Tactile element matrix

Abstract

One object is to provide a device that can provide a tactile effect. According to an embodiment, a device includes a tactile element matrix including tactile effect elements and a drive circuit, wherein the tactile effect elements are electrically arranged in rows and columns. The drive circuit can be configured to drive the addressed columns of the tactile element matrix with a first voltage in a first phase; drive the addressed rows of the tactile element matrix with a second voltage, maintain at least one column of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows; and maintain at least one row of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows. The device can reduce crosstalk between tactile effect elements. Devices, methods, and computer program products are provided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates generally to touch user interfaces for devices, and more particularly to haptic effects for such devices. Background Art

[0002] For example, the tactile effect provided by a tactile effect element such as a piezoelectric element can be used to provide a tactile effect in various applications. For example, a separate key, button or keyboard can be implemented without actual actuation of the key. Instead, the tactile effect element can provide the user with the feeling of key actuation when the touch interface is pressed or otherwise actuated. Summary of the invention

[0003] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0004] An object is to provide a device which can provide a tactile effect. This object is achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further embodiments are provided in the dependent claims, the description and the drawings.

[0005] According to a first aspect, a device comprises: a tactile element matrix comprising tactile effect elements, wherein the tactile effect elements are electrically arranged into rows and columns; and a driving circuit configured to, in a first stage: drive addressed columns of the tactile element matrix with a first voltage; drive addressed rows of the tactile element matrix with a second voltage; while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, keep at least one column of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; and while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, keep at least one row of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage. Since the driving circuit can float non-addressed rows and / or columns, unwanted parasitic tactile effects in non-addressed tactile effect elements can be reduced.

[0006] In implementation forms of the first aspect, one of the first voltage and the second voltage comprises a voltage pulse and the other comprises a substantially constant reference voltage.With these configurations, the drive circuit can, for example, address the tactile effect element even with a single voltage pulse.

[0007] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the impedance between the floating column / row and the substantially constant reference voltage is at least 100 kilo-ohms. With such impedance, the column / row can be considered as floating and parasitic tactile effects can be reduced.

[0008] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the driving circuit is further configured to, after the first stage, in the second stage: drive the addressed columns of the tactile element matrix with a third voltage; drive the addressed rows of the tactile element matrix with a fourth voltage; while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, keep at least one column of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; and while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, keep at least one row of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage. With this configuration, the device can, for example, provide a more significant tactile effect using the first and second stages.

[0009] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the second voltage and the third voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage, and the first voltage includes a first voltage pulse, and the fourth voltage includes a second voltage pulse; or the first voltage and the fourth voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage, and the second voltage includes a first voltage pulse, and the third voltage includes a second voltage pulse. With this configuration, the device can, for example, use the first and second voltage pulses to provide a more significant tactile effect.

[0010] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the first voltage pulse and the second voltage pulse have the same polarity relative to a substantially constant reference voltage. With this configuration, the device can, for example, provide an even more pronounced haptic effect using the first and second voltage pulses, since the polarity of the voltage on the addressed haptic effect element can be changed between the first and second phases. Furthermore, this can be achieved with less hardware, such as a voltage booster.

[0011] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the second voltage and the fourth voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage, and the first voltage includes a first voltage pulse, and the third voltage includes a second voltage pulse; or the first voltage and the third voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage, and the second voltage includes a first voltage pulse, and the fourth voltage includes a second voltage pulse. With this configuration, the device can, for example, use the first and second voltage pulses to provide a more significant tactile effect.

[0012] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the first voltage pulse and the second voltage pulse have opposite polarities relative to a substantially constant reference voltage. With this configuration, the device can, for example, provide an even more pronounced haptic effect using the first and second voltage pulses, since the polarity of the voltage on the addressed haptic effect element can be changed between the first and second phases.

[0013] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the driving circuit is further configured to: continuously address at least two different tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix. With this configuration, the device can, for example, reduce possible problems of simultaneously addressing multiple tactile effect elements.

[0014] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the time interval between consecutive addressing is short enough so that the haptic effects due to the consecutive addressing appear to be simultaneous to a human. With this configuration, the device can reduce possible problems of processing multiple haptic effect elements at once while providing seemingly simultaneous haptic effects from two or more haptic effect elements.

[0015] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the time interval between consecutive addressing is less than 30 milliseconds.With this configuration, consecutive haptic effects may appear to be simultaneous to the user.

