KR20100089104A - Haptic interface for laptop computers and other portable devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a haptic feedback touch control that provides input to a computer. The touch input device includes a planar touch surface that provides position information to a computer based on the position of the user contact. The computer can position the cursor of the displayed graphical environment based on at least a portion of the location information, or perform other functions. At least one actuator 336 is coupled to the touch input device and outputs a force to provide a haptic sensation to the user. The actuator 336 can move the touch pad 332 to the side, and the separation surface member can be activated. Flat E-core actuators, piezoelectric transducers, or other types of actuators may be used to provide force. The touch input device may include a plurality of different areas for controlling other computer functions.

Description

[0001] HAPTIC INTERFACE FOR LAPTOP COMPUTERS AND OTHER PORTABLE DEVICES FOR LAPTOP COMPUTERS AND OTHER MOBILE DEVICES [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates generally to the interfacing of computers and machines by a user, and more particularly to an apparatus used for interfacing with computer systems and electronic devices, which provides haptic feedback to the user.

People are constantly interfering with electronic and mechanical devices in a variety of applications, and the need for a more natural, easy-to-use and informative interface is a constant concern. In this situation of the invention, people interfere with the computing devices of various applications. Such applications include interacting with computer-generated environments such as games, simulations, and application programs. Computer input devices such as mice and trackballs are often used to provide input in these applications and to control the cursor in a graphical environment.

In some interface devices, force feedback or tactile feedback is also provided to the user, which is collectively referred to as "haptic feedback ". For example, a haptic version of a joystick, mouse game pad, steering wheel or other type of device may output a force to a user based on an event or interaction that occurs in a graphical environment such as a game or other application program.

In electronic devices such as portable computers or laptop computers, mice typically occupy too much work space for work. As a result, smaller devices such as trackballs are often used. A common device commonly used in portable computers is a "touchpad ", which is a small rectangular pad that is provided near the keyboard of a computer. The touch pad detects the position of the pointing object by various sensing techniques such as a capacitive sensor or a pressure sensor that detects the pressure applied to the touch pad. The user most commonly touches the touchpad with his or her fingertips and moves the cursor displayed in the graphical environment by moving a finger on the pad. In another embodiment, the user can press the stylus tip on the touchpad and operate the stylus with respect to the touchpad by moving the stylus. A touch screen is a similar device used to input information on a layered sensing pad on a display screen, which is used in devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other portable electronic devices.

One problem with current touchpads and screens is that they do not provide haptic feedback to the user. Accordingly, the user of the touchpad can not feel the haptic sensation that informs and assists the user's targeting and other control tasks in the graphical environment. The prior art touchpad also can not utilize software that is haptic-enabled, which is performed in a computer.

The present invention relates to a haptic feedback plane touch control used to provide input to a computer system. The control may be a touchpad provided on a portable computer, or it may be a touch screen on a variety of devices. The haptic sensory output of the touch control enhances interactivity and manipulation in the displayed graphical environment or when controlling electronic devices.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a haptic feedback touch control for inputting a signal to a computer and outputting a force to a user of the haptic feedback touch control. The control includes a substantially planar touch surface and includes a touch input device operable to input a position signal to a processor of the computer based on a touch position of the user on the touch surface. One or more actuators may be connected to the touch input device to output the force to provide a haptic sensation to the user touching the touch surface by moving the touch input device sideways approximately parallel to its surface. The computer can position the cursor in a graphical environment displayed on the display device based on the position signal. The touch input device may be a separate touch pad, or may be included as a touch screen.

In another embodiment, the haptic feedback touch control is a touch input device including a generally planar touch surface for inputting a position signal to a computer processor, the touch input device being located adjacent to the touch input device, And an actuator connected to the surface member. The actuator outputs a force to the surface member to provide the user with a haptic sensation. The surface member can be moved laterally in a plane substantially parallel to the surface of the touch input device; For example, the surface member can be located over the touch input device and span the same space as the surface of the touch input device. Alternatively, the surface member may be located on one side of the touch input device so that the user can touch the surface member with another finger or palm while touching the touch input device with one finger. For example, the surface member may be located above a physical button located adjacent to the touch input device. Contact or inertial force can be output from the surface member.

In another aspect of the invention, an actuator providing a linear force output comprises a ferromagnetic piece comprising a central pool positioned between two side pawls, a coil wound about a central pole, a central pole and a side pole An adjacent magnet, and a backing plate coupled to the magnet. Here, when the current flows in the coil, the back plate and the magnet move according to the ferromagnetic piece. A roller may be disposed between the ferromagnetic piece and the backing plate to enable movement. The flexure can reduce the relative motion between the plate and the ferromagnetic piece in the undesired direction and can provide a spring centering force.

In another aspect, a haptic touch device includes a piezoelectric transducer coupled to ground and including a metal diaphragm coupled to a planar sensing element, such as a ceramic element and a touch pad. A spacer is provided between the piezoelectric transducer and the planar sensing element, and the metal diaphragm is in contact with the spacer plate. The spring element provides a spring restoring force to the planar sensing element.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing haptic feedback to a touch input device includes receiving a position signal from a touch input device indicating a touch position on a surface that the user is pressing, Area of the < / RTI > The output force is related to the user moving the object on the surface of the touch input device. Functions such as moving the displayed cursor or rating the value of the value can be related to the area where the contact position is located. A haptic sensation may be output when a user moves an object across a boundary from another region of the touch input device to a contacted region.

The present invention advantageously provides haptic feedback to a flat touch control device of a computer, such as a touch pad or a touch screen. The haptic feedback may assist and inform the user of the interaction with the graphical user interface or other environment and the event, and may facilitate cursor targeting operations. The present invention also enables portable computer devices with such touch controls to utilize current haptic feedback software. The haptic touch device disclosed herein is inexpensive, compact and consumes little power, and can be easily combined into a variety of portable and desktop computers and electronic devices.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and from the drawings.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to provide a haptic sensation that informs and assists a user in targeting and other control tasks in a graphical environment. Enabling haptic-enabled software to be run on a computer, and the haptic sensory output of the touch control enhances interactivity and manipulation in a displayed graphical environment or when controlling electronic devices.

1 is a perspective view of a laptop computer including a haptic touchpad according to the present invention.
2 is a perspective view of a remote control device including a touch pad according to the present invention.
3 is a plan view of an embodiment of a haptic touch screen according to the present invention.
Figure 4 is a block diagram of a haptic system suitable for use with the present invention.
5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an actuator assembly suitable for use in an inertial embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view of the actuator assembly of Fig. 5 connected to the touchpad; Fig.
7 is a perspective view of a separation palm surface providing an inertial haptic sensation adjacent to a touch pad;
8A is a perspective view of a piezoelectric transducer suitable for use in providing an inertial sensation in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 8b is a side view of a structure and piezoelectric transducer in accordance with the present invention suitable for providing a haptic sensation to a touch device.
9 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a translation surface member driven by a linear actuator.
10 is a plan view of another embodiment of a translating surface member driven by a rotating actuator.
11 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a translation moving surface member driven by a voice coil actuator;
12 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a translating surface adjacent a touchpad;
13 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a touch pad that is moved in parallel in one direction by a rotary actuator.
14 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a touch pad that is moved in two directions in parallel by a rotary actuator.
15A and 15B are perspective views of a first embodiment of an E-core actuator according to the present invention suitable for translating a touch pad or a discrete surface.
15C is a side view of the actuator of Figs. 15A-15B. Fig.
15D is a perspective view of the actuator of Figs. 15A-15B connected to the touchpad; Fig.
16A and 16B are top and bottom perspective views of another embodiment of a planar E-core actuator according to the present invention.
17A-17B are a perspective view and a plan view of a surface mounted E-core actuator according to the present invention.
Figures 17c-17g are perspective and side views of the E-core actuator of Figures 17a-17b.
18 is a top plan view of an example of a haptic touch pad according to the present invention having different control areas;

1 is a perspective view of a portable computer 10 including a haptic touch pad of the present invention. The computer 10 may be a portable or "laptop" computer, which may be carried or transported by a user, and may be powered by other portable energy sources or batteries as well as other stationary power sources. The computer 10 preferably executes one or more host application programs through which a user interacts via a peripheral device.

The computer 10 may include various input and output devices as shown and may include a display device 12 for outputting a graphical image to a user, a keyboard for providing character or toggle input from the user to the computer, The touch pad 16 is also included. Display device 12 may be any of various types of display devices; Flat panel displays are most common on portable computers. The display device 12 may display a graphical environment 18 based on an application program and / or operating system running on the CPU of the computer 10, such as a graphical user interface (GUI) A cursor 22, a cursor 22, an icon 24, and other graphical objects well known in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment. Other graphics environments or images may be displayed, such as, for example, a game, movie or other presentation, spreadsheet or other application program.

Other devices, such as storage devices (hard disk drives, DVD-ROMs, etc.), network servers or clients, game controllers, In other embodiments, the computer 10 may be used in many different forms, including computer devices placed on a table surface or other surface, a stand-up arcade game machine, other portable devices, or devices carried by or worn by a person, I can take it. For example, the host computer 10 may be a video game console, a personal computer, a workstation, a television set-top box, or a network computer, or other computing or electronic device.

The touch pad device 16 according to the present invention is preferably similar in appearance to the conventional touch pad. In many of the embodiments disclosed herein, such a touch pad 16 includes a planar, quadrangular (or other shaped) smooth surface, which may be located below the keyboard of the computer housing, as shown, Lt; / RTI > When the user operates the computer, the user can conveniently place a finger tip or other object on the touch pad 16 and move the fingertip to cause the cursor 20 to move accordingly in the graphical environment 18. [

When operating, the touchpad 16 inputs coordinate data to the main microprocessor of the computer 10 based on the position at which the object is detected on (or near) the touchpad. Like many touch pads in the prior art, the touch pad 16 may use capacitive, resistive or other types of sensing. A capacitive touch pad typically senses the position of an object on or near the surface of the touch pad based on the capacitive coupling between the capacitor and the object of the touch pad. Resistive touch pads are typically pressure sensitive where the pressure on the pad by a finger, stylus, or other object causes the conductor layer, traces, switches, etc. of the pad to be electrically connected. Some resistive or other types of touch pads can detect the amount of pressure applied by the user and use a variable or proportional input to the computer 10 for the degree of pressure. The resistive touch pad is typically at least partially deformable. Therefore, when the pressure is applied to a specific position, the conductor at that position is brought into electrical contact. Such variability may be useful in the present invention. This is because the magnitude of the output force such as pulse or vibration can be amplified in the touch pad used in the present invention. If a compliant suspension is provided between the actuator and the moving object, the force can be amplified. Capacitive touch pads and other types of touch pads that do not require contact pressure may be suitable for the present invention in some embodiments because excessive pressure on the touch pads may in some instances interfere with the operation of the touch pad for haptic feedback It is because. Other types of sensing technology can also be used in the touchpad. Here, the term "touch pad" preferably includes the surface of the touch pad 16 as well as any sensing device including the touch pad unit.

The touchpad 16 may operate similarly to the current touchpad, where the speed of the fingertip on the touchpad is related to the distance the cursor moves in the graphical environment. For example, if a user moves his finger quickly on the pad, the cursor will move a greater distance than if the user moved the finger tip slowly. If the user's finger reaches the edge of the touchpad before the cursor reaches the desired destination in that direction, the user simply removes the finger from the touchpad, relocates the finger away from the edge, Can move. This is an "indexing" function similar to dragging the mouse on the surface to change the mouse position and offset between the cursors. Also, many touch pads may have specific areas assigned to specific functions that may be independent of the cursor position. Such an embodiment will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG. In some embodiments, the touchpad 16 may tap to quickly (touch and release the pad) a particular location on the touchpad to provide the user with a command. For example, the user may be able to tap the pad with a finger or "double tap" while the cursor is over the icon to select the icon.

