Apparatus and associated methods

摘要

An apparatus including a plurality of adjacent repeated base units, each base unit formed from an active electrode of first, second and third touch sensor arrays, the first, second and third touch sensor arrays each including a plurality of active electrodes connected to a respective common terminal of the touch sensor array, wherein each base unit includes an active electrode of the second touch sensor array interlaced between an active electrode of the first touch sensor array and an active electrode of the third touch sensor array such that a swipe touch gesture applied to two or more adjacent active electrodes of the apparatus generates signalling at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays which allows the direction of the swipe touch gesture to be determined.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising a plurality of adjacent repeated base units, each base unit formed from an active electrode of first, second and third touch sensor arrays, the first, second and third touch sensor arrays each comprising a plurality of active electrodes connected to a respective common terminal of the touch sensor array;
wherein each base unit comprises an active electrode of the second touch sensor array interlaced between an active electrode of the first touch sensor array and an active electrode of the third touch sensor array such that a swipe touch gesture applied to two or more adjacent active electrodes of the apparatus generates signalling at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays which allows the direction of the swipe touch gesture to be determined; wherein the plurality of active electrodes of each touch sensor array are formed from different serial length portions of the same continuous active electrode, the continuous active electrodes of the first, second and third touch sensor arrays configured to radiate spirally to form adjacent repeated base units which allow the direction of a radial swipe touch gesture to be determined; wherein the configuration of the touch sensor arrays allows for the distinguishing between inward and outward radial movement; wherein the apparatus is configured to provide haptic feedback using the corresponding touch sensor arrays to indicate that a device output setting has been varied; wherein the apparatus is configured to provide the haptic feedback by applying a periodic potential to the active electrodes of the corresponding touch sensor arrays via the respective common terminals, and wherein the amplitude and/or frequency of the periodic potential is indicative of the device output setting; wherein the haptic feedback is a series of electrical pulses of short duration that, when grouped together with other pulses of similar duration, provide a perceived frequency of vibration; wherein the apparatus is configured to apply a periodic potential to the first, second and third touch sensor arrays via the respective common terminals to enable the swipe touch gesture to generate signalling at the respective common terminals of the corresponding touch sensor arrays; wherein the periodic potential applied to the touch sensor arrays to enable the swipe touch gesture to generate signalling is different for at least two touch sensor arrays to provide a sequence of vibrations of different frequencies.