Major Apple Touchscreen Patent for MacBook, Tablet PC's and handhelds
On November 16, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's patent application titled "mechanical overlay" which was originally filed in May 2005. Apple's patent relates generally to overlays for touch sensing devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to mechanical overlays that include one or more mechanical actuators that provide touch inputs to the touch sensing devices. This powerful patent provides several great examples of mechanical touchscreen overlays which could be used with a future iPod, cell phone, PDA, remote control or gaming device. Furthermore, the patent provides us with a unique glimpse into how touchscreens will eventually replace traditional MacBook keyboards in addition to providing users with the ability to transform the new keyboard-GUI into being a piano keyboard amongst other great and fun applications.
The invention pertains to overlays for touch sensing devices. More particularly, the invention pertains to mechanical overlays that include one or more mechanical actuators that provide touch inputs to the touch sensing devices. By way of example, the mechanical actuators may be buttons, keys, sliders, dials, wheels, switches, joysticks, navigation pads, etc. In one embodiment, the mechanical overlay includes a plurality of mechanical actuators so as to provide a control panel or control console to a host device. In fact, the touch sensing devices may be multi-touch sensing devices that have the ability to sense multiple inputs from multiple mechanical actuators at the same time. In another embodiment, the mechanical overlay includes an identification feature that is capable of being sensed by the touch sensing device. When identified, the touch sensing device may configure itself or the host system based on the identified mechanical overlay.
Input Control Device
Patent FIG. 1 is a diagram of an input control device 10, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The input control device 10 is configured to provide various inputs to a host computing device (not shown). The input control device 10 includes a touch sensing input device 12 having a touch sensitive surface 14, and a removable mechanical overlay 16 that is disposed over at least a portion of the touch sensitive surface 14 of the touch sensing input device 12.
The touch sensing input device 12 is configured to detect touches on the touch sensitive surface 14. The touch sensing device 12 reports the touches to the host computing device and the host computing device interprets the touches in accordance with its programming. For example, the host computing device may initiate a task in accordance with a particular touch. Alternatively, the touches may be processed locally at the touch input device 12 so as to reduce demand on the host computing device. The touch sensing input device 12 may for example correspond to touch pads, touch screens, or touch sensitive housings.
The Mechanical Overlay
The mechanical overlay 16 is configured to interface with the touch input device 12 so as to produce an input mechanism with particular set of fixed mechanical inputs. The touch sensing input device 12 is capable of sensing the mechanical inputs provided by the mechanical overlay 16 and causing the host computing device to respond to those inputs. The inputs of the mechanical overlay 16 may be assignable or they may be configured for a particular application of the host computing device. For example, the mechanical overlay 16 may transform the touch sensing input device 12 into a control console or panel with particular set of fixed mechanical inputs associated with a particular application of the host computing device.
A user can have several different mechanical overlays 16, each one with controls for a specific application. For example, the user may have one mechanical overlay for video editing, another one for sound editing, another one for gaming, another one for data entry, another one for navigation, etc. The user can simply remove and insert a new mechanical overlay depending on their needs. In essence, different overlays can be designed for different applications of the host computing system.
The input control device 10 may be a stand alone device or it may be integrated with the host computing device. In stand alone devices, the touch sensing device 12 includes its own shell and is connected to the host computing device via cables or wireless connections (e.g., touch tablet). By way of example, the touch sensing device may be a tablet sized touch pad. In integrated devices, the touch sensing device 12 is built into the shell of the host computing device. The host computing device may be a special purpose computing device or a general purpose computing device. By way of example, the host computing device may be a computer such as a PC, laptop, or tablet PC, or a handheld electronic device such as a PDA, cell phone, media player, remote control, or GPS receiver. Alternatively, the touch sensing device 12 may be built into other input devices such as keyboards or output devices such as printers.
In some cases, the mechanical actuators 18 are configured to provide tactile feedback and audio feedback similarly to conventional actuators (e.g., clicks). In the case of sliders or dials, mechanical detents may be used. In the case of mechanical buttons and switches click force curves may be used. In other cases, the tactile and audio feedback may be supplied by a haptics system (e.g., speakers, solenoids, motors, piezo actuators, vibrators, etc.) located within the housing that surrounds the touch sensing input device.
As shown in FIG. 2 [above], the touch sensing input device 12 is broken up into different sensing zones 28 associated with particular mechanical actuators 18. By way of example, a slider 18A can be implemented by configuring the driver software to sense movement of a contact point along an axis. A button 18C can be implemented by configuring the driver software to sense contact at a particular point. A dial 18B can be implemented by configuring the driver software to sense movement of a contact point about an axis. The system is typically designed to configure the zones 28 according to the particular mechanical overlay 16.
Apple's patent FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment where the touch sensing input device is a touch pad 600 built into a laptop computer 602. As shown, a mechanical overlay 604 is configured for placement over the touchpad 600, which is located on the base 606 of the laptop computer 602. In some cases, the base 608 of the mechanical overlay 604 is sized to coincide with the touch pad 600 so that the mechanical overlay 604 covers the entire touch pad 600. In other cases, the mechanical overlay 604 is sized to be smaller than the size of the touch pad 600 so that a portion of the touch pad 600 can still be used conventionally. In either case, because the size of the touch pad 600 is typically small, the mechanical overlay 604 typically includes a limited number of mechanical actuators 610.