In the present invention, the touch pad 16 may output haptic feedback, such as tactile sensation, to a user who physically contacts the touch pad 16. Many detailed embodiments of the structure of the haptic feedback touchpad are described in detail below. Some embodiments may move the device housing or a separate moving surface rather than the touchpad itself.

Using one or more actuators coupled to the touchpad 16 or an ancillary surface, various haptic sensations can be output to a user touching the touchpad (or a housing or an isolated surface). For example, jolt, vibration (variable or constant intensity), and texture can be output. The force output to the user may be based, at least in part, on the position of the finger on the pad or the state of the controlled object in the graphical environment of the host computer 10, and / or may be independent of the finger position or object state . Since the microprocessor or other electronic controller uses the electronic signal to control the direction and / or the magnitude of the force output of the actuator, such force output to the user is perceived as "computer-controlled ".

In another embodiment, the touchpad 16 may be provided in a separate housing connected to a port of the computer via cable or wireless transmission, which receives force information from the computer 10 and provides And transmits information. For example, the touch pad 10 can be connected to the computer 10 by a universal serial bus (USB), a firewire, or a standard serial bus.

One or more buttons 26 used in connection with the touch pad 16 may be provided in the housing of the computer 10. [ The user's hand is easy to access the buttons and each button can be pressed by the user to provide another input signal to the host computer 12. [ Typically, each button 26 corresponds to a similar button on the mouse input device, so the left button can be used to select a graphic object (click or double click), and the right button can be used to call an environmental menu, have. In some embodiments, one or more buttons 26 may be provided as haptic feedback.

Also, in some embodiments, one or more movable portions 28 of the housing of the computer device 10 may be included, which is touched by the user when the user operates the touchpad 16, Can be provided. Having a movable portion of the housing for haptic feedback is described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,184,868 and 6,088,019. In some embodiments, the housing may provide haptic feedback (e.g., through the use of an eccentric rotating mass of a motor coupled to the housing) and the touchpad 16 may provide separate haptic feedback have. This allows the host to simultaneously control two different tactile sensations to the user; For example, the low-frequency vibration may be transmitted to the user through the housing, and the high-frequency vibration may be transmitted to the user through the touch pad 16. [ Different buttons or other controls that provide haptic feedback may provide tactile feedback independent of each other.

The host application program and / or operating system preferably displays the graphical image environment on the display device 12. The software and environment running on the host computer 12 may vary widely. For example, a host application program may be a web page or browser that implements a word processor, spreadsheet, movie, video or computer game, drawing program, operating system, graphical user interface, simulation, HTML or VRML commands, A realistic training program or application, or another application that outputs a force feedback command to the touchpad 16 using an input from the touchpad 16. For example, many games and other application programs include force feedback and use standard protocols / drivers such as I-Force®, FEELit®, or Touchsense ™ from Immersion Corporation, San Jose, Calif. And can communicate with the touch pad 16.

The touchpad 16 includes circuitry necessary to report control signals to the microprocessor of the host computer 10 and to process command signals from the host microprocessor. For example, a suitable sensor (and associated circuitry) is used to report the position of the user's finger on the touchpad 16. [ The touch pad device also includes a circuit for receiving the signal from the host and outputting the tactile sensation using one or more actuators in accordance with the host signal. Some touch pads may be integrated on a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes multiple such components and circuits. In some embodiments, a separate local microprocessor may be provided on the touchpad 16 to report touchpad sensor data to the host and execute force commands received from the host, such commands may include, for example, Parameters describing and the type of haptic tapes. In addition, the touchpad microprocessor can simply send data streamed from the main processor to the actuator. The term "force information" may include command / parameters and / or streamed data. The touchpad microprocessor can implement a haptic sensation independently after receiving a host command by controlling the touchpad actuator; Alternatively, the host processor can maintain more control over the haptic senses by controlling the actuator more directly. In another embodiment, a logic circuit, such as a state machine, provided for the touchpad may handle the haptic sensation as directed by the host main processor. Architecture and control methods that can be used to read sensor signals and provide haptic feedback to the device are described in more detail in U.S. Patent No. 5,734,373.

Specific features and characteristics are provided in current touchpad embodiments such as those manufactured by Synaptics Corp. The standard surface material for the touch pad is a textured Mylar, and when instructed using the user's finger, the textured surface is better, but typically any non-conductive object is used on the touch pad surface to be detected . The touchpad can also be detected through a thin overlay. Typically there is space available for the addition of a haptic feedback component; For example, more than half of the boards in a 40x60 touchpad can be used for haptic circuits.

Many touch pads include a "palm check" feature that allows the laptop to detect whether the user touches the touch pad with a finger, palm, or other part of the hand. Since the user may want to rest the farm and not provide input, the Palm Check feature may ignore the input determined to be provided by the user's farm. Essentially, the PalmCheck feature calculates the contact area created by a conductive object (finger, palm, arm, etc.). If the contact area exceeds a certain threshold, the contact is rejected. This feature may not work in many embodiments.

2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an apparatus 30 that may include an active touchpad 16 in accordance with the present invention. The device may be a remote control device 30 for a pocket which is held by the user in one hand and remotely controlled by the user to an electronic device or device (television, video cassette recorder or DVD player, audio / video receiver, A network computer, or the Internet). For example, a plurality of buttons 32 may be included in the remote control device 30 to operate the functions of the control device. The touchpad 16 may also be provided to allow the user to provide a more precise directional input. For example, the control device may have a selection screen on which the cursor is moved, and the touch pad can be operated by controlling the cursor in two directions. The touchpad 16 has a function of outputting a haptic sensation to the user as described herein based on the controlled value or event. For example, a pulse can be output to the user and the touch pad when the volume level passes the midpoint or reaches the maximum level.

In one application, the controlled device may be a computer system, such as a Web TV from Microsoft Corp. or other computing device that displays a web page and / or a graphical user interface accessed via a network, such as the Internet. The user can control the direction of the cursor by moving a finger (or other object) on the touch pad 16. [ The cursor may be used to select and / or manipulate icons, windows, menu items, graphical buttons, slide bars, scroll bars, or other graphical user interface or other graphical objects of the desktop interface. The cursor may also be used to select and / or manipulate graphic objects of a web page, such as links, images, buttons, and the like. Other force sensations associated with the graphic object are described below with reference to FIG.

3 is a top view of another computer device embodiment 50 that may include any embodiment of a haptic device in accordance with the present invention. The device may be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pen-based computer, a web pad, an electronic book, or similar device (collectively known as a personal digital assistant ). ≪ / RTI > In addition to devices capable of button input, such devices that allow a user to input information or to read in various ways by touching the display screen are also relevant to the present invention. These devices include a Palm Pilot® or similar product from 3Com Corp., a pocket-sized computer device from Casio, Hewlett-Packard, or other manufacturers, an e-book, a cellular phone or pager with a touch screen, A laptop computer, and the like.

In an embodiment of the device 50, the display screen 52 located adjacent to the housing 54 may occupy a large portion of the surface of the computer device 50. The screen 52 is preferably a flat panel display well known to those skilled in the art, which may display text, images, animations, and the like; In some embodiments, the screen 52 is as convenient as any personal computer screen. The display screen 52 includes a sensor that allows a user to physically enter information into the computer device 50 by contacting the screen 50 (i.e., it is similar to the touchpad 16 of FIG. 1 Another type of planar "touch device"). For example, a transparent sensor film can be covered on the screen 50, wherein the film detects pressure from an object contacting the film. Sensor devices implementing touch screens are well known to those skilled in the art.

The user can select a graphically displayed button or other graphical object by pressing the stylus or a finger on the precise location on the screen 52 where the graphic object is displayed. Also, in some embodiments, the user may be able to "draw" or "write" by displaying a graphical "ink" image 56 at the end of the stylus, such as a stylus 57, do. Handwritten characters may be recognized by software running on the device microprocessor as an instruction, data, or other input. In another embodiment, the user may additionally or alternatively provide input through speech recognition, wherein the microphone of the device inputs user voice interpreted as appropriate commands or data by software running on the device. The physical button 58 may be included in the housing of the device 50 to provide a specific command to the device 50 when the button is pressed. Many PDAs feature a standard keyboard for inputting characters from the user; Rather, other input modes are used, such as using a stylus or voice recognition to draw characters on the screen. However, some PDAs include keyboards with full functionality as well as touchscreens, which are typically smaller than standard size keyboards. In another embodiment, a standard sized laptop computer with a standard keyboard may include a flat panel touch input display screen, which screen (similar to screen 12 in FIG. 1) .

In some embodiments of the present invention, the touch screen 52 may provide haptic feedback to the user similar to the touch pad 16 described in the previous embodiment. The one or more actuators may be connected to a touch screen, or a moveable surface near the touch screen, in a manner similar to the embodiment described below. The user can feel the haptic feedback through the object or the finger holding it with the stylus 57 contacting the screen 52. [

The touch screen 52 is connected to the housing 54 of the device 50 with one or more springs or compliant elements such as helical springs, leaf springs, flexures or compliant materials (foam, rubber, etc.) By moving the screen along the axis, it is possible to provide haptic feedback. The screen may also have curves or other connections that allow side-to-side (x and / or y) movement similar to the appropriate embodiment described below.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a haptic feedback system suitable for use in all embodiments described in accordance with the present invention. The haptic feedback system includes a host computer system 74 and an interface device 72.

The host computer system 74 preferably includes a host microprocessor 100, a clock 102, a display screen 76 and an audio output device 104. The host computer also includes other well known components such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and input / output (I / O) electronic equipment (not shown).

As discussed above, the host computer 74 may be a personal computer, such as a laptop computer, which may operate on any well known operating system. The host computer system 74 may also be any of a variety of home video game console systems typically connected to a television set or other display, such as a Nintendo, Sega, Sony, or Microsoft system. In other embodiments, the host computer 74 may be a device, a "set top box" or other electronic device from which a user may provide input. The computer 74 may be a hand-held computer, such as a PDA, or may be a vehicle computer, a stand-up arcade computer, a workstation, and the like.

The host computer 74 implements a host application program through which the user interacts, preferably via an interface device 72 including a haptic feedback function. For example, the host application program may be a video game, a word processor or a spreadsheet, a browser or web page that executes HTML or VRML commands, a science analysis program, a movie player, a virtual reality training program or application, And outputting a haptic feedback command to the device 72. [0050] Here, for simplicity, an operating system such as Windows ™, MS-DOS, MacOS, Unix, and Palm OS is referred to as an "application program". Here, the computer 74 may provide a "graphical environment ", which may be a graphical user interface, a game, a simulation or other visual environment, and may include graphical objects such as icons, windows, A suitable software driver for interfacing to such software and computer input / output (I / O) devices is from Immersion Corporation of San Jose, CA.

Display device 76 may be included in host computer 74 and may be a standard display screen (LCD, CRT, plasma, flat panel, etc.), 3-D goggles, or other visual output device. The audio output device 104, such as a speaker, is preferably coupled to the host microprocessor 100 to provide audio output to the user. Other types of peripherals may also be coupled to the host processor, such as storage devices (hard disk drives, CD ROM drives, floppy disk drives, etc.), and other input / output devices.

