3m Innovative Properties Company

Data General Corporation

Craig A Cordeiro

Thomas J Rebeschi

Bernard O Geaghan

Robert S Moshrefzadeh

Stephen C Schulz

Frank J Bottari

Elisa M Cross

Edward S Hagermoser

Gordon F Taylor

Tasuku Nakayama

Karl P Hauck

Richard A Peterson, Jr

Michael J Kardauskas

Joshua D Vavra

Anthony F Chernefsky

William Farlow

James J Hart

Jakisa Tomic

Paul M Hatin

John P Graham

William J Farlow

A pen configured for use with a touch sensor includes a pen tip that is configured to make contact with the touch sensor. The pen body includes an electrically conductive receiver portion and an electrically conductive emitter portion that is electrically insulated and electrostatically shielded from the receiver portion. The pen includes circuitry configured to receive a touch sensor drive signal applied to a drive electrode of the touch sensor through the receiver portion of the pen body. In response to the received signal, the pen circuitry generates a pen drive signal that is phase additive with the touch sensor drive signal and emits the pen drive signal through the emitter portion of the pen body.

Pen for capacitive touch systems

A touch sensor can be used with a finger and/or a pen configured to provide a touch input to the touch sensor. Some implementations involve touch capacitive touch sensing, although many implementations are also applicable to other touch and pen technologies, such as resistive, surface acoustic wave, bending wave, touch force, electromagnetic (E-M).

Touch systems stylus and methods

A touch-sensitive apparatus includes a touch panel comprising a touch sensitive surface and at least one a drive electrode capacitively coupled to at least one receive electrode. A sense circuit generates a response signal for the receive electrode in response to a drive signal delivered to the drive electrode. A measurement circuit applies a time-varying transfer function to the response signal. The transfer function varies proportionately and synchronously with the response signal. A calibration circuit is used to match the time-varying transfer function to the response signal.

Capacitive-based touch apparatus and method with reduced interference

A touch sensor can be used with a finger and/or a pen configured to provide a touch input to the touch sensor. Some implementations involve touch capacitive touch sensing, although many implementations are also applicable to other touch and pen technologies, such as resistive, surface acoustic wave, bending wave, touch force, electromagnetic (E-M). Discrimination between intentional touches and unintentional touches on the touch surface can be performed using first criteria. For each touch identified as an intentional touch, discrimination between a finger touch and a pen touch can be performed using second criteria.

Touch systems and methods including rejection of unintentional touch signals

A touch sensitive system includes a touch sensitive area. A plurality of spaced apart first electrodes are disposed in the touch sensitive area and extend continuously along a first direction. A plurality of spaced apart second electrodes are disposed in the touch sensitive area and extend continuously along a different second direction. A plurality of nodes are disposed in the touch sensitive area, each node being defined by corresponding first and second electrodes traversing each other at the node. The touch sensitive system detect a location of a touch applied proximate a node by detecting a change in a coupling capacitance between the corresponding first and second electrodes traversing each other at the node. Each first electrode traverses at least one, but not all, of the second electrodes, and each second electrode traverses at least one, but not all, of the first electrodes.

Touch panels for wide aspect ratio applications

A touch-sensitive device includes a touch panel, a drive unit, a sense unit, and a measurement unit. A touch applied to a node of the panel changes a capacitive coupling between two electrodes (a drive electrode and a sense electrode) of the touch panel. The drive unit delivers a drive signal, which may comprise one or more drive pulses, to the drive electrode. The sense unit couples to the sense electrode, and generates a response signal that includes a differentiated representation of the drive signal. The amplitude of the response signal is responsive to the capacitive coupling between the electrodes, and is measured to provide an indication of a touch at the node.

High speed multi-touch touch device and controller therefor

A touch-sensitive device that includes a touch surface circuit that facilitates a change in a coupling capacitance in response to a capacitance-altering touches occurring at the touch surface. The device includes a sense circuit that provides a signal, in response thereto, having transient portions for characterizing positive-going transitions towards an upper signal level and negative-going transitions towards a lower signal level. An amplification circuit is then used for amplifying and processing the signals, in response to the time-varying input parameters. The amplification circuit adjusts the gain for the transient portions relative to gain for portions of the response signals between the transient portions, and thereby suppresses RF interference, such as in the form of signal odd and/or even harmonics, to provide a noise filtered output for determining positions of capacitance-altering touches on the touch surface.

Capacitive-based touch apparatus and method therefor, with reduced interference

A touch-sensitive device includes a touch panel, a drive unit, a sense unit, and a measurement unit. A touch applied to a node of the panel changes a capacitive coupling between two electrodes (a drive electrode and a sense electrode) of the touch panel. The drive unit delivers a drive signal, which may comprise one or more drive pulses, to the drive electrode. The sense unit couples to the sense electrode, and generates a response signal that that is used to accumulate charge in a charge accumulator to provide an accumulated signal. The accumulated signal is responsive to the capacitive coupling between the electrodes, and is measured to provide an indication of a touch at the node.

High speed low power multi-touch touch device and controller therefor

Matrix-based touch input systems assess touch locations of two or more temporally overlapping touch inputs by forming valid x-y coordinate pairs from independently determined x- and y-coordinates. Valid x-y pairs are formed based on comparing one or more signal parameters such as signal magnitude, signal strength, signal width, and signal rates of change. In matrix capacitive systems where capacitance-to-ground signals are used to determine the x- and y-coordinates, the determined coordinates may be formed into valid x-y pairs using mutual capacitance measurements. When resolving more than two temporally overlapping touches, information gained by resolving a valid x-y coordinate pair of at least one of the touches may be used to resolve the remaining touches.

Systems and methods for assessing locations of multiple touch inputs

A touch-sensitive device includes a touch panel, a drive unit, a sense unit, and a measurement unit. A touch applied to a node of the panel changes a capacitive coupling between two electrodes (a drive electrode and a sense electrode) of the touch panel. The drive unit delivers a drive signal, which may comprise one or more drive pulses, to the drive electrode. The sense unit couples to the sense electrode, and generates a response signal that includes a differentiated representation of the drive signal, which is then fed through a resistor. The amplitude of the response signal is responsive to the capacitive coupling between the electrodes, and is measured to provide an indication of a touch at the node.

High speed noise tolerant multi-touch touch device and controller therefor

An operator identifying apparatus, operator identifying method, and a vehicle-mounted apparatus.

Operator identifying apparatus, operator identifying method and vehicle-mounted apparatus

A touch sensitive device implementing a routine that controls the device's baseline update procedure in certain circumstances, and associated methods.

Baseline update procedure for touch sensitive device

Systems and methods determine the position of a touch on a surface of a device, such as a touch-sensitive device, by using passively-induced position-dependent electrical charges. In such a method, the position of a touching implement is determined on the sensing surface of a device. The method includes charging the sensing surface during a first time period by connecting all four corners of the sensing surface to a reference voltage, and over a second time period discharging two adjacent corners of the sensing surface into an integrator capacitor while connecting the two opposite corners to ground. The first and second time periods together form a charge/discharge cycle that is repeated a plurality of times, after which an output of the integrator capacitor is measured. This sequence is performed for each of the four pairs of adjacent corners of the sensing surface, resulting in four integrator capacitor output measurements, each of the four measurements being associated with a different sensing surface edge. The position of the touching implement on the sensing surface is then calculated using the four charge measurements.

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Westford, MA, United States of America

Craig A Cordeiro