[0016] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the tactile effect element comprises a piezoelectric element. With this configuration, the device may, for example, be able to provide a high-quality tactile effect.

[0017] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix are further configured to detect touch. With this configuration, the device can, for example, sense a touch on a touch interface and provide a tactile effect based on the sensed touch.

[0018] In another implementation form of the first aspect, a first terminal of the tactile effect element is connected to a row conductor of a row and a second terminal of the tactile effect element is connected to a column conductor of a column. With this configuration, the tactile effect elements can be connected to corresponding rows and columns in the matrix without the rows and columns interfering with each other.

[0019] In another implementation form of the first aspect, a haptic effect is generated for a haptic effect element located at an intersection of a driven addressed row and a driven addressed column. The strongest haptic effect is generated for the intersection, and any haptic effects of other intersections not sought are less crosstalked.

[0020] In another implementation form of the first aspect, the keyboard matrix comprises different keys, wherein the keys are arranged to the keyboard matrix such that an adjacent key of a key corresponding to a certain tactile effect element is different from an adjacent tactile effect element of the certain tactile effect element. In this way, if any unwanted tactile effect is generated in a tactile effect element that is not addressed due to an adjacent tactile effect element being addressed, the unwanted tactile effect is less likely to affect the tactile sensation felt by the user. For example, a so-called QWERTY keyboard may be designed in such a way that a user's fingers are not disturbed by unwanted tactile effects.

[0021] According to a second aspect, a method includes: driving addressed columns of a tactile element matrix with a first voltage; driving addressed rows of the tactile element matrix with a second voltage; maintaining at least one column of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows; and maintaining at least one row of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows.

[0022] According to a third aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising program code configured to perform the method according to the second aspect when the computer program is executed on a computing device.

[0023] Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The present description will be better understood from the following detailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0025] Figure 1 illustrates a device including a matrix of tactile elements according to an embodiment;

[0026] Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of addressing of tactile effect elements according to an embodiment;

[0027] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of voltage pulses for addressing a tactile effect element according to an embodiment;

[0028] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating a voltage applied to a tactile effect element according to an embodiment;

[0029] Figure 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of addressing of tactile effect elements according to an embodiment;

[0030] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating addressing of a tactile effect element according to another embodiment is illustrated;

[0031] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating a tactile feed matrix and a corresponding relationship with a keyboard according to an embodiment; and

[0032] Figure 8 A flow chart representation of a method according to an embodiment is illustrated.

[0033] The same reference numerals are used in the drawings to denote the same parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The detailed description provided below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of embodiments and is not intended to represent the only form in which the embodiments can be constructed or utilized. However, the same or equivalent functions and structures can be achieved by different embodiments.

[0035] Figure 1 1 shows a schematic diagram of a device 100 according to an embodiment. The device 100 may include a tactile element matrix 104. The tactile element matrix 104 may include a plurality of tactile effect elements 101. Figure 1 In the drawings, for the sake of clarity, only one haptic effect element 101 is labeled with a reference numeral. The haptic effect element 101 may be, for example, a piezoelectric haptic effect element.

[0036] According to an embodiment, the device 100 comprises a tactile element matrix 104. The tactile element matrix may comprise tactile effect elements 101. The tactile effect elements 101 may be electrically arranged in rows and columns.

[0037] The device 100 may further include a driving circuit 105 configured to: drive the addressed columns of the tactile element matrix 104 with a first voltage in a first phase. The driving circuit 105 may further be configured to drive the addressed rows of the tactile element matrix 104 with a second voltage. The driving circuit 105 may further be configured to maintain at least one column 103 of the tactile element matrix 104 at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows. The driving circuit 105 may further be configured to maintain at least one row 102 of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows.

[0038] Driving circuit 105 may include, for example, a booster circuit, a computing device such as a microcontroller, and other components for driving haptic effect element 101. The booster may provide a high voltage that may be required to drive haptic effect element 101. The microcontroller may address haptic effect element 101.

[0039] The driver circuit 105 may include at least one processor. The at least one processor may include, for example, one or more of a variety of processing devices, such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuit with or without an accompanying DSP, or a variety of other processing devices, including integrated circuits, such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microcontroller units (MCUs), hardware accelerators, dedicated computer chips, etc.