The interface device 72 is connected to the computer 74 by a bus 80 that communicates signals between the device 72 and the computer 74 and may in some embodiments also power the device 72 have. In another embodiment, the signal may be transmitted between the device 72 and the computer 74 by wireless transmission / reception. In some embodiments, the power supply of the actuator may be supplemented, or supplied alone, by a power storage device provided in the device, such as a capacitor or one or more batteries. The bus 80 may be bi-directional transmitting signals in either direction between the host 74 and the device 72. [ The bus 80 may be a serial interface bus, such as an RS232 serial interface, RS-422, a universal serial bus (USB), MIDI, or other protocol well known to those skilled in the art; Or a parallel bus or wireless link.

The device 72 may be a separate device from the host 74 having its own housing and may be incorporated into the host computer housing as in the laptop computer of Fig. The device 72 may include or be combined with a dedicated local processor 110. Processor 110 refers to device 12 as local, where "local" refers to processor 110, which is a processor separate from any host processor of host computer system 14. "Local" may be referred to as processor 110 dedicated to sensor I / O and haptic feedback of device 12. The processor 110 may comprise software instructions (e.g., firmware) that await an instruction or request from the computer host 74, decode the instruction or request, and manipulate or control the input and output signals according to the instruction or request . The processor 110 may also operate independently of the host computer 74 by reading sensor signals and computing sensor signals, time signals, and appropriate forces from stored or relayed commands selected in accordance with host commands. A suitable microprocessor for use with the local processor 110 includes a sophisticated force feedback processor such as an "Immersion Touchsense Processor " as well as a bottom microprocessor. The processor 110 may include one microprocessor chip, a plurality of processors and / or coprocessor chips, a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or logic, state machine, ASIC,

The processor 110 receives a signal from the sensor 112 and provides a signal to the actuator 88 in response to a command provided by the host computer 74 via the bus 80. For example, in a local control embodiment, the host computer 74 provides a high level supervisory command (one or more parameters indicative of tactile and command identifiers) to the processor 110 via the bus 20, 110 decodes the command and manages low level port control loops to sensors and actuators in accordance with a high level of command independent of the host computer 74. This operation is described in detail in U.S. Patent No. 5,734,373. In the host control loop, a force instruction is output from the host computer to the processor 110, instructing the processor to output a force or force sense with the specified characteristics. Local processor 110 reports data, such as location data, describing the location of the device at one or more degrees of freedom provided to the host computer. Data may also describe states of buttons, switches, and the like. The host computer may use the location data to update the executed program. In a local control loop, an actuator signal may be provided from the processor 110 to an actuator 88, and a sensor signal may be provided from the sensor 112 and other input devices 118 to the processor 110. Here, the term "tactile sensation" refers to a series of forces or signal forces output by an actuator 18 that provides a sensation to a user. For example, vibration, jolt, or texture sensation can all be seen as tactile. The processor 110 may process the input sensor signal to determine an appropriate output actuator signal by the following stored instructions. The processor may use the sensor signal in local determination of the force to be output to the user object, and may report the position data derived from the sensor signal to the host computer.

In yet another embodiment, other hardware may be provided locally to the device 72 to provide similar functionality to the processor 110, instead of the processor 110. [ For example, a hardware state machine incorporating predetermined logic may be used to provide signals to actuator 88, receive sensor signals from sensor 112, and output haptic signals.

In an embodiment controlled by another host, the host computer 74 may provide a low-level force command over the bus 20, which may be used by the processor 110 or other circuitry To the actuator 18 via the antenna 18, as shown in FIG. Thus, the host computer 14 directly controls and processes all signals to and from the device 72. For example, the host computer directly controls the force output by the actuator 88 and directly receives the sensor signals from the sensor 112 and the input device 118. Other embodiments may use a "hybrid" organization in which some types of forces (e.g., a closed loop effect) are purely controlled by a local microprocessor, and other types of effects Lt; / RTI >

The local memory 122, such as RAM and / or ROM, is preferably coupled to the processor 110 of the device 72 to store instructions, temporary values, and other data for the processor 110. The memory 122 may further include or be included in the processor 110. In addition, the local clock 124 may be coupled to the processor 110 to provide timing data.

The sensor 112 senses a position or movement (e.g., an object on the touch pad) at a desired degree of freedom and provides a signal to processor 110 (or host 74) containing information indicative of position or movement. Sensors suitable for detecting motion include capacitive or resistive sensors of the touchpad, touch sensors of the touch screen, and the like. Other types of sensors may be used. The optional sensor interface 114 may be used to convert the sensor signal to a signal that can be interpreted by the processor 110 and / or the host computer system 14.

Actuator 88 sends a force to a housing, manipulandum, button, or other portion of device 72 in response to signals received from processor 110 and / or host computer 14. Device 72 preferably includes one or more actuators that are operative to generate a force in device 72 (or such a component) and a haptic sensation to the user. The actuator is "computer controlled" and, for example, the force output from the actuator is ultimately controlled by a signal generated from a controller such as a microprocessor, ASIC, Many types of actuators may be used, including rotary DC motors, voice coil actuators, moving magnet actuators, E-core actuators, compressed air / hydraulic actuators, solenoids, speaker voice coils, piezo actuators, passive actuators (brakes) Some preferred actuator types are described below. The actuator interface 116 may be selectively connected between the actuator 88 and the processor 110 to convert the signal from the processor 110 into a signal suitable for driving the actuator 88. The interface 116 may include a power amplifier, a switch, a digital-to-analog controller (DAC), an analog-to-digital controller (ADC), and other components well known to those skilled in the art.

In some embodiments herein, the actuator may apply a short duration force sense by moving the housing or manipulator or inertial mass of the device. This short term sense of force can be described as a "pulse ". The "pulse" may be conveyed substantially along a particular direction in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the magnitude of the "pulse" can be controlled; The detection of "pulses" can be controlled; A "periodic force sense" can be applied, which can have a magnitude and a frequency. For example, a periodic sensation can be selected from a sine wave, a square wave, a sawtooth wave to the top, a sawtooth wave and a triangle wave to the bottom; An envelope can be applied to the periodic signal, which can vary in size over time. Wave forms can be "streamed" from the host to the device, or can be carried through high-level commands including parameters such as size, frequency and duration.

Other input devices 118 may be included in device 72, which may transmit input signals to processor 110 or host 74 when operated by a user. Such input devices may include buttons, dials, switches, scroll wheels, handles or other controls or mechanisms. The power supply 120 may optionally be included in the device 72 connected to the actuator interface 116 and / or the actuator 18 to provide electrical power to the actuator. Power can also be pulled from a power source separate from device 72 or received via bus 80. In addition, the received power may be stored and adjusted by the device 72 (and / or the host 74), and thus used when it is necessary to drive the actuator 88 or may be used in an additional manner.

The interface device 12 may be of any of a variety of types; Several embodiments will be described later. The touch pad or touch screen described herein may be provided to various types of devices such as a gamepad, joystick, steering wheel, touch pad, old controller, finger pad, handle, trackball, remote control device, cell phone, personal digital assistant .

Specific Example

The present invention provides various embodiments wherein feedback is provided to a user of a laptop computer or other portable computing device and / or to a user of any computing device having a touchpad or similar input device.

Some embodiments are based on displacing the finger skin when the user's finger touches the touchpad. This embodiment sends a sense of high fidelity as to provide good correlation between input and output at the user's fingertip. An actuator and interlock solution will be described to drive some parallel moving embodiments. Other embodiments are generally based on the stimulation of the user's palm surface in contact with the laptop computer 10. Such a surface can provide a haptic sensation based on parallel movement of the palm surface or inertially connected force. The translation (i.e., X and / or Y axis direction) of the surface on the surface of the upper surface of the touchpad or laptop conveys haptic information such as vibration or displacement to the Z axis (perpendicular to the touchpad or laptop top surface) Effective. This can be important given the volume limitations of the laptop.

In many of the embodiments described herein, it is also useful that the user's touch is detected by the touch input device. Since the haptic feedback needs to be output only when the user touches the touch device, this detection can cause the tactile feedback to be interrupted (actuator "power off") when the object is not in contact with the touch input device. When a local touch device microprocessor (or similar circuit) is being used in the computer, such microprocessor can turn off the actuator output when no user touch is detected. Thus, contact is again detected and the additional computation burden of the host processor can be reduced until the actuator output is restarted.

In many preferred embodiments, the haptic does not force the user to learn how to control the laptop, but rather provides a way for the manufacturer to provide the haptic content in a way that does not force the manufacturer to design and produce much differently from the current design. Computer or other device. For example, in a laptop embodiment, when a user moves his finger on the touchpad, the cursor displayed on the laptop screen moves accordingly. The haptic effect may be output to a touchpad or other laptop component that is touched by the user, such as when the cursor is in a graphic object or area, when an event occurs, or the like. In other applications, a haptic effect may be output when an event or interaction occurs in a game or other application running on the laptop. Many types of actuators, sensors, linkages, amplification transmissions, etc. may be used with the present invention.

The touchpad surface that is currently produced is typically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) that contains the electronic components and standard connections needed to operate and connect the touchpad on the laptop. Therefore, when the force is applied to the touchpad, they are applied to the PCB, which is often directly connected to the touchpad, for example, under the touchpad.

The embodiments herein are designed according to specific guidelines and characteristics. For example, certain haptic experiences that are felt to be enforced in some embodiments, locations where the tactile content is physically located or focused, appearing directly below the finger, including an indication of the user's finger on the touchpad, The spatial correlation of the haptic feedback that may be generated somewhere, such as force strength and power required for forced feedback, how the user interacts with the device, the quality of the feedback and the effect of the content (finger contact angle, etc.) , Which of the actuators and mechanisms fit into the factor / housing is most desirable.

Preferably, current haptic feedback software and drivers, such as TouchSense software from Immersion Corp, may be used in the embodiments described herein. Standardized modules that operate on many different types of products such as PDAs, laptops, cellular phones, and remote controls, such as certain touch pads, are desirable.

The focus of this inventive embodiment is primarily on tactile feedback implementations, not kinetic sense force feedback embodiments. There are two basic types of tactile feedback that apply to the present invention, as described herein: inertial haptic feedback and moving contact haptic feedback. Inertia feedback is based on the movement of an inertial mass created using inertially coupled vibrations and connected to the housing / user through a compliant bend where the mass motion is the inertia of the surface contacted by the user Causing vibration. The mobile contact feedback is directly related to moving the surface or member relative to the user in terms of the earth ground and is generally generated by the small displacement of the user's skin.

The difference between inertia and mobile contact feedback can be caused by the actual mechanism used to provide information to the user. Inertial and tactile simulation all lead to displacement of the hand or finger tissue; Inertial feedback is connected by the compliance of maintaining the enclosure and the conduction possibility of the enclosure through several enclosures. Mobile contact feedback is associated with a more direct mechanism of simulating the user's organization. In this example, there is a tactile point or surface through the finger skin to cause a sensation by locally modifying the finger or palm tissue. This difference is made to classify two types of embodiments of inertia and surface movement described below.

Hereinafter, a new actuator called Flat-E will be described below, which can be used in all of the embodiments herein, and represents a low-profile, high-power, high-quality flat actuator type. Flat-E actuators have satisfactory performance levels, can reduce volume, and can form the required factor in a laptop or other device application.

Inertial embodiment

This embodiment moves the inertial mass to impart inertial haptic feedback to the user. Which is typically transmitted through an enclosure or mechanism such as a housing or other surface. In many cases, the inertial mass does not impact any surface in the course of time, but such impact can be used instead to provide additional haptic effects.

