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US 5,988,902 AGranted
Touchpad overlay with tactile response
AssigneeCompaq Computer Corporation
InventorSteven D. Holehan
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCompaq Computer Corporation
InventorSteven D. Holehan
Estimating the term…
A computer system includes a touchpad with one or more overlays providing the computer system with various input control functions. The overlay preferably includes tactile response elements to provide tactile feedback to the operator as an indication that a portion of the overlay has been pressed. The touchpad includes a capacitive sensor. Electronics coupled to the touchpad determine which portion of the touchpad sensor surface area has been touched or pressed. The amount of tactile feedback to the computer operator can be varied through the design and construction of the overlay and the overlay may be provided with no tactile feedback, if desired. As such, numerous overlays can be placed on the touchpad of the computer system, thereby providing the computer system with multiple different input control functions. The computer operator may manually input the type of overlay being used into the computer. Alternatively, a portion of the touchpad surface area maybe dedicated to encoding overlay identification information using any one of a variety of techniques. Thus, the computer system may automatically detect the type of overlay used.
A computer system, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer: input arrangements with force or tactile…
With detection of two-dimensional [2D] relative movements between the device, or an operating part thereof, and a plane or surface, e.g. 2D…
Using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures: by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the…
Tactile feedback: collapsible dome or bubble
Term ended 23 Sep 2017 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an input control device for a personal computer. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an overlay device with tactile feedback for a touchpad.
For a more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, reference will now be made the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top view of a portion of a standard laptop computer keyboard;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a laptop computer including a touchpad;
Referring now to FIG. 2, a computer system 100, constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, includes a display device 102 and a keyboard unit 106. Display unit 102 includes a viewable screen area 104. Keyboard unit 106 includes a touchpad sensor 110. Although the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 represents a laptop computer, the preferred embodiments of the invention are not limited to laptop computers and also include desktop and other types of computer systems.
As will be described in greater detail with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7, touchpad sensor 110 preferably comprise a capacitive sensor device available on many laptop computers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,787, included herein by reference, discloses one type of capacitive touch pad and further describes associated circuitry necessary to operate the touch pad. In accordance with known techniques, such as those illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,787, computer system 100 can determine the location of the operator's finger placed on or near the touchpad 110 by detecting localized changes in capacitance cause by the operator's finger.
A preferred embodiment of the invention includes the touchpad 110 in conjunction with an overlay as illustrated in FIG. 3. Referring now to FIG. 3, the touchpad 110 of FIG. 2 is covered by an overlay 120. The exemplary overlay 120 of FIG. 3 is shown as a 10-digit keypad. Accordingly, the exemplary overlay 120 in conjunction with touchpad 110 provides a standard 10-digit keypad configuration for the laptop computer 106.