WO2008107818A1

WO2008107818A1 - Touch screen and touching-object

Info

Publication number: WO2008107818A1
Application number: PCT/IB2008/050702
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olaf M. J. Van T Erve; Alex Henzen
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; Irex Technologies Bv
Priority date: 2007-03-02
Filing date: 2008-02-27
Publication date: 2008-09-12

Abstract

An object (1) for touching a touch screen (2) is provided with a vibrator (11) for generating acoustic energy and an adjustor (12) for adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action to increase a number of possibilities to be offered. An action detector (13) may detect the user action and in response control the adjustor (12). The touch screen (2) is provided with a pulse detector (21-24) for detecting acoustic energy originating from the object (1) and a controller (25) for, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object (1). This controller (25) may further, in response to detected acoustic energy, determine a position at the touch screen (2) touched by the object (1). A converter (26) may convert the adjustment into a user action indication.

Description

TOUCH SCREEN AND TOUCHING-OBJECT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an object for touching a touch screen, and to a touch screen, and to a device, and to a method.

Examples of such a device are mobile phones, personal digital assistants, pc's, other computers and other consumer products and non-consumer products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

US 5,657,054 discloses in its title a determination of a pen location on a display apparatus using piezo electric point elements and discloses in its Figure 8 and the corresponding description a stylus or a pen (an object) for creating an electronic wave packet which is sent to an anode plate (a touch screen). By letting the stylus or the pen generate an electronic wave packet, a location of the stylus or the pen on the anode plate can be determined more accurately.

This combination of an object and a touch screen has the drawback that it is relatively user-unfriendly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the invention to provide an object and to provide a touch screen that are relatively user- friendly. A first aspect of the invention provides an object for touching a touch screen, the object comprising

- a vibrator for generating acoustic energy, and

- an adjustor for adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action.

By providing the object with the adjustor, the acoustic energy generated via the vibrator can be adjusted in dependence of a user action before this acoustic energy is supplied to the touch screen. As a result, a user action can be translated into an adjustment of the acoustic energy, which increases a number of possibilities to be offered via the object. This makes the object relatively user-friendly. The acoustic energy is for example mechanically transferable energy or energy that can be transferred mechanically, without excluding other definitions of acoustic energy.

According to an embodiment, the object further comprises

- an action detector for detecting the user action and in response controlling the adjustor. In this case, the action detector allows a particular user action to be detected and to be used for controlling the adjustor. Different action detectors may detect different actions.

According to an embodiment, the user action is an action from a user and concerning the object. In this case, the user is holding the object and doing something with the object. According to an embodiment, an adjustment of the acoustic energy is independent from a non-user action. In this case, the object is not controlled by the touch screen, and there is no feedback loop between the object and the touch screen.

According to an embodiment, the vibrator is an electrical vibrator or a mechanical vibrator, the adjustor is an electrical adjustor or a mechanical adjustor, the action detector comprises a tilt detector, a pressure detector, a movement detector, a button or a switch, and/or the object further comprises a source for feeding the electrical vibrator or further comprises a receiver for receiving a signal for feeding the electrical vibrator. An electrical vibrator for example comprises a piezo electric transducer. A mechanical vibrator for example comprises a spring. An electrical adjustor for example comprises a modulator. A mechanical adjustor for example comprises a mechanical resistance. The tilt detector detects a tilt or an angle of the object, the pressure detector detects a pressure on the object, the movement detector detects a movement of the object, and the button and the switch detect a path being conductive or non-conductive. The source for feeding the electrical vibrator may be a battery or a solar cell and the receiver for receiving the signal for feeding the electrical vibrator may receive a radio frequency signal or a capacitive signal or an inductive signal. This all without excluding further options.

A second aspect of the invention provides a touch screen comprising

- a pulse detector for detecting acoustic energy originating from an object, and

- a controller for, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object.

By providing the touch screen with the controller, the acoustic energy detected via the pulse detector can be used for determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy, which adjustment originates from the object. As a result, an adjustment of the acoustic energy at the object can be detected at the touch screen, which increases a number of possibilities to be offered via the touch screen. This makes the touch screen relatively user- friendly. The touch screen is for example an acoustic pulse recognition touch screen, without excluding other touch screens.

According to an embodiment, the controller further, in response to detected acoustic energy, determines a position at the touch screen touched by the object. In this case, not just the adjustment can be detected, but also the position at which the object is touching or has touched the touch screen can be detected.

According to an embodiment, the touch screen further comprises

- a converter for converting the adjustment into a user action indication. In this case, the adjustment can be indicated via a user action indication.

It is a further objective of the invention to provide a device and a method that are relatively user- friendly.