5 is a perspective view of an embodiment 150 of an actuator assembly used to provide an inertial haptic sensation to a touchpad and housing of an apparatus of the present invention. The actuator assembly 150 includes a grounded bend 160 and an actuator 155. The flexures 160 can be integral parts made of a material such as flip-propylene plastic (a "living hinge" material) or other flexible material. The flexure 160 may be seated in the housing of the device 12, for example at the "161" portion.

The actuator 155 is connected to the flexure 160. The housing of the actuator is connected to a receptacle portion 162 of the bend 160 housing the actuator 155 as shown. The rotational shaft 164 of the actuator is connected to the bend 160 in the bore 165 of the bend 160 and is tightly connected to the center rotary member 170. The rotational shaft 164 of the actuator is rotated about an axis A, which also rotates the member 170 about the A axis. The rotating member 170 is connected to the first portion of the angled member 171 by a flexure 174. The flex joint 174 is made very thin so that the flex joint 174 will roll when the rotating portion 170 moves the first portion 172a substantially linearly. The first portion 172a is connected to the grounded portion 180 of the bent portion by a bending joint 178 and the first portion 172a is connected to the second portion 172b of the angled member by bending. The opposite side of the second portion 172b is connected by a flexure 184 to the container portion 162 of the flexure.

The angled member 171 including the first portion 172a and the second portion 172b moves linearly along the x-axis as shown by the arrow 176. [ Actually, only portions 172a and 172b move almost linearly. When the bent portion is in its original position (rest position), it is preferable that the portions "172a" and "172b" are angled as shown with respect to the longitudinal axis. This can cause the rotating member 170 to push or pull the angled member 171 along both directions indicated by the arrows 176.

The actuator 155 operates only in a part of the rotation range when driving the rotary member 170 in two directions, and enables wide-band operation and high-frequency pulses or vibrations to be output. The flex joint 192 is provided at a flexure portion between the container portion 162 and the grounded portion 180. The flex joint 192 is configured such that the container portion 162 is movable in the z-axis in response to movement of portions 172a and 172b (as well as actuator 155, rotating member 170, and second portion 172b) Allows you to move linearly. The flex joint 190 is provided in the first portion "172a " of the angled member 171, allowing flexure in the z direction to occur more easily with respect to the flex joint 192. [

By rapidly varying the direction of rotation of the actuator shaft 164, the actuator / vessel can be made to oscillate along the z-axis and generate vibrations in the housing along with an actuator 155 that operates as an inertial mass. The bending joining included in flexure 160, such as flex joint 192, also acts as a spring member to provide the return of force towards the original position (rest position) of actuator 155 and toward container portion 172 . In some embodiments, a stop may be included in the flexure 160 to limit movement of the container portion 122 and the actuator 155.

Other embodiments may provide other types of actuator assemblies that provide an inertia feel, such as bends that move separate inertial masses instead of the actuators themselves. Alternatively, the eccentric mass connected to the rotating shaft of the actuator may be vibrated to provide rotational inertial feel to the housing. The eccentric mass can be driven in one direction or in both directions. Other types of actuator assemblies, such as linear voice coil actuators, solenoids, moving magnet actuators, and the like, may also be used.

In one embodiment, the actuator assembly, as described above, can be connected to any of a variety of locations in a lap housing or other device housing, and vibrates parts of the housing in response to transmission of vibrations through the product housing by the separately mounted actuator module . The actuator assembly may be attached to the laptop housing or other area of the component to provide inertial haptic feedback when the inertial mass vibrates.

The user ' s experience may vary depending on the precise location of the actuator assembly on the laptop and other haptic effects being output. The location for connection of the actuator assembly includes a bottom, side, or front housing, a surface promised by the user's palm when the device is in operation, an area adjacent to or connected to the touch pad or touch screen. The effective position may be the touch pad itself (e.g., connection to the lower portion of the touch pad of the actuator assembly). In some embodiments, if the touchpad is square, more compliance can be achieved along the long directional axis of the touchpad.

Generally, the haptic content can be received by the user over a limited frequency range by attaching the actuator assembly to the location of the laptop. The most effective specific position for transmitting the vibration can be determined, for example, by experiments.

In many cases, the output of various types of haptic effects may be weak or unclear to the user, and an effect with a significantly higher frequency may be more noticeable. One of the effective tactile effects for this embodiment is the relatively high frequency "ringing" effect. The sympathetic vibration in the laptop case and touchpad can amplify this vibration. An actuator designed to resonate at a constant ideal frequency can be used to represent a broad frequency spectrum by amplitude modulation techniques. For example, a forced 25 Hz square wave can be generated by modulating a 250 Hz natural frequency generated in a tuned resonant actuator such as a large piezoelectric ceramics resonator (see Figs. 8a-8b). Such a modulation scheme can depend on the environment in which it is located and on the actuator that is tailored to the object it should operate on. Some types of vibration isolation systems may be used in some embodiments to hold energy limited to a haptic module as opposed to allowing energy to radiate in resonant mode in other parts of a laptop or other device.

6 is a perspective view of another embodiment wherein the touchpad module is dependent on a compliant auxiliary structure and can be coupled to a harmonic source to oscillate along the Z axis. In this example, the touch pad 200 can be moved perpendicular to the surface of the touch pad with the actuator assembly 202 moving the touch pad surface in the Z axis. The touchpad may be connected to the laptop housing 204 by a layer or support of foam, rubber or other compliant material and may be connected to the touchpad 200 and the housing 204, A strip of foam 206 is provided around the touchpad. The actuator assembly 202 may be connected to a lower portion (or other location) of the touch pad assembly such that when the inertial mass vibrates, the vibration is transmitted to the touch pad and moves in the Z direction relative to the laptop housing 204. For example, the actuator assembly may be directly bonded to the bottom of the touchpad PCB. Unlike simply moving the touchpad module relative to the Z axis, a floating assembly of touchpad and bezel (the surface surrounding the touchpad) may move instead.

In another embodiment, a stand-alone touchpad device can be used, wherein the touchpad is housed in a separate housing and communicates with the laptop or other device via wire or transmission. In one embodiment, a self-contained touch pad device may be attached to a palm pad with an actuator assembly coupled to the pad. When the inertial mass of the actuator assembly vibrates, an inertia sensation is transmitted to the touch pad through the member. That is, it effectively provides inertial coupling from the actuator assembly to the touch pad surface. A foam layer (or other compliant layer) can be connected between the touchpad and ground to provide compliance and allow the pad and touchpad to move inertially. This embodiment can provide a more compelling feel to the actuator assembly than an embodiment mounted on the periphery of a laptop or a built-in touchpad due to the compliance of the foam with a stronger sense of output.

The entire touch pad may have a haptic sensation as one integral member; Or in other embodiments, the respective moving portions of the pads may each have a haptic feedback actuator and be associated with transmission, and a haptic sensation may be provided only to a particular portion. For example, some embodiments may include a touchpad having other portions that are bent or moved relative to other portions of the touchpad.

In yet another embodiment, a touch pad periphery or adjacent surface is connected to a harmonic source of vibration (e.g., an actuator assembly) and vibrates in at least one axial direction. For example, the palm rest surface can be driven by an inertial actuator assembly housed in a laptop. Figure 7 is a perspective view of an example of an inertially driven palm rest surface. The laptop computer 210 includes a typical touch pad and a touch pad 212 functioning as a function. The palm rest surface 214 is located adjacent the touch pad 212 and the surface 214 may be attached to the laptop housing over a layer of flexible open cell foam or other compliant material. In some embodiments, the surface 214 may be textured with a divot and / or bump to enable a stronger contact with the surface by the user. The actuator assembly 216 is connected to the palm rest surface 214; In the illustrated embodiment, the assembly 216 is connected below the surface 214. The assembly may be any of the actuator assemblies described above. For example, the actuator assembly 216 may provide z-axis vibration to the palm rest surface 214.

The user preferably rests the resting palm and / or fingers on the palm rest surface 214 using the touch pad 212 with a pointing finger. Thus, the user can feel the haptic sensation through the palm rest surface while the touchpad is operating. In addition, one hand of the user rests on the palm surface 214 and is used to direct and point the other hand to the touchpad while sensing haptic feedback. The palm surface is implemented as a substantially unavoidable contact surface so that the user will not miss a lot of haptic events while using the touchpad. In some embodiments, by how hard the user places the palm on the surface, a slight difference in perceived size over the useful range of movement can be made, the result being the robustness and mass of the particular device used have. The robustness of the connection between the palm surface and the housing can be adjusted to a particular feel in other embodiments.

In a related embodiment, the actuator assembly may be mounted in another area. For example, the actuator assembly may be attached underneath an extension of a palm rest surface made of textured material mounted on a flexible open cell foam or other compliant material layer.

In other embodiments, the palm surface may be translated in the X and / or Y directions, similar to the touchpad translation described below. The inertial actuator assembly may be used to force a translation, or may be used for other types of actuators having high rigidity and high actuator power in a translation mode, for example to avoid unintentional hard stop limiting distortion May be used. Because the translating palm surface may be appropriate for planar actuators, the assembly may be incorporated into the lid housing; The planar actuator will be described later.

8A is a perspective view of an actuator that can be used in another embodiment of an inertial haptic feedback device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a high frequency mechanical oscillator, which is mechanically connected to the touch pad, is adjusted. One example of such an implementation is a thin diameter piezoelectric transducer 230 with a diameter of 60 mm and a natural frequency of 300 to 400 Hz, when supported on a large diameter, for example, commercially available. The piezoelectric transducer preferably comprises a thin diaphragm (sheet) 231 of metal. One embodiment may include an additional mass 232 in the ceramic center of the piezoelectric diaphragm to add an inertial mass to obtain a stronger inertial feel from the vibrational mass and to lower the natural frequency. The outer periphery of the transducer 230 may be grounded and the mass 232 may vibrate perpendicularly to the disk surface to create an inertial haptic sensation into the housing to which the transducer is attached.

Actuator 230 may function as a harmonic oscillator operating at a relatively high frequency, which transmits sensations to the parts or hands of the laptop to which it is attached. Amplitude modulation (envelope control) can be used to generate a wider haptic spectrum than a single fundamental drum mode. A large diameter piezoelectric driver can be used, for example, Kingstate of Taiwan. Discs of different sizes may be used.

To provide the desired haptic sensation, a large piezoelectric transducer or "buzzer" must provide a large supportable acceleration of mass, and the carrier frequency (oscillating frequency) must be modulated with a haptic signal. Several electronic components may be required to operate this type of actuator. A high voltage supply can be generated from 5 volts. An oscillating circuit such as self exciting can drive the device. In order to enable modulation of the amplitude of the output, there may be a gating characteristic that initiates or vibrates, as well as a proportional control. All digital implementations can be provided by turning the oscillator on and off.

8B is a side view of another embodiment 234 of a piezoelectric transducer that provides haptic feedback. Here, the transducer applies vibration (not inertia) directly to the touchpad (or touch screen) along the z-axis. The housing 236 of the laptop or other device includes a bezel that covers the touchpad member 238, which the user physically contacts to provide input to the computer or processor. The touchpad member 238 may include electronic components required to interface the touchpad with other electronic components. The touch pad member 238 may rest on the spacer plate 240 having a specific mass selected to enable efficient haptic output. The spacer plate 240 is at the edge of the piezoelectric metal diaphragm which is part of the piezoelectric transducer where the electrical leads 241 can be connected between the diaphragm 231 and the signal source 246. The piezoelectric ceramic element 242 which is also part of the piezoelectric transducer is connected to the metal diaphragm 231 and the electrical lead 243 is connected between the element 242 and the signal source 246. The conductive electrode is plated on the ceramic element 242. The contact pad 248 is located between the element 242 and the lower housing 250 where the contact pad is rigidly connected to both the ceramic element 242 and the housing 250. The contact pads 248 are made small in order to increase the bending of the diaphragm 231, resulting in a large acceleration and a strong haptic effect. The lower housing 250 may include, for example, a printed circuit board (PCB). For example, one or more preloaded spring elements 252, such as leaf springs, helical springs, etc., connect the touch pad member 238 to the lower housing 250.

