CA1187153A - Proximity control switching panels - Google Patents
Proximity control switching panelsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1187153A CA1187153A CA000393917A CA393917A CA1187153A CA 1187153 A CA1187153 A CA 1187153A CA 000393917 A CA000393917 A CA 000393917A CA 393917 A CA393917 A CA 393917A CA 1187153 A CA1187153 A CA 1187153A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- sheet
- panel according
- panel
- electrode plates
- slave
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
- H03K17/00—Electronic switching or gating, i.e. not by contact-making and –breaking
- H03K17/94—Electronic switching or gating, i.e. not by contact-making and –breaking characterised by the way in which the control signals are generated
- H03K17/96—Touch switches
- H03K17/962—Capacitive touch switches
- H03K17/9622—Capacitive touch switches using a plurality of detectors, e.g. keyboard
Abstract
ABSTRACT
In the manufacture of proximity control switching panels including a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command electrode plate and at least one slave electrode plate arranged in capacitive relation, there is a problem of achiev-ing a high degree of standardisation while allowing for different user requirements. In some embodiments of the pre-sent invention the panel comprises a plurality of capacitors of which the command and slave electrode plates are respectively deposited on front and rear dielectric sheets. At least the front sheet and the command electrodes are light-transmitting, and a dielectric indexing sheet which carries a plurality of switch-identifying indicia, each located in register with a capacitor, is sandwiched between the front and rear sheets.
The indicia may be formed by printing. In other embodiments, all the electrode plates are light-transmitting and they are deposited on a single transparent sheet behind which is located a dielectric indexing sheet printed to exhibit the switch-identifying indicia. In either case, the whole panel, apart from printed portions of the indexing sheet, may be trans-parent. A screening electrode may be provided and the panel may be bonded together using an adhesive bead and/or adhesive laminating film.
In the manufacture of proximity control switching panels including a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command electrode plate and at least one slave electrode plate arranged in capacitive relation, there is a problem of achiev-ing a high degree of standardisation while allowing for different user requirements. In some embodiments of the pre-sent invention the panel comprises a plurality of capacitors of which the command and slave electrode plates are respectively deposited on front and rear dielectric sheets. At least the front sheet and the command electrodes are light-transmitting, and a dielectric indexing sheet which carries a plurality of switch-identifying indicia, each located in register with a capacitor, is sandwiched between the front and rear sheets.
The indicia may be formed by printing. In other embodiments, all the electrode plates are light-transmitting and they are deposited on a single transparent sheet behind which is located a dielectric indexing sheet printed to exhibit the switch-identifying indicia. In either case, the whole panel, apart from printed portions of the indexing sheet, may be trans-parent. A screening electrode may be provided and the panel may be bonded together using an adhesive bead and/or adhesive laminating film.
Description
~P~ 3 q I S
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I : i "' .. - ,' ', . : i PROXIMITY CONTROL SWITCHING PANELS
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This invention relates to a proxim~ty control swltching panel including a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command slectrode plate and at least one slave electrod~ plata Qrranged in capac~tive relation.
In one form, a switch on a panel of the typa referred to comprises a diel~ctric sheet having on one race a command eleckrode plate and on its other face a slave electrode plate in register w~th the command elec-trode and connected to a switching circuitO In use the 0 81~ electrode plate 1~ charged so that wh0n the com~and electrode plate is touched or clo~ely approached by a ; flnger for example, the slaYe electrode plate emit~ a control si~nal to the swltching circuit. In othe~ arrange~
ments, such a swltch has two slave electrode plates o~
; 15 which ~ne is chargeable and the other is arra~ged to emit .a control signal to tha swltching circuit.
Control panels bearlng such switche3 are being used for an increasingly large ~umber of purposes~ The ~olloving are gi~a~ mer~ly as ~ample~s calculator, type-writer and ~elephone koyboard~; dome~t~c cooker~ televlslon alid sound reproduction apparatu3 controls; display panel readout controls; elevator control~
It wlll bs apparent $hat these different co~-trol panels r0q~re dlfferent labelled arrangement~ ef the 25 switch or ~witclhes which thay containO It will al~o be apparent th.-,~t f'or ssries mas:3 production it :Is de~irable *o standardise the typ~3 of eontrol panel produced to as great an extent as i~ eompatible w~th customer r~quirements ., . ' ~
. 2 . ~ . . . .
, and this ic the principal ob~ect o~ the pre~ent in~ention~
, Accordlng to the present i~ven-tion ther~ is . pro~ided a pro~imity co~trol ~witchlng panel includlng a plurality of capacitors each Gomprislng a comma~d electrode ,. 5 ,plate and at least one sla~e electrode plate arranged in capaçitive relation~ characterised in that ~ald panel ln~
cludes a plurality of said capacitors and said command and , said slave electrode plate~ are ligllt~transmittlng plates , depo~ited on opposite sides of a lig~t-transmitti~g di01ectric shest,and ln that behlnd said sheet there is a dislsctric indexing sheet which ~s printed to exhibit a plurallty of switch-identifying indicia, a said indicium being located in register wlth each of at least some of said capacitor~.
~len making switching panels in accordance wlth the inYention, it is posslble to achieve a very high degrea of standardisation in manufa~ture. It i8 possible to select a pattern for the array of switchlng capacitor3 so that switching panels for use with different ,circuitry can all be made identical a3 regards their electrode plates and the transparent dielectric sheet3 on which th~y are deposited, and di~f~rent indexlng sheets can be incorpora~
ted in the panels accDrding to customer requlrementsO
Thus for examplc, ~witching capac~tors may be arranged in a four-square matr~x. L~ such a switching panel is to be incorpora~ted ln a telephone for 'Itouch dia ling"~ an appropriatc lndexing sheet could be printed witl indicia representing the ten digits to regi~ter with ten of the switching capacitors~ and the telephone manufacturer would connect the ten lndexed capacitors to approprlate ~0 . switching circ~itry~ On the other hand9 a switch~ng panel incorporating an identical array of switching capaci tors coul~ be incorp~rated in a calculator~ In that ca~e, the calaulator manufacturer might require the indexing -~heet to be pr~nted with indicla representing th~ ten digit~9 the dccimal point~ and the add, ~ubtract, multip~y, dl~lde, . a~d ~qual~ functions~ Thus tha only change in the panel : . . . 3 .~
manufacturing proce~s whlch is required when making paneJs for these different purpose~ is substitution of the indexing sheet. This i5 a ~ery simple operationO
By propar selection ~ the patter~ of the array 5 of switching capacitor~l it is possible, from a 3tandardised production, to obtain switching panels bearlng ~ractions or multlples of the n~mber.o~ capacitors depo3ited ln a standard arrayO T~lls may be done by dividing the standard array or by ~uxtaposlng two or more such array~ as the.case may be. . lO In each caYe it i~ again aasy to adapt the~indexing sheet~
to customer requirements.
