Touch on glass
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsMatthieu Etienne Marius Chevrier, Andreas Felix Martin Kraemer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A touch-sensitive glass barrier has a conductive coil affixed to the first side of a glass barrier, a capacitor connected to the conductive coil to form a resonator, and an inductance-to-digital converter (LDC) connected to drive an alternating current through the resonator. The LDC determines whether a conductive target has touched the second side of the glass barrier at a point opposite the conductive coil; and responsive to determining that the conductive target has touched the second side of the glass barrier at the point, provides a signal.
Claims20
A touch-sensitive glass barrier, comprising:
- a glass barrier having a first side and a second side that is opposite the first side;
- a conductive coil affixed to the first side of the glass barrier;
- a capacitor connected to the conductive coil in parallel to form a resonator;
- and
- an inductance-to-digital converter (LDC) connected to drive an alternating current through the resonator, the LDC being configured to determine whether a conductive target has touched the second side of the glass barrier at a point opposite the conductive coil and responsive to determining that the conductive target has touched the second side of the glass barrier at the point, to provide a signal.
A human-machine interface (HMI), comprising:
- an input node for electronics;
- a sight glass that forms part of a protective environment for the input node, the sight glass having a first side that faces the electronics and a second side that is opposite the first side;
- a conductive coil, the conductive coil being affixed to the first side of the glass shield;
- a capacitor connected to the conductive coil to form a resonator;
- and
- an inductance-to-digital converter (LDC) having first and second contacts connecting the LDC to first and second terminals, respectively, of the resonator in parallel, the LDC being configured to drive an alternating current through the resonator, to detect a touch on the second side of the sight glass at a point opposite the conductive coil, and to provide a signal to the input node responsive to the touch.
A method of detecting a touch input to equipment through a sight glass having a first side that faces the equipment and a second side opposite the first side, the method comprising:
- affixing a conductive coil to the first side of the sight glass;
- connecting a capacitor to the conductive coil to form a resonator;
- connecting an Inductance-to-Digital Converter (LDC) to the resonator, the LDC providing an alternating current to the resonator;
- determining whether a conductive target has touched the second side of the sight glass at a point opposite the conductive coil, wherein determining whether the conductive target has touched the second side of the sight glass at the point includes using the LDC to measure a parallel impedance of the resonator;
- and
- responsive to determining that the conductive target has touched the second side of the sight glass at the point, sending a signal to an input node of the equipment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.