Greensteel, Inc.

Brendan J Crowley

Bernard O Geaghan

Stephen P Atwood

Steven J Buelte

A technique for building touch-sensitive panels which permits construction of large, low-cost electronic whiteboards with improved feel. The electronic whiteboards are of the resistive membrane type, in which a touch on a flexible membrane causes the membrane to come into contact with a surface and that in turn changes the resistances across the membrane and the surface, permitting determination of the location of the touch. A gap between the flexible membrane and the surface is maintained primarily by the use of relatively large spacing structures located between the membrane and the surface, instead of by tension on the membrane. The use of large spacing structures permits the surface to be made using relatively irregular and therefore low-cost material. The spacing structures are backed by an elastic layer, which permits the spacing structures to yield to a touch on the screen. The spacing structures consequently do not interfere with writing on the screen and the combination of yielding spacing structures and low tension on the membrane provides a surface with a better &ldquo;feel&rdquo;.

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North Andover, MA, United States of America

Brendan J Crowley