulse current and pulse duration such that subsequent receiver output values are within the designated range, and updating the receiver expected value for the receiver-emitter pair based on subsequent output values of the receiver. | 07-14-2011 |
20110169782 | OPTICAL TOUCH SCREEN USING A MIRROR IMAGE FOR DETERMINING THREE-DIMENSIONAL POSITION INFORMATION - A touch screen system including a reflective display surface, a camera mounted so as to capture an image of (i) the reflective display surface, (ii) a pointer approaching the reflective display surface, and (iii) a reflection of the pointer on the reflective display surface, and a processor coupled with the camera that determines a three-dimensional location of the pointer relative to the reflective display surface, based on the positions of the pointer and the reflection of the pointer in the image captured by the camera. | 07-14-2011 |
20110175852 | LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SCREEN USING ELLIPTICAL AND PARABOLIC REFLECTORS - A touch screen system, including a housing, a display mounted in the housing, a plurality of light pulse emitters mounted in the housing below the display, a plurality of light pulse receivers mounted in the housing below the display, a first light guide, mounted in the housing along a first edge of the display, including a first substantially parabolic reflective surface for reflecting light pulses transmitted by the emitters, and a first substantially elliptical refractive surface, positioned substantially above the first substantially parabolic reflective surface, for refracting the reflected light pulses over the display, a second light guide, mounted in the housing along an opposite edge of the display, including a second substantially elliptical refractive surface for further refracting the light pulse refracted by the first substantially elliptical refractive surface, and a second substantially parabolic reflective surface, positioned substantially below the second substantially elliptical refractive surface, for reflecting the further refracted light pulses to the receivers, and a calculating unit, mounted in the housing and connected to the receivers, to determine a location of a pointer on the display that partially blocks the light pulses refracted by the first light guide, based on outputs of the receivers corresponding to light pulses refracted by the second light guide. | 07-21-2011 |
20110181552 | PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TOUCH SCREEN - A pressure-sensitive touch screen including a housing, at least one light receiver rigidly mounted in the housing, a display flexibly mounted in the housing substantially above the at least one receiver, which depresses in response to pressure of a touch, and a calculating unit connected to the at least one light receiver for receiving outputs indicating amounts of received light by the at least one receiver, and for determining that the display is being depressed based on an increase in an output of the at least one receiver. | 07-28-2011 |
20110210946 | LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SCREEN USING ELONGATED LIGHT GUIDES - A touch screen including a housing, a display mounted in the housing, a plurality of collimating lenses mounted in the housing and arranged along a first edge of the display, a plurality of light pulse emitters mounted in the housing that are spaced apart from and serially transmit light pulses through the collimating lenses over the display, a light guide mounted in the housing along the edge of the display opposite the first edge, for receiving the light pulses, the light guide including a reflective strip that reflects light pulses to one end of the light guide, a light pulse receiver mounted in the housing near the one end of the light guide, for receiving the reflected light pulses, and a calculating unit, mounted in the housing and connected to the receiver, for determining a location of a pointer on the display that partially blocks light pulses transmitted by the emitters, based on outputs of the receiver. | 09-01-2011 |
20120176343 | OPTICAL ELEMENTS WITH ALTERNATING REFLECTIVE LENS FACETS - An optical element for a light based touch surface including a concatenated plurality of segments, wherein each segment is paired with a respective light emitter, each segment including an undulating series of pairs of reflective or refractive facets, wherein a first facet in each pair is oriented so as to collimate light emitted from a first light emitter associated with the segment and a second facet in each pair is oriented so as to collimate light emitted from a second light emitter associated with the segment, and wherein the first light emitter associated with the segment is the light emitter paired with the segment and the second light emitter associated with the segment is the light emitter paired with a neighboring segment. | 07-12-2012 |
20120188205 | ASIC CONTROLLER FOR LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SCREEN - A controller including a chip package coupled with a light-based touch screen, emitter driver circuitry inside the chip package for selectively activating photoemitters that are outside of the chip package, detector driver circuitry inside the chip package for selectively activating photo detectors that are outside of the chip package, detector signal processing circuitry for generating detection signals representing amounts of light detected on the photo detectors, signal conducting pins for connecting the photoemitters to the emitter driver circuitry, signal conducting pins for connecting the photo detectors to the detector driver circuitry and to the detector signal processing circuitry, controller circuitry inside the chip package for controlling the emitter driver circuitry and the detector driver circuitry, and at least one input/output pin for outputting the detection signals to a host processor, for the host processor to identify one or more locations on the touch screen that are being touched. | 07-26-2012 |
20120188206 | OPTICAL TOUCH SCREEN WITH TRI-DIRECTIONAL MICRO-LENSES - A lens for refracting light in three directions, including a lens surface having a repetitive pattern of recessed cavities formed by a repetitive pattern of three substantially planar facets. | 07-26-2012 |
20120326987 | LIGHT ACTUATOR FOR MOVABLE BUTTONS ON A KEYPAD - A keypad for use in conjunction with a touch-sensitive panel, the keypad including a frame surrounding a touch-sensitive panel, including a plurality of buttons suspended by the frame above the touch-sensitive panel, each of the buttons including a rigid member that is lowered through the frame when pressure is applied from above, and a resilient body attached to the rigid member and to the frame for raising the rigid member when the pressure from above is released, wherein the rigid members are exposed below the frame. | 12-27-2012 |
20130127765 | USER INTERFACE FOR A TOUCH SCREEN - A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor of an electronic device that includes a touch sensitive and pressure sensitive display, cause the processor to enable a user interface of the electronic device, by which a glide gesture along the display and an amount of pressure applied to the display both generate the same user interface command. | 05-23-2013 |