A further advantage of ~si~g indexing sheets which are.separate from the capacito~ bearing sheets iq . that deposition of the indicla does not interfare with the 15 process used to deposlt the olectrode plate~. ;
In pre~orred emb~diments of the invention, at least some of said capacitorq comprise two slave electrode plate~, namely a chargeable slave electrode plate and a . discharging slave electrode plate, sincs this simplifies 20 the required switching clrcultry.
According to a ~econd aspeot of the invention~
there is pro~ided a proximity control switching panel in-cluding a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command electrode plate and at least one slave elsetrode plate arranged in.capaciti~e relatlon, characterised in that 5a.
panel includes a plurality of said capacitor~ of whlch the com~and and slave electrode plates are respecti~ely d~
posited on ~ro~t a~d rear dielectrlc ~hcets~ at least the front-sheet and the command electrodes being light-trans 30 mittlng, and in that between ~aid front and rear sheots there i~ sandwiched a die~ectric indexing ~heet ~hich sarr.~.;.
a plurality of switch~ldentifylng lndicia~ a said incicium being located in regi~ter with each of at least ~me of said capacltors.
In addition to the advantage~ reclted.herein-.
be~ore ~n respect o~ the flrst aspect of the lnvention~ a ~ ' , . ' .
panel accordlng to the ~econd aspect of tha invention has the further advantage of bei~g ea3ier to manu~actur~9 because the-electrode plates may be depo~ited on a single surface o~ly of their respective she~tO
In embodlments of the ~n~ention ~n it~ second a~pect, said indicia may be appli~d to thQ indexing sheet in any convenient manner9 but it i~ preferred that sald I
lndex~g sheet i~ pr~nted to exhibit said lndicla.
Deposition of the command electrode plates of a panèl according to the second aspect of the invention 1 ; simplified ~hen they are deposited on a single surface o~
a sheet as is preferred.
In some embodiments of either aspect of the invention, 0ach ~a~d capacitor includes a Yingle ~lave plate S for connection to switching circuitry, but a~ with the first aspect, 30 with the second, i~ preferred embodiments, each of at least some of said capacitor5 comprises two slave electrode plates~ namsly a char~eable slave electrode plate - and a discharging slave electrode plateO
I~ embodiments of the ~econd aspact of the inven~
tlon9 all said chargeable ~lave electrode plates are prefer-ably deposited o~ a ~ingle surface of a sheet~ Likewise all said discharging slave electrode plates are preferably deposited on a single surface of a sheet.
In some proforred embodiments of th0 seco~d aspect of the invention; ~aid chargeable ~lave electrode plates a~d sald discharging slave electrode plates are deposited on at l~a~ two d~fferent sh~et surfaces~ Such ~urfaces may ~e opposite ~urfaces of R single sheet or surface3 of t~o or mor~ differe~t ~he0t~ ~hi~ facllitates the arra~gement of conductors connected to the alectrode plates~
~n other preferred embodiments of the second aspect o~ the inventiDn9 all said slave electrode plate~
~re depo~ited on a slngle ~urface of a ~heet~ Thi~ ha~
the advantag~ that all thos~ electrod0 plate~ can be formed 5 ~7~
at ~ne anA tha same time.
Again ln embodiments o~ the sQcond aspact of th~ inv0ntion lt i~ preferred that all electrode plates and all sheets on which they are deposited are llght-- 5 transmitting. This makes the electrode-bearing sheet~
~itable for incorporating in a switching panel together with an indexing sheet haYing at lea~t one llght-trans-mitting portion in reglster wlth a 3aid capacitGr ~o as to enable ~ lndication of operatlon of ~ch s~itching capacitor to be given by a light which may be located behind th~ panel D ' ' ' In some preferred embodiments of either aspect o~ the present invention~ said i~dexin~ sheet has at least one light-transmitt~ng portion in register with a ~aid capacitor.
As an alternativ~l or in addition~ sald indexing ~heet proferably includes a llght-transmltting display section, This is especially valuable ~n th~ case~ of for example calculators and telephone keyboard~ associated with an encoded memory ba~c. In such cases a display devlce may be located behind the panel to display the progress of a calcula~ion or a talephone number recalled from memory a~ the ca~e may be4 Advantageously9 th~ or at lea~t one said electrode-bearing sh~et is of glass.
The indexing sheet is preferably of l~Lasil~
material~ for example R polyester such aspolyethylene terephthalate, 5aid inde~ing sheet is preferably between 50,',~ m and 120~ m in thick~e3s~ This range meets requirement~ ~or the usual printlng technlqucs, and reliabl~ operation of the capacitor switches i~ not hindered in ~a~es whe~e the inde~ing sheet is loc~ted between electrode-bearing sheetsv Each of $he electrode plates i3 preferably formed by ~ deposit of SnO2 or In203 which i~ optionally doped to e~hance its conductivity. Such deposlts can ~3 - . 6 .. . .
be hard and abra~ion.r~si~tant while bein~ substantially transparent.
- . In order to prev.ent spuriou3 wit,ching~ it is - advantagoous to provide a shieldlng ~ectrode behind the S electrode plates.
. In .~ome preferred embodiments of the inventi.on9 the sheets of the panel:are laminated togetherO This can be dono v~ry conveniently by using doubl~ faced adheslve film. Alternatively or in addition~. one ~heet of the panel may be larger than the others which are assembled thereto to l~ave a rebate which acco~modates a bead of adhesive material bonding the pan~l sheets together.
PrefQrred embodiments of the lnY~ntion w~ll . now be further described by way of example with ref~rence to the accompanying drawings in which .
Figures 1 and 2 ~re cross sectional vie~
throu~h t;wo embodiments of the ln~ention9 Figure 3 is a plan v~ew of an insulating substrate carrying chargeable and discharging electrodes9 Figure l~ 19 a plan view of an indexing ubstr~te which could be used with a ~wl~chlng panel incorporating the sub~tra~e of Figure 3, and Figure~ 5 and 6 are partial ~ectional vi~ws of a thlrd and a fourth embodiment of the inve~tion.
