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.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 17, 2004

Filed:

Jun. 21, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:

Mark Gerard Kraus, Redmond, WA (US);

Vu Xuan Nguyen, Seattle, WA (US);

Martin Shetter, Bellevue, WA (US);

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B41J 5/28 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B41J 5/28 ;
Abstract

Disclosed is a “keyboard overlay” that sits on top of a touch-sensitive display screen of a computing device. After aligning the overlay on the display screen, the user types on the overlay. When the user presses a key on the overlay, the pressure is transmitted to the display screen below. That pressure is registered by the display screen as a touch. The keyboard overlay is formed to provide tactile finger-position feedback so that a user can keep his fingers oriented properly over the keyboard. The overlay may be opaque with keycap information displayed in the key areas. The overlay may be transparent, allowing a user to see a virtual keyboard painted on the display screen below. The computing device can detect the presence and type of an overlay. Applications may respond differently to different types of overlays. Different applications may be invoked depending upon the type of overlay detected.


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