A third aspect of the invention provides a device comprising an object as defined above and/or comprising a touch screen as defined above. A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method for interaction between an object and a touch screen, the method comprising the steps of

- at the object, generating acoustic energy and adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action, and

- at the touch screen, detecting at least some of the acoustic energy originating from the object and, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object.

Embodiments of the device and/or embodiments of the method correspond with the embodiments of the object and/or with the embodiments of the touch screen.

An insight might be, that an object should be able to allow a user action to be performed and that a touch screen should be able to detect this user action. A basic idea might be, that generated acoustic energy is to be adjusted in dependence of a user action.

These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a side view of a device according to the invention comprising an object according to the invention and a touch screen according to the invention, and Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a top view of a device according to the invention comprising an object according to the invention and a touch screen according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the Fig. 1, the device 3 comprises the object 1 and the touch screen 2. The object 1 such as a stylus or a pen or a card comprises a vibrator 11 for example coupled via two wires to a source 14 such as a battery. The vibrator 11 generates acoustic energy that for example via a point 15 is to be supplied to the touch screen 2 when touching it. One of the wires passes or both wires pass through an adjustor 12 for adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action. So, for example one or more signals flowing through one or more of the wires are adjusted (for example modulated) by the adjustor 12 for adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of the user action. Thereto, the adjustor 12 has an input or inputs coupled to the source 14 and an output or outputs coupled to the vibrator 11 and a control input coupled to a control output of an action detector 13 for detecting the user action and in response controlling the adjustor 12. The action detector 13 may further be coupled to the source 14. The touch screen 2 such as for example an acoustic pulse recognition touch screen comprises at least one, preferably two or three or four pulse detectors 21-22 for detecting acoustic energy originating from the object 1, which pulse detectors 21-22 are coupled to a screen 29.

Other combinations of a vibrator 11 and an adjustor 12 and a possible action detector 13 are not to be excluded, such as for example a first combination of a vibrator having a control input and an adjustor coupled to that control input, without controlling the supply to the vibrator outside the vibrator as shown in the Fig. 1, or such as for example a second combination of a vibrator with an integrated adjustor etc. The user action may be an action from a user and concerning the object 1. The adjustment of the acoustic energy may be independent from a non-user action. The vibrator 11 may be an electrical vibrator or a mechanical vibrator, the adjustor 12 may be an electrical adjustor or a mechanical adjustor, the action detector 13 may comprise a tilt detector, a pressure detector, a movement detector, a button or a switch, and/or the object 1 may further comprise, instead of and/or in addition to the source 14 for feeding the electrical vibrator, a receiver for receiving a signal for feeding the electrical vibrator etc.

In the Fig. 2, the device 3 comprises the object 1 and the touch screen 2. The touch screen 2 comprises four pulse detectors 21-24 for detecting acoustic energy originating from the object 1 and coupled to a controller 25 for, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object 1. The four pulse detectors 21-24 are further coupled to a screen 29 that is further coupled to drivers 27 and 28. The controller 25 is further coupled to a converter 26 for converting the adjustment into a user action indication for example in the form of an image to be displayed via the screen 29. Thereto, the converter 26 is for example coupled to the drivers 27 and 28. The controller 25 further, in response to detected acoustic energy, for example determines a position at the screen 29 touched by the object 1.

Other combinations of a pulse detector 21-24 and a controller 25 and a possible converter 26 are not to be excluded, such as for example a first combination of a pulse detector 21-24 and a controller 25 coupled to each other via an interface or such as for example a second combination of a controller 25 with an integrated converter 26 or such as for example a third combination whereby a converter output is alternatively or in addition coupled to an interface or whereby a converter output is fed back to the controller etc. In other words, this invention describes an active stylus or an active pen or an active card etc. to be used with touch screens based on for example acoustic pulse recognition technology or another kind of technology. Vibration generated in the stylus is acoustically coupled to the touch screen. This enables a stylus that can drag and hold. Additionally it opens up the opportunity to assign buttons to the stylus to perform for example a right mouse click or a double click.

A new touch screen technology is for example based on acoustic pulse recognition. This technology "listens" to the sounds made by tapping or dragging a finger or a stylus across a screen. The location of the tap or drag can be determined from these sounds. This technology has the potential to become the touch screen technology of choice, since it does not require any over-layers such as resistive touch screen technology, it works with fingers, styli and credit cards unlike capacitive screens and it does not have to drive transducers as in surface acoustic wave based touch screens.

