Ulllted States Patent [19]
`Blouin
`
`[54] TOUCH PAD PANEL WITH TACTILE
`FEEDBACK
`
`[75] Inventor: Frangois Blouin, Hun, Canada
`
`[73] Assignee: Nortel Networks Corporation,
`Montreal, Canada
`
`21
`
`App1_ No; 09/086,347
`
`22 Filed:
`
`May 29, 1998
`
`6
`IIlt. Cl- ..................................................... ..
`51
`52 US. Cl. ................................... .. 340/407.2; 340/407.1;
`340/825.19; 340/825.46; 340/665; 345/173;
`345/177; 345/179; 178/1804; 178/1801;
`178/1803; 178/1902; 341/21; 341/27
`.
`[58] Field of Search ............................... .. 340/665, 407.1,
`340/825.46, 825.19, 407.2; 364/709.15;
`345/173, 179, 177; 178/1801, 18.03, 18.04,
`19 01 20 04 19 02 341/21 27
`'
`’
`'
`’
`'
`’
`’
`References Cited
`
`[56]
`
`US PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`3/1978 Bagley ............................. .. 364/709.15
`4,078,257
`4,885,565 12/1989 Embach . . . . . . .
`. . . .. 340/407.2
`
`5,036,239
`5,189,355
`
`310/268
`7/1991 Yamagochi .... ..
`2/1993 Larkins et al. ........................ .. 318/685
`
`US005977867A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,977,867
`Nov. 2, 1999
`
`5,412,189
`5,600,777
`5,638,060
`5,767,457
`
`5/1995 Cragun .................................. .. 235/379
`2/1997 Wang etal.
`.
`6/1997 Kataoka et al.
`..
`6/1998 Gerpheide et al. ..................... .. 178/18
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Philips Velo 1 User’s Guide publication No. 000—46356;
`V1UG197V1—1998—p. 31.
`Dynapro Systems Inc. Touch Screen Drawing 95647—
`Dynapro Website: WWW.dynapro.com—products.
`
`Primary Examiner—Benj amin C. Lee
`Attorney)
`Or Firm_GOW1ing,
`Ed Rymek
`
`& Henderson;
`
`ABSTRACT
`[57]
`A touch pad such as a keypad or a touch screen is mounted
`-
`-
`-
`W1th at least one vlbrator to produce a tactile feedback
`.
`.
`sensed by the user as the pad is touched With a ?nger or a
`-
`-
`-
`polnter. The vlbrator is controlled by a processor such that
`it Will vibrate for a predetermined length of time in the range
`of 50 to'1000 ms and at a predetermined amplitude. The
`vlbrator is also selected to vibrate at a frequency between
`100 and 5000 hZ. The touch screen may be any of the analog
`resitive, infrared, accoustic, capacitive or electromagnetic
`
`mducnve type Operated devlces'
`
`8 Claims, 1 Drawing Sheet
`
`LG 1023
`
`1
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 2, 1999
`
`5,977,867
`
`Touch Pad
`
`F_ A’) Tactile
`;
`__ Feedttack Unit
`
`2
`J
`
`Touch
`Controller
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Control /
`Processing
`Unit
`
`2
`
`

`

`1
`TOUCH PAD PANEL WITH TACTILE
`FEEDBACK
`
`FIELD OF INVENTION
`
`This invention relates to touch pads such as touch screens
`and in particular to touch pads that provide a tactile feedback
`to the user.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Over the years many types of touch pads such as touch
`screens have been developed for use With processors as user
`input components. These pads Were initially used With major
`display units, but most recently they are dominant input
`devices for lap top and hand held computers, notepads and
`communications devices.
`The touch pads may have discrete key locations such as
`keypad elastomers laid over printed circuit boards or touch
`screens such as analog resistive, infrared, accoustic, capaci
`tive or electromagnetic inductive operated screens. These
`touch pads have a common problem in that they do not
`alWays provide the user With a satisfactory tactile feedback.
`The completion of a keystroke on a keypad can usually be
`seen on the user’s screen, but cannot be felt. In addition,
`touch screens are ?at, they do not have any curvature, and
`therefore no feedback or key travel occurs during a key
`stroke. This is particularly true for the analog resistive,
`infrared, accoustic and capacitive screens that are capable of
`?nger as Well as pen input. The electromagnetic inductive
`screen is only capable of a pen input, since the pen picks up
`a signal from a sensor plate.