In ~i~ure 1, ~ glass sheet 1 has an optional tin ox~de coatlng Z applied to the whol.e of on0 ~ace thereof to serve as a.screening electrode and on its other face it carr~es two pairs of ~lave electrode plates9 each pair consisting of a chargeable electrod~.3 and a dis-charging electrode 4. Thes~ electrod~s are also of t-ln oxide, doped as necessary. Th0 discharging electrodes 4 are individllally connected by co~d~ctors 5 (which may also be o~ tin oxide) to terminals 6 each of whlch iq . ~ormed by a body o~ enamel applied to an end pOrtiDn of the respectiva conducto~ 5O The terminal~ 6 are loc~ted at ~ido margins of the pancl for connection to a~ociatad clrcuitryO Th~ chargeable ~lectrod~s 3 ar~ conn~ct0d to a common pot~ntial sourc~ (not shown)~
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, Th~ ~ac~ of the substrate which b~ars the 1ave electrodes 39 4 may optionally be coverad by a thin ~transparent pla~tic film, ~or example npplied by 3praying to prevent al~y conden3ation on that face from adversely .affecting operation o~ the switche~0 ..
. ~lgure 3 illustrates an arrangement in which .~ a ~i~taen switch panel ha3 a 3ingle terminal 7 ~or con-nection to the potential source4 Sixteen charg~able el~ctrode3 3 are connected to their common tsrminal 7 and their sixteen associated discharging e~eotrode~ 4 are connected ~ia conductors 5 to individual terminals 6 - for the connectlon of operating circuitry.
The po~ltion~ of some command electrodeY 11 are indicated in dotted lines.
.In ~igure 19 Rn indexing sheet 8 o~ dielect,ric material~ for example a plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate iY laid over the first electrod~-bearing sheet 1 and has areas bearing indicia 9 located .in reglY.ter with the electrode plates 3, 4. T~e indexing sheet 8 is of ~maller size than the first electrode-bearing ~heet 1 to leave a rebate around its periphery. A second glass ~heet 10 which is transparent and of the qame size as the ~ndexlng sheet 8 i~ laid o~er that sheet sc that transparent command eloctrode plate depo~it~ for example of doped tin oxlde~ are locatad in register w:Ll;
the indicia and char~eabl~ and discharging e.lectrodes 3, 4 to form capacltors 12~ 13. The rebate form~d by the mar~in of the fir~t sheet 1 and t~e edge~ of the indexiI~g ahset 8 and seco~d electrode~bearing ~heet 10 contains a bead 14 of adhesi~e material to hold the sheet~ of the panel together.
In operativn of the ~witch pan~ Llustra*~d in ~igure 1, the chargeable Ylave electrods~ 3 are con~
nected *o a pulse generator while the dischar~lng slaYe 3~ electrodes 4 are individually ~onnec:tsd to a detector ciI-cult. If a command plate 11 i~ touched9 or in some cases even approached closely~ for example by a flnger~
the capac:ltance between the three electrode plal;es w~ll be modi~l2di. Thls wîll accordingly mod~ fy ~he pul~3e , w~
signal dellvered by the discharging ~lave al~ctrode plate . 49 a~d this modificatlon is detected to give a signal . :which can be ampl~fied as necessary to control a switchlng .. circuit to perform a desired ~unctlon. In caseq in which it is not actually necessary to touch the electrodes li, the sheet lO o~ which they are deposited may if - de~ire~ be reversed so that the electrodes 11 ~re beneath the surface of the panel.
In order to deposit a plurality of SnO2 electrodes on a dialectric she~t in a predatermined . pattern in the formation of a capacitive touch control swl~ch panell the following proce~s may be-adopted. A
.silk-screen stencil i8 prepared, and a negative masking pattern of Wiederhold9 8 WIEDOPRINT AL (Trade Mark) ink i8 pr~nted on one slde of a.~itreous or ceram~c sheet. The ~heet is then con~eyed thro~h a heating ~tation, in whlch the masking ink is b~ced to leave a dry po~dery adhor0nt . masking residue9 and thence to a coating station where it is sprayed with a solution of SnCl4 in known manner~
~hen the SnC14 solution contacts the heated shoets it is pyroli~ed to giva a uniform overall coating o~ SnO2 80 nm thick. After coolln~, the masking residue and o~erlying regions of SnO2 are removed by brushing to leave a positive ; pa~rned SnO2 coating on one slde of the she~t. The proce~ is then repeated using another silk-screen st;en~il to provide a positive patterned SnO2 coatin~ on the other side of the same sheat or on a di~ferent sheet as requirad .to form the required array of capacitors.
In a modlfied process, both sides of a sheet ara mas~ed and the ~heet i8 then b~ed, and SnO2 coatings arc formed on both side~ of the ~heet i~ a ~ingle st.age of the process by a high frequency c~thode sputtering technique~
- Figur0 2 shows a s~milar panel whlch has been . assembled in a ~lightly different way~ The only differ enoe of substanca i~ th~t the adhe~l~e boad 14 of Pi~ure :l.
has b~en dispensed wlth9 and the ~dexing sheet 8 and 9 ~ i3 second electrode-bearlng sheet 10 are laminated to each other and to the flrst electrode-bearlng sheet 1. This is done by using double sided adhesive films L5 available under the trade mark MACBOND.
A panel according to Figure 1 and havlng an array of capacitor ~wltches as illustrated in Figure 3 - may be used in a calculator in which ~he various switches would be arranged to enter numbars in a display, carry out one or more of the four major arithmetical operations and give an answer. All the sixteen switch capacitor~
can be used to thls e~fect. The sheet 1 will be larger than illustrated in Figure 3 to provide a place for a display.
The d~play can be mounted upon the sheet l by any Icnown means.
Figrure 4 illustrate~ an indexing ~heet suitable ~or use in a panel for such ~ calculator.
The substrate 8 is made of a film of clear plastics material such as a polyester~ This film bears indicia 9 ~hich may be made of different colours or colour shades. The remaining space between the indicia 9 and around a section 17 marked "display" is co~rered by an opacl-fying coat~ng. The indicia and thc opacif3ring coating are applied to the polyeclter film by a prlnting technique such as off-set prlnting. The pl~tics film 8 may for example by 50,~ m to 120`~ m in thickness.
The display section 17 remains transparent~
In the calculator, this sectlon is to be located ~n registar - with a display device ~not shown) whlle khe indicia 9 will be in reg~ster with the switching capacitor3 as abov~
described. Furthermore, a small portion 16 of the in-dexlng sheet 8 which is to be located in register with a - switching capacitor may be left transparent if desired ~o that a- signal light can be flashed on to ind~cate that any key has been touchad. In the ~dexing sheet illustrated, only those areas of the indexing sheet 8 whlch are to regist~r with a switching capacitor which go~erns a function which will rlot lmmediately ~odify the display~ that i9 to say .