In operation, when the current from the signal source 246 flows through the diaphragm 231 and the ceramic element 242, the piezoelectric transducer moves along the z-axis. Thus, the spacer plate 240 is provided only on the edge of the diaphragm 231 so that the inner portion of the diaphragm and the ceramic element 242 are moved, and the ceramic element pushes the lower housing 250 so that the diaphragm 231 contacts the spacer plate 240 , Which, conversely, pushes the touch pad element 238. This pushes the touch pad element up, and the spring element 252 provides spring restoring force to the touch pad and returns to the neutral position. When the piezoelectric transducer similarly moves in the opposite direction, it moves the touch pad element 238 downwardly toward the lower housing 250, as indicated by the vibration signal. The touch pad element thus oscillates along the z-axis and provides a haptic sensation to the user touching the touch pad element.

In some embodiments, the components of the touchpad embodiment 234 are selected to provide a more efficient haptic sensation. For example, when the piezoelectric transducer vibrates close to the natural frequency of the mechanical system (including the transducer itself), a stronger force and an effective haptic sensation may be output. The natural frequency of this moving mechanical system is represented by the root value of approximately k1 plus k2 divided by m as follows:

fn? (k1 + k2 / m)

K1 is the spring constant of the metal diaphragm 231 of the piezoelectric transducer, k2 is the spring constant of the spring element 252, m is the distance between the spacer plate 240, the touch pad 238, The total mass of the part of the suspension attached to the pad. As well as the spring constant, this yam is selected to provide a desirable low natural frequency of about 120 Hz or less which results in an effective haptic sensation. The spacing plate 240 allows the plurality of piezoelectric transducers, for example located side by side, to be positioned to face the lower housing 250, so that the plurality of transducers are strong It can be driven in accordance with the haptic effect or at different times.

One way to provide a drive signal is to initially oscillate the carrier signal at or near the natural frequency fn and modulate the carrier signal into an effect envelope if appropriate (e.g., to produce a desired frequency or effect, To drive the amplifier with the modulated signal and vice versa to drive the piezo-electric converter. Unlike square wave or other types, the sinusoidal carrier signal used in this embodiment tends to produce a weaker haptic effect in the embodiment described in FIG. 8B, which is often desirable.

The piezoelectric transducer and spacer plate may be reversed in orientation so that the spacer plate 240 contacts the lower housing 250 and the diaphragm 231 rests on the spacer plate 240, The element 242 is located on top of the diaphragm and the ceramic element can directly impact the touch pad element 238 or pad connected to the touch pad element when vibrated by the drive signal. In yet another embodiment, the ceramic element can be directly connected to the touch pad element. However, this case generally results in a less robust and effective haptic effect.

Surface parallel migration Example

This embodiment provides haptic feedback to the user by translating the surface that the user touches. The user feels a parallel moving surface through the skin and creates an immediate sensation. This type of haptic feedback is based on in-plane surface movement without interaction with the fixed surface or relative movement between the adjacent surfaces of the user's fingers or hands. The parallel movement of the surface touching or adjacent to the touch pad module surface (Figs. 9-12) or the displacement of the touch pad surface itself (Figs. 13-14) will be described later, and an actuator that can be used in any application is also described . The moving surface invention of U.S. Patent No. 5,184,868 may also be applied.

Small (less than 1 mm) displacement between adjacent surfaces provides good signal transmission to the finger tissue. An enhanced surface can include physical surface textures (bumps, roughness, etc.) and can be modified to attract users of any location or orientation. In some embodiments, a small lateral translation (displacement below the fingertip of between .25 mm and 0.5 mm) may result in an out-of-plane (z-axis) It may be more effective than inertial vibration. For example, an inertial connection may give a more distant feel and a cut feel in some embodiments.

Separated surface translation ( Separate Surface Translation )

Displacement of the separate surface member located at the top of the touchpad module is effective in providing highly correlated feedback. Such feedback makes the transparent surface sufficiently visible, such as in a PDA or touchscreen, to be synchronized so that it can be translated over the visual display. In other embodiments, parallel movement of other surfaces to the side adjacent to the touch pad or the like may also be performed.

9 is a perspective view of a first separating surface parallel translation embodiment 250, wherein a thin surface in slidable contact with the touchpad module moves laterally under the fingers. A translating surface member ("surface") 252 is located on top of the fixed touch pad 254 and covers it. The extension members 256a and 256b connected to the translating surface 252 may extend substantially vertically in the x and y directions from the touchpad 254. [ The actuators 258a, 258b may be connected to the respective expansion members 256a, 256b, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the actuator 258 is a linear actuator that outputs a linear force to the associated expansion member 256, thereby moving the translating surface in the direction of the output force. For example, the actuator may be an "E" core actuator. The two pole magnets are invisible with the coil 260 under the ferromagnetic piece 382 in the actuator 258b.

The sliding surface 252 may be either a rigid or substantially rigid material; For example, Kapton (polyamide) flexible printed circuit board material can be used. The expansion member 256 may include a stiffener section to prevent distortion. The sliding surface 252 may be a textured surface that provides a friction force to engage the skin tissue of the user contacting the surface. The top region of the moving surface 252 includes a textured surface that is sufficiently rough to provide action in the skin without touching and feeling rough. At the bottom of the moving surface, a low friction coating can be included to slide between the surface 252 and the touch pad 254. This lower component is very thin, for example its thickness is less than 0.010 inches (0.25 mm).

The user points and touches the moving surface 252 like the touchpad 254. [ The surface 252 is made sufficiently thin so that the touchpad 254 can detect contact of all of the user's surfaces 252 as if the user is touching the location of the touchpad directly below the location that the user is touching on the surface 252 .

In some embodiments, the actuator may be located relatively far from the moving surface (e.g., > 10 cm), in which case the more rigid extension member 256 may move tension and pressure with as little friction or out- May need to be transmitted. For example, fiber laminates of glass or carbon can perform this function.

In some moving magnet actuator embodiments, a thin piece of rare earth magnet can be laminated to the moving surface 252 to act as a moving magnet. For example, if the moving magnet piece is less than 1 mm thick and the "E" core and coil are positioned below the distal segment of the extension 256, such as directly mounted on the touchpad PCB itself, have. The coil wire can be soldered directly to the touchpad PCB.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of another parallel moving surface embodiment, with the separate moving tactile surface positioned in slidable contact over the touchpad. This surface is moved parallel to the touchpad by a high displacement actuator through a high fidelity mechanical interlock device.

In this embodiment, the translation surface 272 is located on the touch pad 274, similar to the embodiment of FIG. The expansion member 276 can be exposed in the direction of the rotating actuator 278 (here, in the x direction), and this example is grounded to the laptop housing 280. The actuator 278 may be a DC rotary motor having a rotatable shaft 282 connected to the coupling link 284 and the opposite side to the expansion member 276. For example, a coupling portion from the actuator assembly 150 described above may be used. When the actuator 278 rotates the shaft 282 in either direction, the linkage translates the rotation into movement of the surface 272 in the corresponding direction (left or right). For example, a displacement of about +/- 1 mm can be achieved. The user senses surface translation when moving his or her finger at the surface 272. Motor rotation can result in a very clean, high fidelity parallel movement along the x-axis. The DC motor design can operate on the laptop in the front position of the enclosure or housing or in the empty space next to it. Similar extensions, linkages, and motors can be provided in the y direction to move the surface 272 in the y direction. The user input is detected on the touch pad through the haptic surface.

A thin surface can be trimmed to fit inside the touchpad area with a small perimeter perimeter. The square extensions may be cut out of the larger stack to provide a fairly rigid strip driven by the actuator. The strip should be wide enough to hold the actuator in operation without strip twist.

As in the embodiment of FIG. 9, a smooth surface may be provided beneath the surface 272 contacting the touchpad to provide a less friction-less sliding interface with the touchpad plastic covering the user's fingers generally touch . The upper side of the moving surface 272 is made frictional to enable good user glyphs, e.g., textures such as elaborate sandpaper. This provides mechanical bonding to the finger surface, which can provide a good contact surface, but is not so rough as to feel tough. Other embodiments may use various types of friction surfaces. Other embodiments may also use actuators that are planar, such as moving magnet actuators or voice coil actuators.

Two strips 286 of plastic or other material surround the touchpad (i.e., the opening of the housing opening of the touchpad) to compress the moving surface 272 and keep it parallel and planar to the touchpad 274, May be attached to the bezel covering the edge of the surface 272.

The embodiment of Figures 9 and 10 can provide a compelling haptic sensation. Adding a surface over the touchpad does not substantially interfere with sensor operation of the touchpad. The user can simultaneously indicate through the movement of the surface associated with the fixed touchpad and receive the haptic feedback. It is simple to provide input to a laptop or electronic device as the user moves or moves a finger on the interpretation surface on the touchpad. In some embodiments, the moving surface may be held over and not in close proximity to the touch pad, so that some pressure by the user may be required to accept free play and approach the sensor array.

When the cursor is moved around the displayed desktop scroll bar and the desktop GUI displayed on the laptop, the user feels a distinct high fidelity that is well correlated with the cursor spatially. The interrelation properties may vary depending on whether the user moves a finger or an object in the x or y axis. Thus, when the cursor is moved up and down the icon, the user can feel a similar tactile effect in one direction if the user does not concentrate or observe that the movement of the surface 272 is vertical to the movement.

Parallel movement direction - In the example of FIG. 10, the movement of the user's finger in the x-axis direction tends to be more forcible. For example, when a user drags the finger in the x direction to move the cursor from one displayed radio button to the next, even if a very small surface movement is created, the surface 272 can lead the user to the next button, I can feel it together. The surface translational force in the opposite direction of motion may be effective. For example, if the user moves left from the icon, the translation force to the right will be clear and natural. If haptic feedback is possible on only one axis, then in some embodiments the y-axis may be a better choice because there are more vertically aligned content in GUI desktops and applications.

Short, sharp pulses can provide excellent transitions when moving the cursor from one object to another, such as between graphical buttons. The vibration can be transmitted to the user in the surface analysis embodiment by vibrating the actuator driving the surface, e.g., by sine or other periodic waves, so that the translating surface vibrates in the opposite direction.

The user tends to keep the finger off of the touchpad between movements that essentially control the cursor and the inherent spring centering of the linkage and the motor will move the move surface 252 or 272 to the neutral You can wait for. The controlled cursor does not move until the feedback device returns to the neutral reference position because only the surface on the touchpad moves and does not provide input to the computer through the touchpad, such as the user's finger.

Movement in a particular direction causes the surface parallel translation embodiment to operate in conjunction with local local pseudo-kinesthetic feedback as an associated pointing device in some embodiments. Although tactile feedback is still a major type of haptic feedback provided in this embodiment, small movements of the surface are effected in such a way that it is just pop, but feels like a regular "slope" Can be dramatically recognized as a spring force.

The overall rigidity of the actuator can affect the result. If the user presses the moving surface too hard, the user can move the surface while dragging or pointing the finger, which can be actuated even if the actuator is off the spring center. The preferred embodiment has a robust yet rigid actuator and can hardly be backdriven by pressing hard on the user.

