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US 8,310,444 B2Granted
Projected field haptic actuation
AssigneePacinian Corporation
InventorsCody George Peterson, Andrew P. Huska, James William Schlosser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic device includes a touch surface that can be physically engaged by a user. The touch surface is operably connected to an actuator arm which, in turn, is connected to an actuator array. Drive electronics sense a user's movement relative to the touch surface and, responsively, drive the actuator array effective to move the actuator arm and, in turn, provide haptic feedback to the user through the touch surface.
Claims7
An electronic device comprising:
- a device housing;
- a touch surface mounted within the device housing, the touch surface comprising a generally planar top surface;
- a floating battery arrangement moveably mounted within the device housing;
- an actuator array fixedly mounted to the floating battery arrangement wherein the floating battery arrangement is moved under the influence of the actuator array;
- and
- drive electronics operably coupled to the actuator array and configured to electrically drive the electrically-deformable material, responsive to sensing a user's movement relative to the touch surface, effective to move the touch surface along one or more vectors that are generally parallel to a plane defined by the top surface.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- detecting a user's movement relative to, or physical engagement of, a touch surface on an electronic device;
- and
- responsive to detecting, activating an electrically-deformable material within the electronic device effective to move a floating battery arrangement of the electronic device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.