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the declmal point~ div~de, multiply, 3ubtract and add ~unctio~s, are provided with ~uch a transparent portlo~
16~ The use o~ slgnal lights in con~unction with suitable circuitry for capacitive switchas as~ocia-ted with tho~e indici~ can thu~ provlda a positive indicat$on that the deslred Eunction ha~ in fact been keyed in. Such a posltlve indication in resp~ct of the other ~wltches w~11 normally be pro~lded by an immediate modification ~f the di~play in response to swltching, A p~nel as described with re~erence to Figur~s 1 and 3 may also be usad a~ a tel~phone keybcard.
Fer thls purpose9 only ten of the 3ixteen swltching capacitors will be connected to the external circuitry and indexed. Use can be made of an inde~lng sheet a~
illu~trated in Fl~ure 4 but wherei~ only the indicia corre~ponding to the digits 1 to 9 and 0 appear. These indlcla ~ill be placed in register with the selected ~witch capacitors. The area around the indlcia 9 corres ponding to the sald ten digit~ is opacifled as de~cribed above. The remaining ~ets of electrodes are not co~-nected in circult, 80 that they do not form active ~witches, A~ the electrode plate~ are made o* a transparent coat~ng the non~selected switch capacitor3 will in practice be invisible to the user as they are not ~doxed. Of course if it is desired to provide some addltional facility ~uch as entering into or readlng from a coded m~mory bank of frequently used telephone number~ or to provide for recalling an oparator or for switching to an ex~ension then the appropriate number of sets of electrodoq can be connected to the desired circ~itry and appropriata l~dicia provided.
In such a var$ant, the display panel 17 would ~o~e$ime3 b0 omitted~ and if that were done it woulrl be preferable to proYide a light-transmitting portion such as 16 ln register wlth each selected switch~ng capacltor~
From a compar~son of those two ~xamples of use it will be apparent that the same array of el~ctr~de~
has'bee~ used for the manufacture of the panel~. A
standardissd process may be used for depositlng'the elec-' S trode plates on their substrates. This is of partlcularinterest when a coating is deposited by pyrolysis ~f ~etal compound on a hot sub~trate such as heated gla~s.
The control of the proces~ is slmplifi~d. Only the index~
ing sheet has to be substltuted-ln the panel. As those inde~ing sheets are obtained by a printing technique it i3 quite easy to modify the indicia as to their location, ' '- colour~ pattern, etc.~ without those modifications af~ec-ting the more complicated proc~s~ ~tsed for depositing the ' eleGtrodes as would be the ¢ase i~ the indicia'were to b0 applied to on~ of the sheets bearlng the electrodesO
Figure 5 illust~ates a further modification o~ the embodiments shown in ~igures 1 and 2 in ~hich similar elements are again given similar reference numerals.
The principal difference between the embodiments o~ Fl~tres
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I : i "' .. - ,' ', . : i PROXIMITY CONTROL SWITCHING PANELS
. ' ' ' ~ .
This invention relates to a proxim~ty control swltching panel including a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command slectrode plate and at least one slave electrod~ plata Qrranged in capac~tive relation.
In one form, a switch on a panel of the typa referred to comprises a diel~ctric sheet having on one race a command eleckrode plate and on its other face a slave electrode plate in register w~th the command elec-trode and connected to a switching circuitO In use the 0 81~ electrode plate 1~ charged so that wh0n the com~and electrode plate is touched or clo~ely approached by a ; flnger for example, the slaYe electrode plate emit~ a control si~nal to the swltching circuit. In othe~ arrange~
ments, such a swltch has two slave electrode plates o~
; 15 which ~ne is chargeable and the other is arra~ged to emit .a control signal to tha swltching circuit.
Control panels bearlng such switche3 are being used for an increasingly large ~umber of purposes~ The ~olloving are gi~a~ mer~ly as ~ample~s calculator, type-writer and ~elephone koyboard~; dome~t~c cooker~ televlslon alid sound reproduction apparatu3 controls; display panel readout controls; elevator control~
It wlll bs apparent $hat these different co~-trol panels r0q~re dlfferent labelled arrangement~ ef the 25 switch or ~witclhes which thay containO It will al~o be apparent th.-,~t f'or ssries mas:3 production it :Is de~irable *o standardise the typ~3 of eontrol panel produced to as great an extent as i~ eompatible w~th customer r~quirements ., . ' ~
. 2 . ~ . . . .
, and this ic the principal ob~ect o~ the pre~ent in~ention~
, Accordlng to the present i~ven-tion ther~ is . pro~ided a pro~imity co~trol ~witchlng panel includlng a plurality of capacitors each Gomprislng a comma~d electrode ,. 5 ,plate and at least one sla~e electrode plate arranged in capaçitive relation~ characterised in that ~ald panel ln~
cludes a plurality of said capacitors and said command and , said slave electrode plate~ are ligllt~transmittlng plates , depo~ited on opposite sides of a lig~t-transmitti~g di01ectric shest,and ln that behlnd said sheet there is a dislsctric indexing sheet which ~s printed to exhibit a plurallty of switch-identifying indicia, a said indicium being located in register wlth each of at least some of said capacitor~.
~len making switching panels in accordance wlth the inYention, it is posslble to achieve a very high degrea of standardisation in manufa~ture. It i8 possible to select a pattern for the array of switchlng capacitor3 so that switching panels for use with different ,circuitry can all be made identical a3 regards their electrode plates and the transparent dielectric sheet3 on which th~y are deposited, and di~f~rent indexlng sheets can be incorpora~
ted in the panels accDrding to customer requlrementsO
Thus for examplc, ~witching capac~tors may be arranged in a four-square matr~x. L~ such a switching panel is to be incorpora~ted ln a telephone for 'Itouch dia ling"~ an appropriatc lndexing sheet could be printed witl indicia representing the ten digits to regi~ter with ten of the switching capacitors~ and the telephone manufacturer would connect the ten lndexed capacitors to approprlate ~0 . switching circ~itry~ On the other hand9 a switch~ng panel incorporating an identical array of switching capaci tors coul~ be incorp~rated in a calculator~ In that ca~e, the calaulator manufacturer might require the indexing -~heet to be pr~nted with indicla representing th~ ten digit~9 the dccimal point~ and the add, ~ubtract, multip~y, dl~lde, . a~d ~qual~ functions~ Thus tha only change in the panel : . . . 3 .~
manufacturing proce~s whlch is required when making paneJs for these different purpose~ is substitution of the indexing sheet. This i5 a ~ery simple operationO
By propar selection ~ the patter~ of the array 5 of switching capacitor~l it is possible, from a 3tandardised production, to obtain switching panels bearlng ~ractions or multlples of the n~mber.o~ capacitors depo3ited ln a standard arrayO T~lls may be done by dividing the standard array or by ~uxtaposlng two or more such array~ as the.case may be. . lO In each caYe it i~ again aasy to adapt the~indexing sheet~
to customer requirements.
