Interlink Electronics, Inc.

John K Martinelli

Robert Matthew Martinelli

Mark C Pickett

Wendell W Ritchey

Stuart J Yaniger

James Dexter Tickle

Steven B Branton

William Allen Yates

Jack A Segal

Michael R Smither

A touchpad assembly and method for providing a signal to a computer indicative of the location and applied pressure of an object touching the touchpad assembly is provided. The touchpad assembly includes X and Y position and pressure sensitive semiconductor resistance sensor layers. The X and Y sensors have a pair of spaced apart X and Y conductive traces running across opposite ends such that a resistance RX connects the pair of X traces and a resistance RY connects the pair of Y traces. The X and Y sensors come into contact at a contact point when an object asserts a pressure on the touchpad. The contact point is connected to each trace by a variable pressure resistance RZ associated with the X and Y sensors and variable position resistances of the X and Y resistances. First and second pair of timing capacitors are connected to respective ones of the pairs of X and Y traces. A microprocessor controls and monitors charging time of the capacitors to determine the position and asserted pressure of the object touching the touchpad.

Force sensing semiconductive touchpad

A hand-held remote computer input peripheral is operable to be held by a human operator with one hand while both hands harmoniously manipulate a touch pad, function keys, and a click button provided with the input peripheral. The touch pad is positioned in a housing to be held by one hand while comfortably being addressed by the other hand, either with a finger or stylus, for controlling typical computer mouse functions and/or entering graphic images. The fingers of the hand holding the input peripheral rest naturally on the function keys and the click button such that keys and button can be activated simultaneously, or in conjunction with, activities of the hand manipulating the touch pad. The input peripheral is advantageously used in electronic meeting room applications having a computer and communication peripherals such as electronic white boards, presentation projectors, and video conferencing systems.

Remote computer input peripheral

Growing community of inventors

Camarillo, CA, United States of America

John K Martinelli