`Users are uncomfortable When using such devices in that
`they do not sense having completed a keystroke. Providing
`some form of tactile feedback When the pad is touched to
`input a certain key function is essential for good man
`machine interface. Prior art devices presently use sound to
`provide feedback to the user. The feedback is normally in the
`form of a beep or click, as exempli?ed in the Philips Velo 1
`handheld PC. This feature is noted in the Velo 1 User’s
`Guide on page 31—Adjusting volume and sounds, and in
`particular the Key Clicks. The Guide Which is identi?ed as
`publication number 000-46365; V1UG197V1 Was published
`in 1998.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide
`a touch pad With tactile feedback.
`It is a further object of this invention to provide a touch
`pad system for providing a user tactile feedback When the
`pad is touch activated.
`This and other objects are achieved in a touch pad having
`a surface to be touched by a user for providing an output as
`a function of the location touched on the surface and a tactile
`feedback device ?Xed to the touch pad surface for providing
`a tactile sensation to the user.
`In accordance With another aspect of this invention, a
`touch pad system includes a touch pad, a touch pad con
`troller for detecting and providing data representative of the
`point on the screen being touched by a user, a processor for
`processing the data from the controller and a tactile feedback
`device ?Xed to the touch pad to provide a tactile feedback
`sensation to the user under the control of the processor as the
`pad is being touched.
`In accordance With a further aspect of this invention, the
`touch pad is a touch screen and the tactile feedback device
`consists of at least one vibrator ?Xed on the periphery of the
`screen.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`5,977,867
`
`2
`In accordance With another aspect of this invention, the
`vibrators are operated at frequencies betWeen 100 and 5000
`hZ for pulse Widths of 50 to 1000 ms.
`Many other objects and aspects of this invention Will be
`clear from the detailed description of the draWings.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`Embodiments of the invention are described in the draW
`ings in Which:
`FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a touch pad feedback
`system in accordance With the present invention; and
`FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a touch screen
`having a vibrator ?Xed to it to achieve tactile feedback.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a standard touch pad 1
`such as a keypad or a touch screen. The keypad consists of
`a keypad elastomer mounted on a printed circuit board such
`that conductive carbon pads under the keys connect adjacent
`conductors located on the printed circuit board. The touch
`screen may be an analog resistive, infrared, accoustic,
`capacitive or electromagnetic inductive operated device.
`Touch screens are normally laid over liquid crystal displays
`(LCD’s) that display key positions as Well as other
`information, hoWever in the case of the electromagnetic
`inductive operated device, the touch sensitive screen is
`usually located under the LCD.
`The touch pad 1 is connected to a touch controller 2 that
`controls the operation of the touch pad 1 and provides an
`output as a function of the position on the pad being touched.
`A user could input the keypad by ?nger touch unless the
`keypad is very small, hoWever most keypads can also be
`inputted by using a pointer or a pen. All of the above touch
`screen devices eXcept for the electromagnetic inductive
`device can be inputted by ?nger touch, hoWever all of the
`touch screens can also be inputted by pen or pointer. For a
`touch screen, the touch screen controller generates X-y
`co-ordinate data corresponding to Where the touch screen is
`being touched. To achieve this, the touch screen controller
`includes sensors and ?lters connected to the touch screen,
`apparatus to execute a prede?ned series of conversion
`computations and a host interface to output the data. The
`touch controller 2 is connected to the main control process
`ing unit (CPU) 3 Which processes the command inputted by
`the user on the touch pad 1.
`In the system in accordance With the present invention,
`the CPU 3 generates a feedback control signal Which is fed
`to a tactile feedback unit 4 connected to the touch pad 1. The
`tactile feedback unit 4 generates a mechanical vibration
`sensed by the user When the touch screen is touched. The
`activation is based on conditions prede?ned in the system
`user interface such as the location of the key pressed. The
`CPU 3 also controls the vibration frequency, amplitude and
`pulse length.
`FIG. 2 illustrates an analog resistive touch screen 10
`consisting of a top layer 11, a spacer 12 and a bottom layer
`13. The top layer 11 has a pair of bus bars 14 to measure the
`voltage gradient in the X-direction and the bottom layer 13
`has a pair of bus bars 15 to measure the voltage gradient in
`the y-direction. In this embodiment, the screen 10 is a 3“><4“
`touch screen manufactured by Dynapro Systems, Inc. that is
`of the type of touch screens illustrated as draWing 95647
`located on the Dynapro Website—WWW.dynapro.com under
`products. HoWever, other screens of different siZes and types
`can also be used in accordance With this invention. A
`
`3
`
`

`

`3
`vibrator 16 is ?xed to the touch screen top layer 11 by a
`double-sided adhesive tape made by Sellotape in such as
`manner as to be capable of imparting a vibration to the touch
`screen 10. Other types of industrial quality glue can also be
`used. The vibrator 16 is normally ?xed to the surface being
`touched so as to impart a direct vibration to the user. This
`surface is usually the touch screen for analog resistive,
`infrared, accoustic or capacitive operated devices, or the
`LCD for the electromagnetic inductive operated device.