It is desirable in some embodiments to have a certain amount of travel or compliance on the moving surface, e.g., about 2 mm. There is a strong spring centering from the motor and the interlocking device and moving the cursor between two objects such as buttons in the GUI can be very realistic because the user will not be able to accept real kinesthetic force feedback until finger pressure is reduced And the finger moves quickly in the screen in relationship mode. The output haptic effect is a simple tactile pop, and the actual motion sense spring does not provide force in the x or y direction. However, the user senses that the finger is dragged by a neighboring object, such as a next button, for example.

It should be noted that kinesthetic force feedback is also possible in other embodiments. For example, if the user fixes the finger in one position on the moving surface and the moving surface has a sufficiently large displacement, the force can be output to the freedom of movement of the moving surface to provide kinesthetic force feedback. The sensor of the touchpad can be used as a sensor to indicate the position of the finger / moving surface for the calculation of a force such as a spring force having a magnitude in accordance with the moving distance from the spring reference. Thus, such an embodiment is a dual mode haptic system and includes both tactile and kinesthetic modes.

Some embodiments of the moving surface may enable sliding by the user, and in other embodiments may be very rigid such that little sliding occurs. In many embodiments, if the maximum permissible range of movement of the surface is sufficient and traversal between two adjacent graphical targets is possible, the kinesthetic mode may be effective and the user may be aware that he / will be. Some embodiments may provide parallel movement and force with two axes (x and y), thus enabling this kinesthetic sense feedback (true spring) in all directions of the touchpad.

If the user does not move the finger or object on the touchpad, the haptic effect may not feel the same. There is content and value corresponding to the touchpad movement with a steering haptic effect (e.g., a detent pop effect). For example, when a user moves a finger and receives a pop effect, it is effective when the finger moves parallel to the moving surface to the point of change between the icon or button.

Many of the advantages described above with respect to the discrete translation surface can also be applied to the later described touchpad surface analysis.

11 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment 290 of a separate translating surface and a moving coil actuator. In this embodiment, the frame 292 is located above the touchpad 294 of the device. The frame 292 is located directly above the touchpad 294 and includes a thin surface portion 296 that is sufficiently thin so that the user's contact of this portion can be detected by the touchpad 294 below. The frame 292 includes an integrated voice coil 298 that is part of the voice coil actuator 300. The coil 298 may be a wire trace molded to the frame 292, which may be a PCB. Another portion of the actuator 300 includes a magnet 302 having two fixed poles positioned over the coil 298 and grounded to the laptop housing and a magnet 292 made of steel and positioned on the other side of the frame 292 and grounded to the housing, And a back plate used for the return path. The steel subassembly may be attached to the touch pad PCB itself, for example.

The magnetic field of the magnet 302 and the current flowing through the coil 298 interact to cause a linear force on the frame 298 which causes the frame and portion 296 to move as shown by arrow 306 do. This provides a haptic sensation to the user similar to the discrete translated moving surface embodiment described above. The housing may surround the entire frame except for the opening that surrounds the portion 296 of the frame 292. In some embodiments, the wires from the coils 298 may be connected to the touchpad PCB using separate flex circuit fingers, which are separated from the moving frame 292.

12 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment 310 of a separate translating surface. In this embodiment, the surface surrounding the touchpad is translated in the x and / or y directions relative to the surface of the touchpad. A thumb surface 312 is located below the touch pad and is firmly connected to the link member 295. The link member 316 is connected to the flexible link 318, which is connected to the rotatable shaft of the actuator 320, which is grounded to the laptop housing. When the actuator 320 rotates the shaft, the flexible link 318 moves the link member 316 linearly as shown by the arrow 322, which causes the thumb surface 312 to move linearly along the x- It moves. The thumb surface 312 is shown slidably in contact with a standard button (not shown) just below the surface 312.

The user may place the thumb, palm, or finger on the thumb surface 312 during operation of the touchpad to experience a haptic sensation. The user simply presses the surface 312 down to press the button located below the thumb surface 312. [ Overall, the senses tend to be similar to the sensations for the other translation surfaces described above. In other embodiments, the link member 316 may be longer to position the actuator 320 of the housing of the laptop or other device as desired.

One drawback is that no feedback is given to the user unless the user's thumb, finger, or palm is in the thumb surface area. The user has to touch another button to type, so you may miss the haptic experience at this time. A larger surface 312 or palm pad extension may be used in embodiments where it is difficult to keep the thumb of the user's same hand on the surface 312 while using one hand to direct the touchpad.

Touch device translation

This embodiment translates the touchpad (or touch screen) surface itself rather than moving the discrete surface. The user feels that the parallel moving touchpad is moving sideways and creates an immediate sense of touch. The touchpad can be moved relative to the fixed periphery, such as the laptop housing.

13 is a perspective view of an embodiment 330 that provides a translating touch pad surface. The touchpad 332 is moved by an actuator 336 relative to a housing 334, such as a laptop or PDA housing. In the illustrated embodiment, the actuator 336 is a rotating actuator with a rotating shaft 338 coupled to the interlock device 340, such as a DC motor. The interlock device 340 is connected to a bracket 342 at the opposite end and the bracket 342 is connected to the underside of the touch pad 332 module. The interlocking device includes bonding and / or flexibility / compliances so that the rotational movement of the shaft 338 is converted to a linear force at the bracket 342 such that the touch pad 332 is shown in the direction of arrow 344 I will move sideways together. For example, the interlocking device may be made of polypropylene similar to the interlocking device of the actuator assembly of FIG. The laptop housing can act as a restraining structure for one touchpad module to move.

For example, a standard DC motor may be used as the polypropylene interconnect assembly for the actuator 336 and the interlock device 340. In one embodiment, the haptic feedback component may be located where the optional components of the laptop, such as an optical disk drive, are typically located.

In another embodiment, the actuator 338 may be located away from the touch pad 332. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, it may be located in any space available in the housing rather than just below the touchpad. The interlock device can be used to position the actuator away from the touchpad as shown below in Fig.

Translating the entire touchpad in one or two axial directions may be a good overall haptic approach. In order to provide a useful haptic, a very small displacement of the touch pad (0.2 mm <x <0.5 mm) is desired. The power consumption of this embodiment, as calculated within the entity size range, may be less than the power consumption of currently available inertial mouse interface devices, which may receive all the necessary power through an interface to the host computer, e.g., USB.

This type of embodiment has several distinct advantages. The feedback experience is direct, well-aligned, and sophisticated. Flexibility and caution, and the addition of a haptic component does not change the way the touchpad is used. The translational surface requires a smaller displacement than the inertial approach - this can lead to reduced power consumption and fabrication benefits. In some embodiments, the movement of the touchpad may be aligned (angled) at an angle in the x-y plane. The use of relatively large DC motors may involve some disadvantages, such as flexible interlocks, which require a lot of theorem, can cause friction, and have a relatively high power consumption.

14 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment 350 of the moving touchpad, wherein the touchpad is movable in the X and Y directions. The touch pad 351 is directly connected to the first coupling member 351 and is connected to the rotating shaft of the actuator 353 by a flexible member 354 such as polypropylene. The actuator 353 is grounded to the laptop housing. When the actuator 353 rotates its shaft, the flexible member 354 converts the rotational motion to linear motion and translates the coupling member 352 in the x direction, and conversely, as shown by the arrow 355, The pad is moved in parallel. And is connected to the second coupling member 356 at the end of the first coupling member 354, for example, by a flexible coupling.

The second actuator 358 grounded to the laptop housing is connected to the other end of the second coupling member 356 by a flexible member 357 wherein the axis of rotation of the rotating shaft of the actuator 358 is substantially parallel to the axis of the actuator 353 ). The rotary force output by the rotary shaft of the actuator 358 is converted into a linear force by the flexible member 357. [ This linear force causes the second coupling member 356 to linearly move along its longitudinal direction and vice versa, causing the first coupling member 352 to rotate near the end of the actuator 353 along the y axis, Causing the pad 351 to move about the y axis. Actuators 353 and 358 may be other types of actuators or DC motors, for example, linear actuators such as those shown in Figures 15-17 may be used. The coupling member may be made of any suitable material, such as carbon fiber. Preferably, very little energy is absorbed by undesirable deformation of the grounded structure or the interconnecting assembly.

Thus, the mechanism separates the x and y motions; By activating the actuator 353, x-axis movement is provided, and y-axis movement is provided by activating the actuator 358; Both x and y axis motions can be provided by activating both motors. Both actuators can be steered in the same (common mode) or otherwise (differential mode) to obtain pure X or Y motion without the coupling of the coupling parts. Also, any combination of drive currents produces a resultant force along any axis without coupling to the same fidelity.

One embodiment may use firmware for rapid computation and output of the X and Y forces, for example software running on a local controller such as a microprocessor or software running outside the host CPU. In some embodiments, such firmware can be too complex and therefore a mechanism for an electronic method of switching between two basic feedback axes is used instead. In one embodiment, the two DC motors may be connected to a series circuit with a switch that turns current through one of the two motors.

In the embodiment of Fig. 14, the user can feel the difference between the x and y direction forces when moving a finger or an object in the x direction on the touch pad. There is a haptic value with alignment or correlation of finger / cursor movements and tactile feedback; In some cases, the haptic signal-to-noise ratio can be increased by alignment. For example, when feedback is given vertically along the x-axis, moving the cursor from right to left on the icon or button can be a better and more realistic button feel to the user. Less power is required if the feedback is aligned in the cursor direction instead of the forward or wrong direction. In some cases, a weakly aligned haptic effect may be more significant than a more strongly misaligned effect.

A touchpad surface with an enhanced texture moves in relation to a fixed peripheral surface with an enhanced texture. Enhanced textures are tougher, wrinkled, or otherwise textured to enable a stronger user's touch.

In some other embodiments, the touch pad surface consists of interdigitated surface features moving relative to one another in the x and / or y directions. For example, two of the touchpad halves can be steered by the actuator to move relative to each other.

In other embodiments, other actuators may be used to move the touchpad, touch screen or other touch device in the z direction. For example, a piezoelectric actuators, voice coil actuators, or moving magnet actuators may be directly connected to the touchpad or touch screen to provide direct movement of the touch surface. In addition, the touchpad surface can be composed of a fixed tactile surface and a reference surface, wherein the reference surface can be shifted along the z axis with respect to the fixed tactile surface.

15A and 15B are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of another embodiment of a new "Flat-E" actuator used to translate a touch pad. 15C is a side view of the actuator 360. Fig. Actuator 360 is designed to be very flat and may therefore be more suitable for functioning within a flat assembly that may in essence be part of a touchpad, touch screen or other like input device. The E-core actuator topology uses a minimal amount of magnet material to provide good actuators and provides good force and range of motion. One disadvantage of moving magnet actuators is that they are required to be thick (the "E" -core ferromagnetic piece width can be compromised to some extent and possibly the overall thickness of the actuator will decrease).

The actuator 360 presents an inventive embodiment of an E-core that can be used to translate the touchpad (or to translate the separation surface as in the embodiment of Figures 9-14). The collapsed, flat 3-D embodiment shown in FIGS. 15A-15B includes more interlocking devices and has non-uniform flux in the pawl and moves substantially as in the case of 2-D.