A further advantage of ~si~g indexing sheets which are.separate from the capacito~ bearing sheets iq . that deposition of the indicla does not interfare with the 15 process used to deposlt the olectrode plate~. ;
In pre~orred emb~diments of the invention, at least some of said capacitorq comprise two slave electrode plate~, namely a chargeable slave electrode plate and a . discharging slave electrode plate, sincs this simplifies 20 the required switching clrcultry.
According to a ~econd aspeot of the invention~
there is pro~ided a proximity control switching panel in-cluding a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command electrode plate and at least one slave elsetrode plate arranged in.capaciti~e relatlon, characterised in that 5a.
panel includes a plurality of said capacitor~ of whlch the com~and and slave electrode plates are respecti~ely d~
posited on ~ro~t a~d rear dielectrlc ~hcets~ at least the front-sheet and the command electrodes being light-trans 30 mittlng, and in that between ~aid front and rear sheots there i~ sandwiched a die~ectric indexing ~heet ~hich sarr.~.;.
a plurality of switch~ldentifylng lndicia~ a said incicium being located in regi~ter with each of at least ~me of said capacltors.
In addition to the advantage~ reclted.herein-.
be~ore ~n respect o~ the flrst aspect of the lnvention~ a ~ ' , . ' .
panel accordlng to the ~econd aspect of tha invention has the further advantage of bei~g ea3ier to manu~actur~9 because the-electrode plates may be depo~ited on a single surface o~ly of their respective she~tO
In embodlments of the ~n~ention ~n it~ second a~pect, said indicia may be appli~d to thQ indexing sheet in any convenient manner9 but it i~ preferred that sald I
lndex~g sheet i~ pr~nted to exhibit said lndicla.
Deposition of the command electrode plates of a panèl according to the second aspect of the invention 1 ; simplified ~hen they are deposited on a single surface o~
a sheet as is preferred.
In some embodiments of either aspect of the invention, 0ach ~a~d capacitor includes a Yingle ~lave plate S for connection to switching circuitry, but a~ with the first aspect, 30 with the second, i~ preferred embodiments, each of at least some of said capacitor5 comprises two slave electrode plates~ namsly a char~eable slave electrode plate - and a discharging slave electrode plateO
I~ embodiments of the ~econd aspact of the inven~
tlon9 all said chargeable ~lave electrode plates are prefer-ably deposited o~ a ~ingle surface of a sheet~ Likewise all said discharging slave electrode plates are preferably deposited on a single surface of a sheet.
In some proforred embodiments of th0 seco~d aspect of the invention; ~aid chargeable ~lave electrode plates a~d sald discharging slave electrode plates are deposited on at l~a~ two d~fferent sh~et surfaces~ Such ~urfaces may ~e opposite ~urfaces of R single sheet or surface3 of t~o or mor~ differe~t ~he0t~ ~hi~ facllitates the arra~gement of conductors connected to the alectrode plates~
~n other preferred embodiments of the second aspect o~ the inventiDn9 all said slave electrode plate~
~re depo~ited on a slngle ~urface of a ~heet~ Thi~ ha~
the advantag~ that all thos~ electrod0 plate~ can be formed 5 ~7~
at ~ne anA tha same time.
Again ln embodiments o~ the sQcond aspact of th~ inv0ntion lt i~ preferred that all electrode plates and all sheets on which they are deposited are llght-- 5 transmitting. This makes the electrode-bearing sheet~
~itable for incorporating in a switching panel together with an indexing sheet haYing at lea~t one llght-trans-mitting portion in reglster wlth a 3aid capacitGr ~o as to enable ~ lndication of operatlon of ~ch s~itching capacitor to be given by a light which may be located behind th~ panel D ' ' ' In some preferred embodiments of either aspect o~ the present invention~ said i~dexin~ sheet has at least one light-transmitt~ng portion in register with a ~aid capacitor.
As an alternativ~l or in addition~ sald indexing ~heet proferably includes a llght-transmltting display section, This is especially valuable ~n th~ case~ of for example calculators and telephone keyboard~ associated with an encoded memory ba~c. In such cases a display devlce may be located behind the panel to display the progress of a calcula~ion or a talephone number recalled from memory a~ the ca~e may be4 Advantageously9 th~ or at lea~t one said electrode-bearing sh~et is of glass.
The indexing sheet is preferably of l~Lasil~
material~ for example R polyester such aspolyethylene terephthalate, 5aid inde~ing sheet is preferably between 50,',~ m and 120~ m in thick~e3s~ This range meets requirement~ ~or the usual printlng technlqucs, and reliabl~ operation of the capacitor switches i~ not hindered in ~a~es whe~e the inde~ing sheet is loc~ted between electrode-bearing sheetsv Each of $he electrode plates i3 preferably formed by ~ deposit of SnO2 or In203 which i~ optionally doped to e~hance its conductivity. Such deposlts can ~3 - . 6 .. . .
be hard and abra~ion.r~si~tant while bein~ substantially transparent.
- . In order to prev.ent spuriou3 wit,ching~ it is - advantagoous to provide a shieldlng ~ectrode behind the S electrode plates.
. In .~ome preferred embodiments of the inventi.on9 the sheets of the panel:are laminated togetherO This can be dono v~ry conveniently by using doubl~ faced adheslve film. Alternatively or in addition~. one ~heet of the panel may be larger than the others which are assembled thereto to l~ave a rebate which acco~modates a bead of adhesive material bonding the pan~l sheets together.
PrefQrred embodiments of the lnY~ntion w~ll . now be further described by way of example with ref~rence to the accompanying drawings in which .
Figures 1 and 2 ~re cross sectional vie~
throu~h t;wo embodiments of the ln~ention9 Figure 3 is a plan v~ew of an insulating substrate carrying chargeable and discharging electrodes9 Figure l~ 19 a plan view of an indexing ubstr~te which could be used with a ~wl~chlng panel incorporating the sub~tra~e of Figure 3, and Figure~ 5 and 6 are partial ~ectional vi~ws of a thlrd and a fourth embodiment of the inve~tion.
