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US 2020/0264707 A1Published application
Tap device with multi-tap feature for expanded character set
AssigneeTap Systems Inc.
InventorDavid B. SCHICK
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for processing user input entered via a data entry system includes the steps of receiving a signal representative of a contact of one or more fingers singly or in combination against an arbitrary surface; detecting a predetermined number of contacts within a time window; and mapping the predetermined number of contacts to a secondary character from a set of secondary characters.
Claims20
A data entry system comprising:
- a sensor apparatus including a plurality of mechanical sensors configured to generate one or more signals representative of contact by one or more fingers of a user singly or in combination against an arbitrary surface, wherein the plurality of sensors are separate from the arbitrary surface and the arbitrary surface does not generate the signals;
- a memory that stores information about a set of primary characters and a set of secondary characters;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- process (i) one or more signals generated by the sensor apparatus during a first period of time to determine a first contact combination, the first contact combination representing which of the one or more fingers contacted the arbitrary surface singly or in combination during the first period of time, and (ii) one or more signals generated by the sensor apparatus during a second period of time that begins after termination of the first period of time to determine a second contact combination, the second contact combination representing which of the one or more fingers contacted the arbitrary surface singly or in combination during the second period of time;
- determine whether the second contact combination occurs within a predetermined time window relative to the first contact combination;
- and
- map the first contact combination and the second combination to one of (a) a single character from the set of secondary characters and (b) two characters from the set of primary characters,
- wherein, if it is determined that the second contact combination occurs within the predetermined time window relative to the first contact combination and if the second contact combination corresponds to a predetermined contact combination, the first contact combination and the second contact combination are collectively mapped to a single secondary character from the set of secondary characters;
- and
- otherwise, the first contact combination is mapped to a primary character from the set of primary characters and the second contact combination is mapped to a separate primary character from the set of primary characters.
8 more elements
A method for entering data using a data entry system having a sensor apparatus including a plurality of mechanical sensors, comprising the steps of:
- generating, using at least one of the plurality of mechanical sensors of the sensor apparatus, one or more signals representative of contact by one or more fingers of a user singly or in combination against an arbitrary surface during a first period of time, wherein the plurality of sensors are separate from the arbitrary surface and the arbitrary surface does not generate the signal;
- generating, using at least one of the plurality of mechanical sensors of the sensor apparatus, one or more signals representative of contact by one or more fingers of a user singly or in combination against an arbitrary surface during a second period of time, wherein the plurality of sensors are separate from the arbitrary surface and the arbitrary surface does not generate the signal;
- analyzing the one or more signals generated by the sensor apparatus during the first period of time to determine a first contact combination, the first contact combination representing which of the one or more fingers contacted the arbitrary surface singly or in combination during the first period of time;
- analyzing the one or more signals generated by the sensor apparatus during the second period of time to determine a second contact combination, the second contact combination representing which of the one or more fingers contacted the arbitrary surface singly or in combination during the second period of time;
- determining whether the second contact combination occurs within a predetermined time window relative to the first contact combination;
- and
- mapping the first contact combination and the second combination to one of (a) a single character from the set of secondary characters and (b) two characters from the set of primary characters,
- wherein, if it is determined that the second contact combination occurs within the predetermined time window relative to the first contact combination and if the second contact combination corresponds to a predetermined contact combination, the first contact combination and the second contact combination are collectively mapped to a single secondary character from the set of secondary characters;
- and
- otherwise, the first contact combination is mapped to a primary character from the set of primary characters and the second contact combination is mapped to a separate primary character from the set of primary characters.
7 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor to implement a method of entering data using a data entry system having a sensor apparatus including a plurality of mechanical sensors, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating, using at least one of the plurality of mechanical sensors of the sensor apparatus, one or more signals representative of contact by one or more fingers of a user singly or in combination against an arbitrary surface during a first period of time, wherein the plurality of sensors are separate from the arbitrary surface and the arbitrary surface does not generate the signal;
- generating, using at least one of the plurality of mechanical sensors of the sensor apparatus, one or more signals representative of contact by one or more fingers of a user singly or in combination against an arbitrary surface during a second period of time, wherein the plurality of sensors are separate from the arbitrary surface and the arbitrary surface does not generate the signal;
- analyzing the one or more signals generated by the sensor apparatus during the first period of time to determine a first contact combination, the first contact combination representing which of the one or more fingers contacted the arbitrary surface singly or in combination during the first period of time;
- analyzing the one or more signals generated by the sensor apparatus during the second period of time to determine a second contact combination, the second contact combination representing which of the one or more fingers contacted the arbitrary surface singly or in combination during the second period of time;
- determining whether the second contact combination occurs within a predetermined time window relative to the first contact combination;
- and
- mapping the first contact combination and the second combination to one of (a) a single character from the set of secondary characters and (b) two characters from the set of primary characters,
- wherein, if it is determined that the second contact combination occurs within the predetermined time window relative to the first contact combination and if the second contact combination corresponds to a predetermined contact combination, the first contact combination and the second contact combination are collectively mapped to a single secondary character from the set of secondary characters;
- and
- otherwise, the first contact combination is mapped to a primary character from the set of primary characters and the second contact combination is mapped to a separate primary character from the set of primary characters.
7 more elements
A method for entering data using a data entry system having a sensor apparatus including a plurality of mechanical sensors, comprising the steps of:
- receiving signals generated using the one or more mechanical sensors and representative of sequential contact combinations, each contact combination representing which of one or more fingers of a user contacted an arbitrary surface singly or in combination during a predetermined period of time after termination of a prior contact combination, wherein the one or more sensors are separate from the arbitrary surface and the arbitrary surface does not generate the signals;
- and
- analyzing the signals representative of the sequential contact combinations generated by the sensor apparatus to
- determine whether a same contact combination occurs consecutively a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time window;
- and
- map the sequential combinations to one of (a) a single character from a secondary set of characters and (b) plural characters from a set of primary characters,
- wherein, if it is determined that the same contact combination occurs consecutively the predetermined number of times within the predetermined time window, map the predetermined number of times of the contact combination collectively to a single secondary character from a set of secondary characters;
- and
- otherwise, map each contact combination to a separate primary character from a set of primary characters.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.