The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 12, 1990
Filed:
Oct. 27, 1989
James R Wynne, Jr, Roane County, TN (US);
Elographics, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN (US);
Abstract
A touch sensor device, and its method of operation, that provides information as to the position of a touch thereon together with information as to the amount of pressure applied to the sensor at the touch position. The device has a pair of spaced-apart membranous sheets with coatings thereon suitable for the determination of position information in a conventional manner. In addition, switching units are included which, during a given time interval of operation, supply a uniform electrical potential in one of the sheets. During that same interval contacts or electrodes on opposite edges of the second sheet are rapidly switched to alternately be oppositely connected to ground on one edge and to the information processing unit at the other edge. In this manner, there is a fixed potential applied to the contact resistance circuit created between the sheets due to the touch pressure, and the alternate switching averages the potential on the second sheet. As a result, the pressure information is substantially independent of the position of touch on the sensor.