[0040] The drive circuit 105 may also include a memory. The memory may be configured to store, for example, a computer program, etc. The memory may include one or more volatile storage devices, one or more non-volatile storage devices, and / or a combination of one or more volatile storage devices and non-volatile storage devices. For example, the memory may be implemented as a magnetic storage device (such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, etc.), an optical magnetic storage device, and a semiconductor memory (such as a mask ROM, a PROM (programmable ROM), an EPROM (erasable PROM), a flash ROM, a RAM (random access memory), etc.).

[0041] When the driving circuit 105 is configured to implement some functions, some components and / or multiple components (such as at least one processor and / or memory) of the driving circuit 105 can be configured to implement this function. In addition, when at least one processor is configured to implement some functions, this function can be implemented using, for example, a program code included in the memory.

[0042] The tactile effect elements 101 may be arranged as rows 102 and columns 103 in a tactile element matrix 104. Each row may include a row conductor, and each column may include a column conductor. Each tactile effect element in row 102 may be electrically coupled to a corresponding row conductor, and each tactile effect element in column 103 may be electrically coupled to a corresponding column conductor.

[0043] Each tactile effect element 101 may include two terminals 120, 121. One terminal 121 may be connected to a row conductor of a tactile element matrix, and one terminal 121 may be connected to a column conductor of a tactile element matrix. When a voltage is applied between the row connector and the column connector, the tactile effect elements connected to the rows and columns may provide a tactile effect via, for example, a piezoelectric effect. The term "row" may refer to a tactile effect element 101 that is electrically coupled to a particular row and / or a corresponding row conductor. The term "column" may refer to a tactile effect element 101 that is electrically coupled to a particular row and / or a corresponding column conductor.

[0044] In this document, the term "addressing" may refer to applying a voltage to a certain tactile effect element 101 in the tactile element matrix 104. For example, the drive circuit 105 may apply a voltage between the rows 102 and columns 103 of the tactile element matrix 104 by applying a voltage between the corresponding row conductors and column conductors. Such rows and columns may be referred to as addressed rows and addressed columns, respectively. The applied voltage may cause the tactile effect elements 101 in the addressed rows and addressed columns to provide a tactile effect. Such tactile effect elements 101 may be referred to as addressed tactile effect elements.

[0045] Rows 102 and columns 103 may refer only to the electrical arrangement of tactile effect elements 101. Tactile effect elements 101 may be spatially arranged in many different arrangements that may be different from the electrical arrangement. Furthermore, even if tactile effect elements 101 are spatially arranged as a matrix, this spatial arrangement does not necessarily correspond to the electrical arrangement in tactile element matrix 104. For example, two spatially adjacent tactile effect elements 101 may not be adjacent in the electrical arrangement of tactile element matrix 104.

[0046] Each tactile effect element 101 can be addressed by applying a voltage to the corresponding row 102 and column 103. For example, a tactile effect element 101 can be addressed by applying a voltage between the top row conductor 102 and the leftmost column conductor 103. Figure 1 1. Such addressing may reduce the amount of electronic hardware required (eg, piezoelectric drivers, channel selectors, and physical wires between drive circuit 105 and haptic effect element 101) compared to other arrangements.

[0047] When tactile effect elements 101 are connected as a matrix, the matrix can be considered as a network of capacitive elements. For example, if tactile effect elements 101 are piezoelectric elements, then such piezoelectric elements can be effectively characterized as capacitors in an electrical sense. Therefore, tactile element matrix 104 can include systematic capacitive connections of tactile effect elements 101 via rows 102 and columns 103. This can cause undesirable crosstalk between addressed tactile effect elements and unaddressed tactile effect elements. The crosstalk signal may actually be a parasitic tactile signal of the unaddressed tactile effect element and may confuse the user or disrupt the user experience.

[0048] Although terms such as "row" and "column" may be used to disclose some functions of device 100, these terms should not be considered limiting. For example, as one skilled in the art can recognize, the functions of row and column can be interchanged without losing the effect sought.

[0049] The user may also perceive the haptic effect as feedback, i.e., for example, tactile feedback after touching or pressing a button or key of the matrix 104. Alternatively or in addition to the above, the device 100 may output the haptic effect without user interaction or feedback, such as by another actuation.

[0050] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating addressing of a tactile effect element according to an embodiment. Figure 2 In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the tactile effect element 101 in the upper left corner is addressed. However, this is merely an embodiment, and any tactile effect element 101 in the tactile element matrix 104 may be addressed in a similar manner as described herein.