In one implementation, the mechanical overlay 604A includes one or more buttons 610A that only cover a portion of the touch pad 600. The mechanical overlay 604A can therefore eliminate the need of the conventional buttons that typically accompany the touchpad 600. This also allows the touch pad size to increase as well as gives the user the ability to select the desired button layout (one button, two buttons, etc). As should be appreciated, in conventional laptops, the buttons associated with the touch made are fixed and cannot be configured differently. In another implementation, the mechanical overlay 604B includes a horizontal scroll wheel 610B and one or more buttons 610B'. The scroll wheel 610B allows a user to easily scroll through data by a simple swirling their finger, and the buttons 610B' allow a user to make selections and issue commands. In another implementation, the mechanical overlay 604C includes a joystick 610C and one or more buttons 610C'. This implementation may be well suited for gaming. In yet another implementation, the mechanical overlay 604D may include a numeric key pad 610D. As should be appreciated, most laptop computers do not include a numeric keypad, and thus the mechanical overlay 610D can be used to expand the functionality of the laptop computer 602.
It should be noted that the above mentioned implementations are not a limitation, but rather several embodiments of a mechanical overlay that can be used with a laptop computer. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not limited to laptop computers and can be used with other computing devices. For example, these may work well in handheld computing devices.
Say Bye-Bye to Conventional Notebook Keypads
Patent FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate embodiments where the touch sensing input device is a touch sensitive housing member 620 located on the top surface of the base 606 of the laptop computer 602. In FIG. 13A, the laptop 602 does not include a conventional fixed keyboard, and instead a substantial portion of the top surface of the base 606 is touch sensitive. In FIG. 13B, the laptop 602 does include the fixed conventional keyboard 622 and only the palm rest portion 624 of the top surface of the base 606 is touch sensitive. In either case, because of the large size of the touch surface, the mechanical overlay 630 can include a vast number of mechanical actuators 632.
In one implementation, the mechanical overlay 630A is designed as a data entry keyboard with a plurality of keys 632A. This works well in the embodiment of FIG. 13A where the mechanical overlay 630 can be applied to the touch sensitive surface either at its conventional location at the upper portion, or somewhere else depending on the users needs. In another implementation, the mechanical overlay 630B is designed as a piano keyboard with a plurality of piano keys 632B. In yet another implementation, the mechanical overlay 630C is designed as a media mixing console having a plurality of sliders, buttons, switches and dials 632C. In some cases, the dials may be a media mixing jog shuttle that includes an outer wheel for providing coarse control and an inner wheel for providing fine control. The outer wheel may be spring biased to an initial position such that when the user stops using it, it snaps back to the initial position. As should be appreciated, both the inner and outer wheels include an element for interfacing with the touch surface, and the system is configured to recognize the motion of the elements as different touch events.
Creative Tablet PC Applications
Patent FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment where a touch sensing input device 640 is positioned in a tablet device 642 such as a stand alone tablet touch input device with a large touch pad or a tablet PC that includes a touch screen display. In either case, a substantial portion of the top surface of the tablet device 642 is touch sensitive, and therefore the mechanical overlays 644 can include a vast number of mechanical actuators 646. Similar to the embodiments described above, the mechanical overlay 644 can be designed as a keyboard, piano or media mixing controls. It should be noted, however, that in the case of touch screen displays, the mechanical overlay 644 typically is configured to cover only a portion of the touch surface or alternatively use a cut out 648 so that a portion of the touch screen display is viewable to the user. For example, the mechanical overlay 644 may only be configured to cover the bottom half of the touch surface. This works particularly well for keyboards.
Examples of Mechanical Overlays
Apple's patent provides several examples of mechanical overlays that may be placed on a multi-functional device. The mechanical overlays may be placed over a touch pad, touch screen or touch sensitive housing.
PDA: Patent FIG. 16A is a diagram of a mechanical overlay 654A for PDA operations. As shown, the mechanical overlay 654A includes four application buttons 660 and navigation pad 662.
Cell Phone: Patent FIG. 16B is a diagram of a mechanical overlay 654B for cell phone operations. As shown, the cell phone overlay 654B includes a keypad 664, a navigation pad 665 and two buttons 668 and 670.
Apple's iPod: Patent FIG. 16C is a diagram of a mechanical overlay 654C for a Music Player operations. As shown, the mechanical overlay 654C includes a horizontal scroll wheel 672 and five buttons, four periphery buttons 674 and one center button 676. The scroll wheel 672 allows a user to scroll through song lists via rotation of the mechanical scroll wheel, the periphery buttons 674 allow user to select previous or next, play/pause or go back to the main menu, and the center button 676 allows a user to make selections.
Game Player: Patent FIG. 16D is a diagram of a mechanical overlay 654D for Gamer Player operations. As shown, the mechanical overlay is divided into two control regions 680 and 682. In the case of a touch screen display, a window may be placed between the control regions. The left control region includes a directional pad 684, and the right region includes four command buttons.
Handtop: Patent FIG. 16E is a diagram of a mechanical overlay 654E for handtop operations. As shown, the mechanical overlay includes a miniaturized keyboard 688.
Remote Control: Patent FIG. 16F is a diagram of a mechanical overlay 654F for remote control operations. As shown, the mechanical overlay includes various buttons for controlling remote devices such as a TV, DVD, player A/V amplifier VHS, CD player, etc
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