In ~i~ure 1, ~ glass sheet 1 has an optional tin ox~de coatlng Z applied to the whol.e of on0 ~ace thereof to serve as a.screening electrode and on its other face it carr~es two pairs of ~lave electrode plates9 each pair consisting of a chargeable electrod~.3 and a dis-charging electrode 4. Thes~ electrod~s are also of t-ln oxide, doped as necessary. Th0 discharging electrodes 4 are individllally connected by co~d~ctors 5 (which may also be o~ tin oxide) to terminals 6 each of whlch iq . ~ormed by a body o~ enamel applied to an end pOrtiDn of the respectiva conducto~ 5O The terminal~ 6 are loc~ted at ~ido margins of the pancl for connection to a~ociatad clrcuitryO Th~ chargeable ~lectrod~s 3 ar~ conn~ct0d to a common pot~ntial sourc~ (not shown)~
" " ' ` .
` . 7 . ~ ~O~
, Th~ ~ac~ of the substrate which b~ars the 1ave electrodes 39 4 may optionally be coverad by a thin ~transparent pla~tic film, ~or example npplied by 3praying to prevent al~y conden3ation on that face from adversely .affecting operation o~ the switche~0 ..
. ~lgure 3 illustrates an arrangement in which .~ a ~i~taen switch panel ha3 a 3ingle terminal 7 ~or con-nection to the potential source4 Sixteen charg~able el~ctrode3 3 are connected to their common tsrminal 7 and their sixteen associated discharging e~eotrode~ 4 are connected ~ia conductors 5 to individual terminals 6 - for the connectlon of operating circuitry.
The po~ltion~ of some command electrodeY 11 are indicated in dotted lines.
.In ~igure 19 Rn indexing sheet 8 o~ dielect,ric material~ for example a plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate iY laid over the first electrod~-bearing sheet 1 and has areas bearing indicia 9 located .in reglY.ter with the electrode plates 3, 4. T~e indexing sheet 8 is of ~maller size than the first electrode-bearing ~heet 1 to leave a rebate around its periphery. A second glass ~heet 10 which is transparent and of the qame size as the ~ndexlng sheet 8 i~ laid o~er that sheet sc that transparent command eloctrode plate depo~it~ for example of doped tin oxlde~ are locatad in register w:Ll;
the indicia and char~eabl~ and discharging e.lectrodes 3, 4 to form capacltors 12~ 13. The rebate form~d by the mar~in of the fir~t sheet 1 and t~e edge~ of the indexiI~g ahset 8 and seco~d electrode~bearing ~heet 10 contains a bead 14 of adhesi~e material to hold the sheet~ of the panel together.
In operativn of the ~witch pan~ Llustra*~d in ~igure 1, the chargeable Ylave electrods~ 3 are con~
nected *o a pulse generator while the dischar~lng slaYe 3~ electrodes 4 are individually ~onnec:tsd to a detector ciI-cult. If a command plate 11 i~ touched9 or in some cases even approached closely~ for example by a flnger~
the capac:ltance between the three electrode plal;es w~ll be modi~l2di. Thls wîll accordingly mod~ fy ~he pul~3e , w~
signal dellvered by the discharging ~lave al~ctrode plate . 49 a~d this modificatlon is detected to give a signal . :which can be ampl~fied as necessary to control a switchlng .. circuit to perform a desired ~unctlon. In caseq in which it is not actually necessary to touch the electrodes li, the sheet lO o~ which they are deposited may if - de~ire~ be reversed so that the electrodes 11 ~re beneath the surface of the panel.
In order to deposit a plurality of SnO2 electrodes on a dialectric she~t in a predatermined . pattern in the formation of a capacitive touch control swl~ch panell the following proce~s may be-adopted. A
.silk-screen stencil i8 prepared, and a negative masking pattern of Wiederhold9 8 WIEDOPRINT AL (Trade Mark) ink i8 pr~nted on one slde of a.~itreous or ceram~c sheet. The ~heet is then con~eyed thro~h a heating ~tation, in whlch the masking ink is b~ced to leave a dry po~dery adhor0nt . masking residue9 and thence to a coating station where it is sprayed with a solution of SnCl4 in known manner~
~hen the SnC14 solution contacts the heated shoets it is pyroli~ed to giva a uniform overall coating o~ SnO2 80 nm thick. After coolln~, the masking residue and o~erlying regions of SnO2 are removed by brushing to leave a positive ; pa~rned SnO2 coating on one slde of the she~t. The proce~ is then repeated using another silk-screen st;en~il to provide a positive patterned SnO2 coatin~ on the other side of the same sheat or on a di~ferent sheet as requirad .to form the required array of capacitors.
In a modlfied process, both sides of a sheet ara mas~ed and the ~heet i8 then b~ed, and SnO2 coatings arc formed on both side~ of the ~heet i~ a ~ingle st.age of the process by a high frequency c~thode sputtering technique~
- Figur0 2 shows a s~milar panel whlch has been . assembled in a ~lightly different way~ The only differ enoe of substanca i~ th~t the adhe~l~e boad 14 of Pi~ure :l.
has b~en dispensed wlth9 and the ~dexing sheet 8 and 9 ~ i3 second electrode-bearlng sheet 10 are laminated to each other and to the flrst electrode-bearlng sheet 1. This is done by using double sided adhesive films L5 available under the trade mark MACBOND.
A panel according to Figure 1 and havlng an array of capacitor ~wltches as illustrated in Figure 3 - may be used in a calculator in which ~he various switches would be arranged to enter numbars in a display, carry out one or more of the four major arithmetical operations and give an answer. All the sixteen switch capacitor~
can be used to thls e~fect. The sheet 1 will be larger than illustrated in Figure 3 to provide a place for a display.
The d~play can be mounted upon the sheet l by any Icnown means.
Figrure 4 illustrate~ an indexing ~heet suitable ~or use in a panel for such ~ calculator.
The substrate 8 is made of a film of clear plastics material such as a polyester~ This film bears indicia 9 ~hich may be made of different colours or colour shades. The remaining space between the indicia 9 and around a section 17 marked "display" is co~rered by an opacl-fying coat~ng. The indicia and thc opacif3ring coating are applied to the polyeclter film by a prlnting technique such as off-set prlnting. The pl~tics film 8 may for example by 50,~ m to 120`~ m in thickness.
