Touch surface overlay panel

摘要

An application runs on an electronic device having a touch surface, with one or more virtual controls on the touch surface. An overlay panel is attached to the electronic device, with one or more physical actuators mounted within a nonconductive frame. Each physical actuator has one or more conductive elements configured to create a conductive path through the physical actuator. Each physical actuator is aligned with and makes contact with one or more associated virtual controls on the touch surface, such that a user can operate the virtual control(s) by actuating the associated physical actuator(s).

主权项

1. An overlay panel for an electronic device having a touch surface mounted within a housing, the overlay panel comprising:
a frame made of a nonconductive material; one or more fasteners coupled to the frame, wherein the fasteners are configured to attach the frame to the housing of the electronic device; and one or more physical actuators mounted within the frame, each physical actuator having an upper portion that extends above the frame and a lower portion that extends below the frame, wherein the upper portion of each physical actuator is configured to be actuated by a user and the lower portion of each physical actuator is configured to contact the touch surface when the frame is attached to the housing of the electronic device, wherein each physical actuator comprises one or more conductive elements configured to create a conductive path from the upper portion of each physical actuator to the lower portion of the physical actuator, and wherein the one or more physical actuators mounted within the frame are aligned with virtual controls displayed on a touch screen.