Both tapping and dragging have sounds associated with that action. However the implementation of a hold and/or lift off event is also an important feature of a touch screen, for example when dropping files on an icon. This is easily realized on a resistive, capacitive or surface acoustic wave based touch screen, but not on a prior art acoustic pulse recognition based touch screen since there are no sounds associated with a hold action or a lift off action, there is nothing to recognize. The dedicated stylus with a vibrator couples an acoustic signal into the screen while doing a hold action with the stylus, or the acoustic signal is interrupted while doing a lift off action with the stylus.

An additional feature made possible by this invention is the ability to modulate the vibration. Then for example buttons on the stylus can be assigned to perform a specific task such as a right-mouse click or double click.

This invention describes a stylus with a for example built-in vibrator, such as for example a piezo electric transducer. The vibrations generated by this stylus are then acoustically coupled to the touch screen when they are in contact. Extra functionality is possible when the vibration is for example modulated. Once a stylus is equipped with a piezo electric transducer, energy is needed to drive this transducer. This energy can come from a battery powered stylus, inductively or capacitive charged stylus or alternatively one can use a mechanical solution.

A battery powered stylus may use a custom made battery to keep the design of the stylus sleek. Power to the transducer is only required when the stylus is in contact with the screen, so a very long life time for the battery is expected. Alternatively, since the stylus only needs to vibrate once it is in close contact with the touch screen and only after the screen is first tapped, one can think of a very localized inductive of capacitive charging of the stylus. Where only the area underneath the stylus is activated to generate a RF signal which will power the stylus. Or create a local electric field when the stylus is equipped with a capacitive coupled charger.

A mechanical alternative is based on a self-winding watch using a balance wheel escapement, whose mainspring is wound by the motion of the stylus. The balance wheel for this application may be optimized to couple an acoustic signal into the touch screen. All these styli have in common that they vibrate one way or another. This vibration does not necessarily have to be a pure sine wave of a single frequency. One could think of generating Dual Frequency Multiple Tones (DTMF) to make it easier to distinguish between background noise and the vibration from the stylus. Or one could use a digital modulation to further increase the ability to distinguish the stylus from the background signal.

Having an active stylus opens up the opportunity to add buttons to the stylus. These buttons can be assigned to different frequencies, DTMF tones or a digital modulation of a vibration. The different vibration are picked up by the transducers in the screen and interpreted by the controller to be, for example, a right mouse click or a middle mouse button event. This is easy to implement for the stylus with a piezo electric transducer, but it can also be implemented for the mechanical alternative where the push of a button diverts the energy of the mainspring to a different balance wheel.

Summarizing, an object 1 for touching a touch screen 2 is provided with a vibrator 11 for generating acoustic energy and an adjuster 12 for adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action to increase a number of possibilities to be offered. An action detector 13 may detect the user action and in response control the adjustor 12. The touch screen 2 is provided with a pulse detector 21-24 for detecting acoustic energy originating from the object 1 and a controller 25 for, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object 1. This controller 25 may further, in response to detected acoustic energy, determine a position at the touch screen 2 touched by the object 1. A converter 26 may convert the adjustment into a user action indication.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An object (1) for touching a touch screen (2), the object (1) comprising

- a vibrator (11) for generating acoustic energy, and

- an adjustor (12) for adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action.

2. An object (1) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising

- an action detector (13) for detecting the user action and in response controlling the adjustor (12).

3. An object (1) as claimed in claim 2, the user action being an action from a user and concerning the object (1).

4. An object (1) as claimed in claim 2, an adjustment of the acoustic energy being independent from a non-user action.

5. An object (1) as claimed in claim 2, the vibrator (11) being an electrical vibrator or a mechanical vibrator, the adjustor (12) being an electrical adjustor or a mechanical adjustor, the action detector (13) comprising a tilt detector, a pressure detector, a movement detector, a button or a switch, and/or the object (1) further comprising a source (14) for feeding the electrical vibrator or further comprising a receiver for receiving a signal for feeding the electrical vibrator.

6. A touch screen (2) comprising

|- a pulse detector (21-24) for detecting acoustic energy originating from an object (1), and

- a controller (25) for, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object (1).

7. A touch screen (2) as claimed in claim 6, the controller (25) further, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining a position at the touch screen (2) touched by the object (1).

8. A touch screen (2) as claimed in claim 6, further comprising

- a converter (26) for converting the adjustment into a user action indication.

9. A device (3) comprising an object (1) as claimed in claim 1 and/or comprising a touch screen (2) as claimed in claim 6.

10. A method for interaction between an object (1) and a touch screen (2), the method comprising the steps of - at the object (1), generating acoustic energy and adjusting the acoustic energy in dependence of a user action, and

- at the touch screen (2), detecting at least some of the acoustic energy originating from the object (1) and, in response to detected acoustic energy, determining an adjustment of the detected acoustic energy originating from the object (1).