Actuator 360 includes a ferromagnetic piece 362 in the form of an "E" made of a metal such as a ferrous or carbon steel plate and may be a piece of metal or a laminate. The coil 364 of the wire is wound around the center pole of the "E" of the ferromagnetic piece 362. The floating plastic cage 368 can be positioned over the ferromagnetic piece 362 and is arranged to roll the roller about an axis parallel to the axis through which the coil passes through the coil 364, Or more rollers 370 as described above. The cage can be plastic and is floating. That is, it is not attached to other components so that the roller can be turned. A magnet 366 with two pawls is placed on top of the cage 368 and the pole of the ferromagnetic piece 362, so there is an air gap between the magnet and the ferromagnetic piece. The magnet 366 is connected to the roller 370 and below the backing steel piece 372 located on top of it (in the case of the arrangement of the figures and other arrangements possible). The roller thus creates a very small magnetic gap between the magnet and the ferromagnetic piece 362. The back side steel piece 372 is firmly connected to the touch pad 373 as shown in Figure 15D so that the touch pad, the steel piece 372 and the magnet 366 can be translated in relation to the ferromagnetic piece 362 . For example, the magnet may be a bonded neodymium wafer with two poles in some embodiments, and the steel portion may be taken from one sheet at a thickness of about 1 mm. Additional rollers or foams may be used to hold the end of the ferromagnetic piece opposite the magnet 366. Magnet, cage, the piece is placed on the side of the "E" pole rather than on the leading edge as on other E-core actuators; This allows the actuators of the present invention to be made very flat for laptops and other handheld device applications.

In operation, current flows through the coil 364, which causes magnetic flux to flow in the direction of the arrow 374 through the ferromagnetic piece. In response, the steel plate 372 moves in a direction along the axis shown by arrow 376, which direction depends on the direction of the current in the coil. The roller 370 rotates to allow the steel plate 372 and the magnet 366 to translate relative to the ferromagnetic piece 362. The floating cage 368 prevents the roller from moving in an undesired direction when the roller rotates. Further, a magnetic attractive normal force generated between the ferromagnetic piece 362 and the magnet 366 acts on the roller 370. [ Other flat-E related embodiments may include curved portions (which allow movement therefrom) to which magnetic normal forces act and sharpened suspension members.

The flat E actuator embodiment described herein can be used to translate a touch pad (or touch screen) or a separate surface member on or on the touch pad. For example, two flat E actuators can be used to control the touch pad or surface member in x and y, two axes, in a configuration similar to that of FIG.

Actuator 360 can be made very thin compared to other actuators, e.g., the assembly can be made to about 3 or 4 mm, less than half the thickness of other E-core actuators. The magnetic design can be repeated for optimal performance. Linearity and positive force are compromised with thickness.

It is also advantageous to include flat, thin shapes suitable for laptops, PDAs and other portable devices. The moving magnet approach does not require large air gaps, which may be preferable to laptop haptic feedback. The "E" core specimen is 10 mm x 20 mm x 8 mm and is smaller than most DC motors with the same force and consuming the same power. Also, since this is a direct drive configuration, no transfer is required between the actuator and the touch pad. Efficient, low cost, and easy to build components make the actuator affordable. It is simple for the actuator to be integrated into the current touchpad PCB as a module. There is one disadvantage to this magnetic normal force, which is the need for suspension. Roller and / or curved and knife edge suspensions can be used to act on magnetic normal forces.

Actuator 360 generally provides a good range of motion. A larger displacement (e.g. &gt; 1 mm) can be achieved. This embodiment, which uses a foam to support the opposite end of the ferromagnetic piece, has a recovery spring with a low spring constant from a foam suspension operating in shear mode. Audible noise can be reduced by using foam and / or rollers. As long as the haptic performance is good, the displacement of the surface does not significantly affect the cursor movement as the surface displacement is small enough that the user is moving the finger on the touchpad to move the cursor on the desktop.

16A and 16B are perspective views of an upper and a lower surface of another embodiment 380 of the "flat E" actuator of Figs. 15A-15C. The ferromagnetic piece 382 (or stack in another embodiment) includes an approximately "E" structure and a coil 384 is wound around the central pole 385 of E. The two-pole magnet 386 is positioned over the E central pole 385 such that a gap is provided between the ferromagnetic piece 382 and the magnet, similar to embodiment 360. A metal plate 388 (e.g., steel) is connected to the magnet 386 and is provided parallel to the ferromagnetic piece and the magnet. The cage 390 may be provided as an intermediate layer and the roller 389 (shown in phantom) may be located in the hole of the cage 390 and allow the plate 388 to slide sideways relative to the ferromagnetic piece and magnet . The touchpad or touchscreen (not shown) may be rigidly connected to the plate 388 as a grounded piece 382. In another embodiment, the touchpad or touch screen may be connected to the piece 382 with a grounded plate 388. [

The embodiment 380 also includes a flexible suspension which includes two interlocking devices 392 that can be connected to the middle layer plastic cage 390 and effectively connect between the steel plate 388 and the ferromagnetic piece 382 do. The linkage 392 contacts the steel plate 388 at the end 394 and is connected to the cage layer 390 at the end 396 (or is molded into the cage layer as a piece of plastic). Each interlock includes a thin portion 395 and a thick portion 400.

In operation, current flows through the coil 384 and the current and the magnetic force by the magnet 386 cause the plate 388 (and the touch pad) to move with the axis 402. The suspension including the linkage 392 prevents the plate 388 from being skewed due to magnetic normal force and other forces. Each cooperating portion 392 is bent to accommodate the movement of the plate 388 wherein the thin member 398 is first bent and the thick member 400 is bent as the member 398 reaches the limit of bending. Thin - thicker structures allow spring centering to work until a thick (rigid) beam is engaged, so movement stops more smoothly. The final limit of movement is caused by the stationary area striking the inner edge of the plate 388.

The flexible suspension described above allows desired movement of the plate and the touch pad sideways, but prevents movement in the other direction. This makes the movement of the plate 388 more stable and prevents the plate 388 from swinging in position over time. The suspension also provides the desired spring centering force on the plate 388 and the touch pad, causing the touch pad to move to the center of its range of motion when the user stops touching or applying force to the touch pad.

17A-17G illustrate another flat-E actuator touch pad embodiment 420 that provides a fabricated surface mount device utilizing current leadframe and overmolding manufacturing technology and miniaturizes this type of actuator, / RTI &gt; This small size device can be wave soldered on the touch pad module and can operate in parallel to provide appropriate stroke and force for touch pad translation (in other embodiments, for z-axis force).

17A-17C are top views of a PCB 422 that includes a plurality of flat-E actuators 424. Actuator 424 may be located at each corner of PCB 422 as shown. In other constructions, more or fewer actuators may be arranged than shown. Using a plurality of actuators 422 can provide a large size of force and allow each actuator 422 to have low force output and cost. In one embodiment, PCB 422 is a separate PCB grounded to the housing of the laptop. A touchpad (e.g., including a PCB 422 and another unique PCB) is connected to the moving part of the actuator, e.g., the pad 426 shown in Figure 17A. In another embodiment, the PCB 422 is a touch pad, and the moving portion of the actuator is connected to the grounded surface of the laptop, such as the housing. In such an embodiment, the actuator 424 may be invisible to the user by the edges of the housing extending to the periphery of the touchpad, and the central area of the PCB 422 may be exposed to the user.

17D is a side view of one end of the PCB 422 separated from the touchpad, including a flat-E actuator 424. Fig. The touchpad / PCB member 428 is connected to the moving part 430 of the actuator 424.

17E is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the bottom side of the PCB shown in Fig. 17A, where the flat-E actuator 424 is surface mounted on the underside of the PCB 422. Fig. This can be done as a "hand-placed" component or preferably using automatic surface mount technology placement equipment. The "E" ferromagnetic piece 432 may be grounded to the PCB 422 to move the magnet and steel backplate of the actuator.

17F and 17G are perspective views of the top and bottom surfaces of a flat-E actuator 424, each having three pawls and capable of operating similar to the above-described flat-E actuator. The ferromagnetic piece 432 is shaped like an "E" and a coil 434 is wrapped around the central pole. The bend 436 causes the magnet 438 and the steel backing plate 440 to move relative to the ferromagnetic piece 432 and the coil 434. As in the embodiment of Figures 17A-17E, the touchpad (not shown) can be connected to the piece 440 if steel, and the E-laminate piece 432 / coil 434 can be grounded. Further, the backing piece 440 and the magnet 438 can be grounded, and the touchpad can be connected to the moving ferromagnetic piece 432. [

The above-described flat-E actuator can be used to directly translate the touch pad module or the palm surface. In the above-described embodiment, the total thickness of the flat-E actuator may be less than about 3 mm. The present invention provides a preferred embodiment in terms of the economics of size, manufacturability, and size of a flat-E magnetic assembly that can be integrated in current touchpad product production lines.

In other embodiments, other moving magnet actuator designs and other voice coil actuator designs, such as those described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,166,723 and 6,100,874, may be used.

In other embodiments, other types of input surfaces or display screens may be used to similarly translate using the various actuators described herein. For example, to provide haptic feedback, a clear surface such as a display screen of a personal digital assistant (PDA) or an input sensing device that covers a monitor or a touch screen of a CRT is positioned in the X and / or Y (parallel to the screen surface) Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; direction. &Lt; / RTI &gt; Applications for this clear-screen analysis include ATM machines, where the user typically enters information on the touch screen. Haptic feedback allows these inputs to be more accessible and easier for people under average visual acuity. When the user's finger is on a graphically displayed button, the haptic feedback can indicate and identify a particular displayed button with a different haptic sensation. It is useful in many ATM applications because there is no moving cursor in ATM; Thus, haptic feedback may be useful, for example, to output a small amount of vibration when the button is activated to alert the user that the button has been pressed. The haptic feedback may assist the user in a noisy environment where the sound may not be audible to the user, for example, in areas with heavy traffic.

The embodiments described herein may provide haptic feedback in embodiments in which a user uses a stylus or other object to input data into a touchpad, touch screen, or input area. The haptic sensation can be transmitted from the touchpad (or other moving surface) to the user via a stylus or other object.

Other features

In some embodiments, a human factor issue associated with haptic feedback may include force overload protection. Ideally, in non-inertial feedback actuators and transmission designs, such as interpreting surfaces and other surfaces, the actuators create a faithfully large force regardless of the load of the actuator or its position within the actuator travel It is required to pay. In other words, the user's finger or hand should not move the actuator so that half of the oscillating cycle reaches the end of the damped travel condition. For this reason, it is desirable to design the actuator and the transfer mechanism separately from user loading. An example of this is an E-core actuator with very high spring centering with a rigid suspension such as the embodiment of Figs. 16a-b. Powerful actuators can easily overcome this spring force, and the force of pulling the finger off the surface of the touchpad occupies only a small percentage of the total actuator output. Weak actuators require more compliant suspensions, which can result in user interactions being disturbed by vibration and producing nonlinear outputs.

Another person-factor related problem of haptic feedback in some embodiments is audibility. The use of palm rest surfaces and inertial actuator assemblies, for example, results in the inevitable side effects of haptic sounding substrates. Loaded surfaces radiate incompletely, such as when the user is touching the housing or the touch pad, but the force transmits fairly well. Thus, in some embodiments, a load measuring device may be used to determine when the user's hand is on it so that the force is output only when the user's hand is on the moving surface.

Current sound electronic components of laptops, PDAs, or other devices may be used in some embodiments to reduce cost in providing haptic functionality to a laptop touch pad or other similar input device. For example, current sound analog outputs (e.g., digital-to-analog converters) and sound power amplifiers may be used for haptic feedback in the touch pad or other laptop components described above without adding additional microprocessors and / It is possible to drive the actuator. A notch filter or other pickoff from the sound signal may be used to provide the haptic feedback signal. For example, while the audible range signal is routed to the audio speakers of the laptop, the haptic effect control signal is provided in an unacceptable range of the sound spectrum, and such control signal is filtered to be provided to the haptic actuator . Alternatively, a dedicated signal that is outside the audible range and is not included in the audio signal may be filtered and routed to control the haptic feedback actuator.