The display section 17 remains transparent~
In the calculator, this sectlon is to be located ~n registar - with a display device ~not shown) whlle khe indicia 9 will be in reg~ster with the switching capacitor3 as abov~
described. Furthermore, a small portion 16 of the in-dexlng sheet 8 which is to be located in register with a - switching capacitor may be left transparent if desired ~o that a- signal light can be flashed on to ind~cate that any key has been touchad. In the ~dexing sheet illustrated, only those areas of the indexing sheet 8 whlch are to regist~r with a switching capacitor which go~erns a function which will rlot lmmediately ~odify the display~ that i9 to say .
,~,, ~ . , .
.
the declmal point~ div~de, multiply, 3ubtract and add ~unctio~s, are provided with ~uch a transparent portlo~
16~ The use o~ slgnal lights in con~unction with suitable circuitry for capacitive switchas as~ocia-ted with tho~e indici~ can thu~ provlda a positive indicat$on that the deslred Eunction ha~ in fact been keyed in. Such a posltlve indication in resp~ct of the other ~wltches w~11 normally be pro~lded by an immediate modification ~f the di~play in response to swltching, A p~nel as described with re~erence to Figur~s 1 and 3 may also be usad a~ a tel~phone keybcard.
Fer thls purpose9 only ten of the 3ixteen swltching capacitors will be connected to the external circuitry and indexed. Use can be made of an inde~lng sheet a~
illu~trated in Fl~ure 4 but wherei~ only the indicia corre~ponding to the digits 1 to 9 and 0 appear. These indlcla ~ill be placed in register with the selected ~witch capacitors. The area around the indlcia 9 corres ponding to the sald ten digit~ is opacifled as de~cribed above. The remaining ~ets of electrodes are not co~-nected in circult, 80 that they do not form active ~witches, A~ the electrode plate~ are made o* a transparent coat~ng the non~selected switch capacitor3 will in practice be invisible to the user as they are not ~doxed. Of course if it is desired to provide some addltional facility ~uch as entering into or readlng from a coded m~mory bank of frequently used telephone number~ or to provide for recalling an oparator or for switching to an ex~ension then the appropriate number of sets of electrodoq can be connected to the desired circ~itry and appropriata l~dicia provided.
In such a var$ant, the display panel 17 would ~o~e$ime3 b0 omitted~ and if that were done it woulrl be preferable to proYide a light-transmitting portion such as 16 ln register wlth each selected switch~ng capacltor~
From a compar~son of those two ~xamples of use it will be apparent that the same array of el~ctr~de~
has'bee~ used for the manufacture of the panel~. A
standardissd process may be used for depositlng'the elec-' S trode plates on their substrates. This is of partlcularinterest when a coating is deposited by pyrolysis ~f ~etal compound on a hot sub~trate such as heated gla~s.
The control of the proces~ is slmplifi~d. Only the index~
ing sheet has to be substltuted-ln the panel. As those inde~ing sheets are obtained by a printing technique it i3 quite easy to modify the indicia as to their location, ' '- colour~ pattern, etc.~ without those modifications af~ec-ting the more complicated proc~s~ ~tsed for depositing the ' eleGtrodes as would be the ¢ase i~ the indicia'were to b0 applied to on~ of the sheets bearlng the electrodesO
Figure 5 illust~ates a further modification o~ the embodiments shown in ~igures 1 and 2 in ~hich similar elements are again given similar reference numerals.
The principal difference between the embodiments o~ Fl~tres
2'0 1 and 5 is that in Figur~ 5~ 'the chargeable ~lave alectrodes
3 are deposl'ted on a surface of a sheet lA which i9 di~erent '- from the surface on whlch the discharging slave electrodes
4 ~re deposlted. In Figure 59 the sheet lA is a sh~et of glass lntermediate in size, and located b~t~een the sheet 1 on which the discharg~g slavc electrodes 4 are de~o~ited and the indexing ~heet 8v The chargeable slave electrodes 3 are connected to a common terminal 7.
The sheet~ of the switch panel of ~igure 5 may be bonded together by a boad of adhe3ive analogous to that sho~n at 14 in Figurc 1 and/or by usi~g three sheets of double fac~d adhesive ~iim (compare film 15 of ~igure 2).
~ igur~ 6 ~llustrates an embodiment of the invention ln which all the electrode piates 3~ 4~ 11 are carri~d by the same dielectric sheet 10 whlch i8 of clear gla~ As befvre, the dl~charging slaYe electrodes 4 arc connected by conductors 5 to terminal ~ 6 at -the ~ide3 . . 12 . of the panel, but in this case those conductors and t0rminals are applied to glas~ sub~trate 10. A~ i~dexing ~she~et 8 bearing printed indic:la 9 i~ minated to the glass -- sheet lO by an aclhesive film 15~ and a ~upport shee t 18
The sheet~ of the switch panel of ~igure 5 may be bonded together by a boad of adhe3ive analogous to that sho~n at 14 in Figurc 1 and/or by usi~g three sheets of double fac~d adhesive ~iim (compare film 15 of ~igure 2).
~ igur~ 6 ~llustrates an embodiment of the invention ln which all the electrode piates 3~ 4~ 11 are carri~d by the same dielectric sheet 10 whlch i8 of clear gla~ As befvre, the dl~charging slaYe electrodes 4 arc connected by conductors 5 to terminal ~ 6 at -the ~ide3 . . 12 . of the panel, but in this case those conductors and t0rminals are applied to glas~ sub~trate 10. A~ i~dexing ~she~et 8 bearing printed indic:la 9 i~ minated to the glass -- sheet lO by an aclhesive film 15~ and a ~upport shee t 18
5 i~ in turn laminated to the indexing ~heet 8~ again by an adhes~ve ~ m 15.
, , ' .
.
, , ' .
.
Claims (19)
1. A proximity control switching panel including a plurality of capacitors each comprising a command electrode plate and at least one slave electrode plate arranged in capacitive relation, characterised in that said panel includes a plurality of said capacitors of which the command and slave electrode plates are respectively deposited on front and rear dielectric sheets, at least the front sheet and the command elec-trodes being light-transmitting with the front sheet being of glass, and in that between said front and rear sheets there is sandwiched a dielectric indexing sheet which is between 50 µm and 120 µm in thickness and carries a plurality of switch-identifying indicia, a said indicium being located in register with each of at least some of said capacitors.
2. A panel according to claim 1, wherein said indexing sheet is printed to exhibit said indicia.
3. A panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein all said command electrode plates are deposited on a single surface of a sheet.