`HoWever, in the case of a keypad the vibrator can be ?xed
`to the printed circuit board so that the vibrations are con
`ducted to the user through the conductive carbon pads. The
`vibrator 16 in this particular embodiment is the Model F M
`23 Pager Motor manufactured by SanWa, it is described in
`US. Pat. No. 5,036,239 Which issued to Yamagochi on Jul.
`30, 1991. Other vibrators by SanWa or other manufacturers
`can also be used, hoWever, it has been determined that the
`preferred vibration frequency is betWeen 100 and 5000 hZ.
`The vibrations applied to the corner of the touch screen 10
`may be sensed at any point on the surface 11. In addition to
`being sensed by a user’s ?nger, the vibration may also be
`sensed by a user Who is touching the layer 11 With a pen or
`a pointer.
`As discussed above, the CPU 3 controls the both the pulse
`Width and the amplitude of the mechanical vibrations of
`vibrator 16. The pulse Width of the vibrations must be long
`enough to be felt but short enough to terminate before the
`next key touch. To achieve this, it has been determined that
`the minimum pulse Width should be in the order 50 ms and
`the maximum pulse Width should be in the order of 1000 ms
`in some applications, hoWever a pulse Width of 100 ms is
`preferable for most applications. With the particular motor
`referred to above, the amplitude and frequency of the
`vibrations are controlled by the voltage applied to the
`vibrator 16 by the CPU 3. These characteristics may be
`separately controlled in other types of vibrators. In this
`particular embodiment, the range of the applied voltage is 1
`to 5 volts for short pulse durations.
`In larger touch screens or touch screens that are inputted
`by a pointer or a pen, it may be desirable to have a stronger
`vibrator or several vibrators located on tWo or more points
`around the periphery of the screen.
`Many modi?cations to the above described embodiments
`of the invention can be carried out Without departing from
`the scope thereof, and therefore the scope of the present
`invention is intended to be limited only by the appended
`claims.
`I claim:
`1. A touch pad comprising:
`touch pad means having a surface to be touched by a user
`to provide an output as a function of the location
`touched on the surface; and
`
`4
`at least one vibrator ?xed to the touch pad means surface
`to be touched to provide a tactile vibrating sensation to
`the user for a predetermined ?xed time at a predeter
`mined ?xed frequency betWeen 100 and 5000 HZ. When
`any location of the surface is being touched.
`2. A touch pad comprising:
`touch pad means having a surface to be touched by a user
`to provide an output as a function of the location
`touched on the surface; and
`at least one vibrator ?xed to the touch pad means surface
`to be touched to provide a tactile vibrating sensation to
`the user for a predetermined ?xed time betWeen 50 ms.
`and 1000 ms. at a predetermined ?xed frequency When
`any location of the surface is being touched.
`3. A touch pad system comprising:
`touch pad means having a surface to be touched by a user;
`touch pad controller means for detecting and providing
`data representative of the point on the surface being
`touched by the user;
`processor means for processing the data from the touch
`pad controller means; and
`at least one vibrator ?xed to the touch pad means surface
`to be touched to provide a tactile vibrating sensation to
`the user for a predetermined ?xed time at a predeter
`mined ?xed frequency betWeen 100 and 5000 HZ.
`under the control of the processor When any point on
`the pad means surface is being touched.
`4. A touch pad system comprising:
`touch pad means having a surface to be touched by a user;
`touch pad controller means for detecting and providing
`data representative of the point on the surface being
`touched by the user;
`processor means for processing the data from the touch
`pad controller means; and
`at least one vibrator ?xed to the touch pad means surface
`to be touched to provide a tactile vibrating sensation to
`the user for a predetermined ?xed time betWeen 50 ms.
`and 1000 ms. at a predetermined ?xed frequency under
`the control of the processor When any point on the pad
`means surface is being touched.
`5. A touch pad as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 Wherein
`the touch pad means is a touch screen.
`6. Atouch screen as claimed in claim 5 Wherein the touch
`screen is analog resistive, infrared, acoustic, capacitive or
`electromagnetic inductive operated.
`7. A touch pad system as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4
`Wherein the touch pad means is a touch screen.
`8. Atouch screen as claimed in claim 7 Wherein the touch
`screen means is analog resistive, infrared, acoustic, capaci
`tive or electromagnetic inductive operated.
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`5,977,867
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`50
`
`4
`
`