20130141395 | LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SURFACE WITH CURVED BORDERS AND SLOPING BEZEL - A light-based touch-sensitive surface, including a housing, a surface attached to the housing for receiving touch input, a plurality of light sources in the housing for emitting light that crosses the surface, a plurality of light receivers in the housing for detecting the light emitted by the light sources, a curved lens adjacent to the surface through which the light emitted by the light sources passes, including two substantially similarly curved exterior panels, one of which forms a curved rim for the surface, and a calculating unit in said housing, connected to the light receivers, for calculating a touch location based on an absence of light expected to be received by the receivers. | 06-06-2013 |
20140146249 | Light-based touch surface with curved borders and sloping bezel - A light-based touch-sensitive surface, including a housing, a surface attached to the housing for receiving touch input, a plurality of light sources in the housing for emitting light that crosses the surface, a plurality of light receivers in the housing for detecting the light emitted by the light sources, a curved lens adjacent to the surface through which the light emitted by the light sources passes, including two substantially similarly curved exterior panels, one of which forms a curved rim for the surface, and a calculating unit in said housing, connected to the light receivers, for calculating a touch location based on an absence of light expected to be received by the receivers. | 05-29-2014 |
20140160081 | ASIC CONTROLLER FOR LIGHT-BASED SENSOR - A controller for a light-based touch screen including a chip package coupled with a light-based touch screen, emitter driver circuitry inside the chip package for selectively activating a plurality of photoemitters that are outside of the chip package, detector driver circuitry inside the chip package for selectively activating a plurality of photo detectors that are outside of the chip package, detector signal processing circuitry for generating detection signals representing measured amounts of light detected on the plurality of photo detectors, a first plurality of signal conducting pins for connecting the plurality of photoemitters outside the chip package to the emitter driver circuitry inside the chip package, a second plurality of signal conducting pins for connecting the plurality of photo detectors outside the chip package to the detector driver circuitry and to the detector signal processing circuitry inside the chip package, controller circuitry inside the chip package for controlling the emitter driver circuitry and the detector driver circuitry, and at least one input/output pin for communicating with a host processor and for outputting the detection signals generated by the detector signal processing circuitry to the host processor, for the host processor to identify one or more locations on the touch screen that are being touched. | 06-12-2014 |
20140362053 | LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SURFACE WITH CURVED BORDERS - A light-based touch-sensitive surface, including a housing, a surface attached to the housing for receiving touch input, a plurality of light sources in the housing for emitting light that crosses the surface, a plurality of light receivers in the housing for detecting the light emitted by the light sources, a curved lens adjacent to the surface through which the light emitted by the light sources passes, including two substantially similarly curved exterior panels, one of which forms a curved rim for the surface, and a calculating unit in said housing, connected to the light receivers, for calculating a touch location based on an absence of light expected to be received by the receivers. | 12-11-2014 |
20150145834 | LIGHT-BASED TOUCH SURFACE WITH CURVED BORDERS - A light-based touch-sensitive surface, including a housing, a surface attached to the housing for receiving touch input, a plurality of light sources in the housing for emitting light that crosses the surface, a plurality of light receivers in the housing for detecting the light emitted by the light sources, a curved lens adjacent to the surface through which the light emitted by the light sources passes, including two substantially similarly curved exterior panels, one of which forms a curved rim for the surface, and a calculating unit in said housing, connected to the light receivers, for calculating a touch location based on an absence of light expected to be received by the receivers. | 05-28-2015 |
20150277636 | COMPOUND LENS STRUCTURE FOR OPTICAL TOUCH SCREEN - A compound lens structure for placement along a common edge of a light-based touch screen, including first and second lenses separated by an air gap to provide four air-to-plastic interfaces for progressively collimating light directed through the lenses, each lens including a convex surface exposed to the air gap. | 10-01-2015 |
20150277663 | TOUCH SCREEN CALIBRATION AND UPDATE METHODS - A method of updating reference values for optical components of a light-based touch screen, including providing a display, a plurality of light emitters that sequentially transmit light over the display, and a plurality of light receivers that receive the emitted light and that output values representing the amount of light received, activating a sequence of emitter-receiver pairs, when an object touches the screen, identifying those emitter-receiver pairs (E, R) for which the light emitted by the emitter E is not blocked from reaching the receiver R of the pair, based on a comparison of the actual output value, OUT(E, R), of the receiver R, with a reference output value, REF(E, R), for the emitter-receiver pair, and setting REF(E, R)=OUT(E, R) for each of the thus-identified emitter-receiver pairs (E, R). | 10-01-2015 |
20150277666 | ASIC CONTROLLER FOR LIGHT-BASED SENSOR - A state machine for controlling a sensor including a chip package coupled with photo-emitters and photo-detectors mounted in a device, and with a host processor, including an emitter driver, a detector driver, a signal processor for generating signals representing amounts of light detected by the detectors, and a scan controller for controlling the emitter and detector drivers to activate an automated sequence of emitter-detector pairs, the scan controller including registers for storing parameters designating emitter-detector pairs that are to be activated during the automated sequence, and for storing the signals generated by the signal processor for the emitter-detector pair activations, and at least one input/output pin for receiving parameters from the host processor to be loaded into the registers, and for outputting the stored signals in the registers to the host processor, for the host processor to identify therefrom location coordinates of an object near or touching the device. | 10-01-2015 |