Carroll Touch Inc.

Other

Arthur B Carroll

John K Carstedt

Paul R Hunter

James E Garrett

Stewart E Hough

Sam R Shaw

A composite fabric is made from a fabric layer which has one or more expandable bladders coupled at spaced intervals across the surface of the fabric layer and extending substantially transverse to said spaced intervals a bladder length across the surface of the fabric layer. The expandable bladders are attached by threading them through fabric loop attached to the surface the fabric layer. The expandable bladders are coupled to an air source with air valves and selectively inflated and deflated. As the expandable bladders are inflated and deflated, they selectively cover and uncover area adjacent to their corresponding bladder lengths. The expandable bladders may be formed in various configurations and the fabric loops may or may not be stretchable. The composite fabric may be used to construct fabric products with various functional shapes where the thermal insulation across one or more surface areas of the fabric products are varied.

Composite fabric and fabric product with variable thermal insulation

A touch entry system employing arrays of emitter and detector opto devices located around the periphery of an irradiated field detects intrusion of an opaque element such as a stylus within the field. The detector analog output is converted to a digital signal for input into a microprocessor. Digital signals input into the microprocessor can vary due to inconsistencies in conventional opto devices. A programmable amplifier responsive to the microprocessors preconditions the analog signals prior to analog to digital conversion to bring all digital signals corresponding to the unblocked emitter beam condition within a normalized range before input into the microprocessor.

Signal preconditioning for touch entry device

An opto-matrix touch input device which samples and compares beam readings is taught. Briefly stated, phototransistor readings which sample ambient light as well as light from an associated light emitting diode are compared with preset values. If the readings from the phototransistor are below a certain level, then the phototransistor/LED pair are flagged as bad. If the readings are within preset limits, yet below nominal values, then the phototransistor/LED pair are flagged as indicating a marginal beam. In this manner a trouble report may be generated for the purpose of repair or investigation as well as providing a vehicle for keeping a history of the opto-matrix frame condition and thereby a method of early fault detection.

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Georgetown, TX, United States of America

Arthur B Carroll