Force sensing touch screen

摘要

A computing device includes a touch screen display with a plurality of force sensors, each of which provides a signal in response to contact with the touch screen display. Using force signals from the plurality of force sensors, a characteristic of the contact is determined, such as the magnitude of the force, the centroid of force and the shear force. The characteristic of the contact is used to select a command which is processed to control the computing device. For example, the command may be related to manipulating data displayed on the touch screen display, e.g., by adjusting the scroll speed or the quantity of data selected in response to the magnitude of force, or related to an operation of an application on the computing device, such as selecting different focal ranges, producing an alarm, or adjusting the volume of a speaker in response to the magnitude of force.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
receiving signals from a plurality of force sensors coupled between a touch screen display and a housing of a computing device, the signals received in response to contact with the touch screen display, wherein the plurality of force sensors are arranged around a perimeter of a bottom surface of the touch screen display; receiving signals from a touch sensor on the touch screen display; determining a shear force from the contact with the touch screen display using the signals from the plurality of force sensors and the signals from the touch sensor, the shear force being parallel to a plane defined by the touch screen display, wherein determining the shear force comprises:
determining a centroid of force of the contact using the signals received from the plurality of force sensors;determining an area of contact using the signals received from the touch sensor on the touch screen display;determining a centroid of the area of contact; andusing a difference between the centroid of the area of contact and the centroid of force to determine the shear force; using the shear force from the contact to select a command; and processing the command to control the computing device.