In addition, current software on many laptops keeps track of the battery power of the laptop to indicate the power level, alert the user, or even turn off the laptop to conserve battery power. This tracking software can be put into a haptic feedback application. For example, if the battery power is below a certain level, the haptic feedback software routine may reduce or even off the output force to the user. This may be done by reducing the size of the force, or by reducing the number or type of graphical objects in the GUI with haptic effects. This can also be done by reducing the duration of the haptic effect, for example by reducing the effect, typically 50 ms, to 40 ms. A combination of these methods may also be used. Finally, some laptop computers may include different settings, such as high power, medium power and low power, which the user may choose as needed. For example, a low power setting may cause the battery to last longer. The haptic feedback control may be connected to this setting and controlled by this setting. For example, if the user uses a low power mode, the haptic feedback controller may be adapted to reduce the power demand of the haptic effect as described above.

18 is a plan view of the touch pad 450 according to the present invention. The touchpad 450 may, in some embodiments, simply be used as a positioning device, where the entire area of the touchpad provides cursor control. In other embodiments, other functions may be assigned to different areas of the pad. In such an embodiment of the region, each region may have an actuator located physically differently in relation to the region below or to the region. Other field embodiments may use one actuator that applies a force to the entire touchpad 450. In the illustrated embodiment, the central cursor control area 452 can be used to position a cursor or view point displayed by a laptop computer or other device.

The cursor control area of the touchpad may be such that the force is output to the touchpad, including events in the graphical environment and / or the environment, based on the interaction of the cursor being controlled. The user can move a finger or other object, for example, within the area 452, thereby moving the cursor 20. [ The force is preferably associated with the interaction of the cursor with the displayed graphic object. For example, a jolt or "pulse" sensation can be output, which is a force impulse that quickly rises and falls to the desired magnitude, or quickly shrinks to zero or small size again. The touchpad 450 can be vibrated severely in one direction inertially or as vibrations in the z axis or other axis in an inertial haptic feedback embodiment. Or the touchpad may be translated in one direction or vibrated more than once to provide a pulse. Vibration sense may be output, which is typically a periodic time-varying force. Vibration can be output by the host or local microprocessor to cause the touchpad 450 or a related portion to vibrate back and forth several times and to simulate a particular effect occurring in the host application.

Another type of force sense that can be output from the touchpad is the texture force. This type of force is similar to a pulse force, but depends on the position of the user's finger and / or the cursor position of the touchpad area of the graphical environment. Thus, the textured bump can be output depending on whether the cursor moves across the location of the bump in the graphical environment. This type of force depends on space. That is, when the cursor moves over the designated texture area, a force is output according to the position of the cursor; When the cursor is positioned between the "bumps" of the textures, no force is output, and a force is output when the cursor moves over the bump. This can be done by sending a pulse signal by the host when the cursor is dragged over the grating. Or a separate touchpad processor may be used for haptic effects, including touchpad and texture effects, and may be performed using local controls (e.g., the host may send a high level command with the texture parameters, Lt; / RTI &gt; In other cases, the texture can be done by imparting vibration to the user, which vibration is dependent on the current speed of the user's finger (or other object) on the touchpad. When the fingers are held still, the vibration is deactivated; When the finger moves fast, the frequency and magnitude of the vibration increase. This sensation can be controlled by the touchpad processor (if present) or host. Other spatial force sensations may be output. In addition, any of the described force sensations can be simultaneously output or combined as desired.

Other types of graphics objects may be associated with haptic sensations. The haptic sensation is output to the touchpad based on the interaction between the cursor and the window, menu, icon, web page link, and the like. For example, a "bump" or pulse can be output on the touchpad to notify the user at the cursor position when the cursor moves over the window's board. For other related interactions, when a rating or scrolling function is performed on the touchpad (through the use of a cursor), a sensation may be output in relation to the rating control function. In addition, the size of the output force on the touchpad may depend on events or interactions in a graphical environment including user-independent events. This force sense can be used in games or simulations. Such haptic sensations and other haptic sensations are described in U.S. Patent No. 6,211,861. Other control devices or glyphs that may include a touchpad according to the present invention in the housing include a game pad, a mouse or trackball device or a pressure sphere or similar for manipulating a cursor or other graphic object in a computer- .

Some types of touch pads and touch screens allow the user to sense the amount of pressure applied to the touch pad. This allows the various haptic sensations to be determined based at least in part on the sensed pressure. For example, periodic vibrations can be output at frequencies according to the sensed pressure. Alternatively, the gain (magnitude) of the output haptic sensation can be adjusted based on the sensed pressure. Users who tend to always use the touchpad with greater pressure can choose to increase the size of the effect to a fixed amount.

Other embodiments of the touchpad and touch screen allow a user to insert a "gesture" or shortcut by following a symbol in a cursor control area or other area, which is recognized by the processor as an instruction or data. A haptic sensation can follow or be associated with a specific gesture. For example, when a mode check gesture is recognized, a mode check may be communicated with a particular haptic sense. Characters recognized from a gesture may each have a particular haptic sense associated therewith. For most touchpad embodiments, the user can select a graphic object or menu item by "tapping" (tap lightly) the touchpad. Some touch pads can recognize "tap-and-a-half" or double tap, which is to keep the finger or object on the pad while the user is tapping and touching the pad again and moving the finger. For example, these gestures provide a "drag" mode in which objects can be moved with the cursor. When the user is in this drag mode, vibration or other haptic sensations may be output to the user to indicate that this mode is active.

As described above, the touch pad 450 may have another control area that provides a separate input from the main cursor control area 452. [ In some embodiments, other areas may be physically marked with lines, boundaries, or textures on the surface of the touchpad 450, so that the user can visually, audibly, and / It is possible to know whether or not it is in contact with the area.

For example, scrolling or rating control areas 454a and 454b can be used to scroll the document, adjust the values (volume, speaker balance, monitor display brightness, etc.), or panning / tilting the view in the game or simulation ). &Lt; / RTI &gt; &lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; Area 454a can be used by locating a finger (or other object) within that area, where the upper portion increases the value or scrolls up, the lower portion decreases the value, or scrolls down And so on. In embodiments in which the amount of pressure applied to the touch pad can be read, the amount of pressure can directly control the degree of control; For example, when the pressure is high, the document scrolls faster. This region 454b may be used similarly for grading control such as horizontal (left / right) scrolling or other values, field of view, and the like.

Certain haptic effects may be associated with the control regions 454a and 454b. For example, when using the rating control area 454a or 454b, vibration of a specific frequency may be output to the touchpad. For an embodiment with multiple actuators, an actuator located directly below the region 454a or 454b may be activated to provide a more localized tactile sensation for the "active" have. When a portion of the area 454 is pressed for rating control, a pulse is output to the touch pad (or the area of the touch pad) to scroll the page, or when a specific value has passed. Vibration may continue to be output while the user contacts area 454a or 454b.

Other areas 456 may also be disposed on the touchpad 450. For example, each of the regions 456 may be a small rectangular region, such as a button, and the user may point to this and initiate functions associated with the region indicated. The region 456 may be used to execute a program, open or close a window, "forward" or "back" a queue of pages in a web browser, power on or "sleep" , To launch computer functions such as gun shooting in a game, cutting or pasting data from a buffer, saving a file to a storage device, selecting a font, and the like. The region 456 may copy the functions and buttons provided to the application program or provide new functions.

Similar to region 454, each of regions 456 may be associated with a haptic sensation; For example, area 456 may provide a pulse sensation that provides immediate feedback that the function has been selected if selected by the user. For example, a haptic sensation such as a pulse may be output when the user "tap " regions 456, 452, 454 with a finger or object for selection. Similar to a physical analog button that provides an output range based on how far the button has been depressed, the one or more areas 456 provide an analog output by providing a proportional stepped or analog output based on the pressure applied by the user to the touchpad. And the like.

Also, regions of the same type can be associated with similar peeling haptic sensations. For example, an area 456 associated with a word processor, respectively, can cause a pulse of a certain intensity if pointed out. The game related area 456 may provide pulses or vibrations of different strengths. Also, when the user moves a cognitive object from one region 454 or 456 to another, a haptic sensation (such as a pulse) may be output to the touchpad 456 to indicate that it has crossed the region boundary. For example, when a pointed object enters a designated area, a high-frequency vibration rapidly decreasing in size to zero can be output. This may be useful because it represents the boundaries of areas 454 and 456 that the user does not know. This enables area reconstruction of size and / or position and allows the user to quickly learn a new layout by tactile feedback. Regions may be associated with an "enclosure" defining an area in a graphical environment, and other haptic sensations output when the cursor enters, exits, enclosure and moves within certain boundaries that are haptic related.

Also, the areas are preferably programmable in size and shape, as well as functions related thereto. Thus, the functionality of the area 456 may be changed based on the active application in the graphical environment and / or the user selection entered into the computer 10 and / or the user selection stored in the computer 10. [ Preferably, the size and location of each region may be adjusted by a user or an application program, and some or all of the regions may be completely removed, if desired. Also preferably, the user can assign a specific haptic sensation to the type or specific area of the area based on the type of function associated with that area. Other haptic sensations can be designed in tools such as Immersion Studio ™ from Immersion Corp., San Jose, CA.

It should be noted that regions 454 and 456 need not be the physical regions of the touchpad. That is, the entire touchpad surface merely provides the coordinates of user contact to the processor of the computer, and the computer software can specify where other areas are located. The computer can interpret the coordinates based on the location of the user contact and can interpret the touchpad input signal as other types of signals or cursor control signals, such as rating controls, button functions, etc. (e.g., / RTI &gt; If a touchpad microprocessor is present, it can interpret the function associated with the user touch location and report the appropriate signal or data (such as position coordinates or button signals) to the host processor. The host processor or software therefore ignores low-level processing. In another embodiment, the touchpad 450 may be physically designed to output a different signal to the computer based on another area physically displayed on the touchpad surface that is contacted by the user; For example, each region may be sensed by another sensor or sensor array.

Any embodiment that provides haptic feedback to a user's finger or object contacting the touchpad or touch screen described herein may be used in the area of the touchpad 450. [

While the invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications, substitutions, and equivalents thereof are obvious to those skilled in the art of reading and drawing the specification. For example, many of the features described in one embodiment may be interchanged in other embodiments. Also, some terms are used for clarity of explanation and are not intended to limit the invention.

Claims (2)

A haptic-enabled electronic device,
housing;
A touch screen coupled to the housing;
A diaphragm connected to the touch screen; And
An actuator connected to the diaphragm
Lt; / RTI &gt;
Wherein the actuator comprises:
A circular body having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the first side being proximal to the touchscreen and the second side being distal to the touchscreen, to) -;
A mass located at the center of the circular body on the second surface; And
Means for powering the actuator, wherein the actuator is configured to move in a direction perpendicular to the touch screen to output a haptic effect felt by a user contacting the housing,
&Lt; / RTI &gt;
A haptic-enabled electronic device. A communication device comprising:
housing;
A touch input device coupled to the housing and configured to receive a user's input for manipulating a graphic object;
A displacement member located on the touch input device, the displacement member having a clear surface through which the graphic object can be displayed; And
An actuator directly connected to the displacement member
Lt; / RTI &gt;
The actuator being configured to output a force translating the displacement member in a desired direction,
Wherein movement of the displacement member provides a haptic effect felt by a user contacting the displacement member,
Communication device.

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