4. A panel according to claim 1, wherein each of at least some of said capacitors comprises two slave electrode plates including a chargeable slave electrode plate and a discharging slave electrode plate.
5. A panel according to claim 4, wherein all said chargeable slave electrode plates are deposited on a single surface of a sheet.
6. A panel according to claim 4, wherein all said discharging slave electrode plates are deposited on a single surface of a sheet.
7. A panel according to claims 4, 5 or 6, wherein said chargeable slave electrode plates and said discharging slave electrode plates are deposited on at least two different sheet surfaces.
8. A panel according to claim 1, wherein all said slave electrode plates are deposited on a single surface of a sheet.
9. A panel according to claim 1, wherein all electrode plates and all sheets on which they are depo-sited are light-transmitting.
10. A panel according to claim 9, wherein said indexing sheet has at least one light-transmitting portion in register with a said capacitor.
11. A panel according to claim 9, wherein said indexing sheet includes a light-transmit-ting display section.
12. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the or at least one electrode-bearing sheet is of glass.
13. A panel according to claim 1, wherein said indexing sheet is of plastics material.
14. A panel according to claim 1, wherein said indexing sheet is of a polyester.
15. A panel according to claim 1, wherein each said electrode plate is formed by a deposit of SnO2 or In2O3 which is optionally doped to enhance its conductivity.
16. A panel according to claim 1, wherein a shielding electrode is provided behind the electrode plates.
17. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the sheets thereof are laminated together.
18. A panel according to claim 17, wherein such lamination is effected using double-faced adhesive film.
19. A panel according to claim 1, wherein one sheet of the panel is larger than the other sheets which are assembled thereto, to leave a rebate which accommodates a bead of adhesive material bonding the panel sheets together.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8101027 | 1981-01-14 | ||
| GB8101027 | 1981-01-14 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1187153A true CA1187153A (en) | 1985-05-14 |
Family
ID=10518957
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000393917A Expired CA1187153A (en) | 1981-01-14 | 1982-01-11 | Proximity control switching panels |
Country Status (10)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPS57138738A (en) |
| BE (1) | BE891726A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1187153A (en) |
| CH (1) | CH646824A5 (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3149722A1 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES8304704A1 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2499352A1 (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1154409B (en) |
| NL (1) | NL8200072A (en) |
| SE (1) | SE8200146L (en) |
Families Citing this family (14)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0383512A1 (en) * | 1989-02-15 | 1990-08-22 | Michael John Flowerday | Touch switch and/or electrical indicator devices |
| DE19846477C2 (en) * | 1998-10-09 | 2001-03-01 | Erich Dickfeld | Capacitive control device for electrical switching devices |
| DE102008005152A1 (en) * | 2008-01-18 | 2009-07-23 | BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH | Household appliance, has capacitive key i.e. touch key, whose actuation surface has electrically conductive surface that is formed of electrically conductive layer i.e. undercoating |
| WO2013013905A1 (en) | 2011-07-22 | 2013-01-31 | Polyic Gmbh & Co. Kg | Capacitive touch panel device |
| DE102011120654B3 (en) * | 2011-12-09 | 2013-06-06 | Polyic Gmbh & Co. Kg | Multi-layer structure for touchpad device, has surface regions whose conductive elements are used as coupling elements and are further arranged, so that specific surface regions are supplemented to touch panel |
| DE102011108153A1 (en) | 2011-07-22 | 2013-01-24 | Polyic Gmbh & Co. Kg | Multi-layer body |
| DE102011108803B4 (en) | 2011-07-29 | 2017-06-29 | Polyic Gmbh & Co. Kg | A plastic film touch sensor, use of the plastic film and method of making a multimodal input device |
| DE102011122110B4 (en) | 2011-12-22 | 2023-05-25 | Polyic Gmbh & Co. Kg | Operating device with display device and touch panel device, and multi-layer body for providing a touch panel functionality |
| DE102013006069A1 (en) | 2013-04-08 | 2014-10-09 | Audi Ag | Method for producing a control element and operating element |
| DE102013104644B4 (en) | 2013-05-06 | 2020-06-04 | Polylc Gmbh & Co. Kg | Layer electrode for touch screens |
| SG11201605989QA (en) | 2014-02-20 | 2016-08-30 | Dirtt Environmental Solutions | Method of configuring walls |
| CA2992856A1 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2017-12-14 | Dirtt Environmental Solutions Inc. | Wall system with electronic device mounting assembly |
| US11093087B2 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2021-08-17 | Dirtt Environmental Solutions Ltd. | Glass substrates with touchscreen technology |
| WO2018009936A2 (en) | 2016-07-08 | 2018-01-11 | Dirtt Environmental Solutions, Inc. | Low-voltage smart glass |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2824973A1 (en) * | 1978-06-07 | 1979-12-20 | Euro Hausgeraete Gmbh | PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE PROGRAM SELECTION IN ELECTRIC HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES |
| DE2907811B1 (en) * | 1979-02-28 | 1980-03-20 | Agfa Gevaert Ag | Function input unit with touch buttons |
-
1981
- 1981-12-15 DE DE3149722A patent/DE3149722A1/en not_active Withdrawn
-
1982
- 1982-01-07 IT IT67012/82A patent/IT1154409B/en active
- 1982-01-08 BE BE1/10394A patent/BE891726A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1982-01-08 FR FR8200339A patent/FR2499352A1/en active Pending
- 1982-01-11 NL NL8200072A patent/NL8200072A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1982-01-11 CA CA000393917A patent/CA1187153A/en not_active Expired
- 1982-01-12 ES ES509088A patent/ES8304704A1/en not_active Expired
- 1982-01-12 CH CH16182A patent/CH646824A5/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1982-01-13 SE SE8200146A patent/SE8200146L/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1982-01-13 JP JP57004803A patent/JPS57138738A/en active Pending
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| IT1154409B (en) | 1987-01-21 |
| ES509088A0 (en) | 1983-03-01 |
| BE891726A (en) | 1982-07-08 |
| ES8304704A1 (en) | 1983-03-01 |
| CH646824A5 (en) | 1984-12-14 |
| FR2499352A1 (en) | 1982-08-06 |
| DE3149722A1 (en) | 1982-09-02 |
| JPS57138738A (en) | 1982-08-27 |
| SE8200146L (en) | 1982-07-15 |
| NL8200072A (en) | 1982-08-02 |
| IT8267012A0 (en) | 1982-01-07 |
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