[0051] The tactile effect element 101' may be addressed in, for example, two phases, referred to as phase 1 201 and phase 2 202. Phase 2 202 may be performed after phase 1 201. Phase 1 201 and phase 2 202 may also be referred to as a first phase and a second phase, respectively. Figure 2 , the voltages for each row 102 and column 103 during phase 1 201 and phase 2 202 are presented.

[0052] In phase 1201, the drive circuit 105 may drive a positive voltage to the leftmost column 103' and a reference voltage to the topmost row 102'. Thus, a voltage may be present on the addressed tactile effect element 101'. The positive voltage may be, for example, a voltage pulse. The positive voltage may be positive relative to a reference voltage. The reference voltage may be a substantially constant reference voltage.

[0053] When addressing a selected tactile effect element 101', the drive circuit 105 may float other rows 102 and columns 103. For example, the drive circuit 105 may float all other rows 102 and columns 103. In this way, crosstalk to non-addressed tactile effect elements 101 of the tactile element matrix 104 may be significantly reduced. This makes the non-addressed rows 102 and columns 103 have a high impedance compared to the driven rows 102' and columns 103', and most of the crosstalk via the non-addressed tactile effect elements 101 may be prevented, thereby minimizing any unintended tactile signals.

[0054] The reference voltage may correspond to any substantially constant voltage. The reference voltage may not be connected to any ground / earth outside the device 100.

[0055] When the tactile effect element 101 remains floating, the corresponding row conductor 102 and / or column conductor 103 may remain floating. When the conductor or any other component remains floating, there may be a high impedance between the conductor and the reference voltage and / or there may be no conductive signal path between the reference voltage and the conductor. For example, the floating conductor may be substantially disconnected from the reference voltage. When the impedance is at least 10, 10 greater than the impedance between the addressed row / column and the reference voltage, the floating conductor may be substantially disconnected from the reference voltage. 2 , 10 3 , 10 4 , 10 5 , 10 6 , 10 7 , 10 8 or 10 9 When the impedance is greater than 100 times greater than 100 kiloohms (kΩ), 1 megaohm (MΩ), 10 MΩ, 100 MΩ, 1 gigaohm (GΩ), 10 GΩ, or 100 GΩ, the impedance between the floating row / column and the reference voltage may be considered "high impedance". For example, the impedance between the floating row / column and the reference voltage may be greater than 100 kiloohms (kΩ), 1 megaohm (MΩ), 10 MΩ, 100 MΩ, 1 gigaohm (GΩ), 10 GΩ, or 100 GΩ.

[0056] In phase 2202, drive circuit 105 may drive a positive voltage to top row 102' and a reference voltage to leftmost column 103'. Thus, a voltage may be present on addressed tactile effect elements 101'. The positive voltage may be, for example, a voltage pulse. Thus, the voltage on addressed tactile effect elements 101' in phase 2202 may be a negative voltage compared to the voltage applied to tactile effect elements 101' addressed in phase 1 201. Similar to phase 1 201, drive circuit 105 may also float non-addressed tactile effect elements 101 during phase 2 202.

[0057] According to an embodiment, the driving circuit 105 is also configured to, in a second stage after the first stage: drive the addressed columns of the tactile element matrix with a third voltage; drive the addressed rows of the tactile element matrix with a fourth voltage; while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, keep at least one column of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; and while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, keep at least one row of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage.

[0058] The driver circuit 105 may also be configured to implement only phase 1 201 or phase 2 202 .

[0059] The drive circuit 105 may also address more than one tactile effect element 101 simultaneously. For example, the drive circuit 105 may address a first tactile effect element 101', as described above. Furthermore, the drive circuit 105 may also address a second tactile effect element 101" in the same column as the first addressed tactile effect element 101' by driving a reference voltage to the corresponding row 102" in phase 1 201 and by driving a positive voltage to the corresponding row 102" in phase 2 202. In this manner, the drive circuit 105 may address any number of tactile effect elements 101 in the same column 103'.

[0060] Similarly, the drive circuit 105 may also address a second tactile effect element 101 in the same row as the first addressed tactile effect element 101′ by driving a positive voltage to the corresponding column 103 in phase 1 201 and by driving a reference voltage to the corresponding column 103 in phase 2 202. In this manner, the drive circuit 105 may address any number of tactile effect elements 101 in the same row 102′.

[0061] Alternatively, the positive voltage in phase 1 201 and / or phase 2 202 may be a negative voltage. Furthermore, the driver circuit 105 may alternatively drive the addressed row 102' with a positive / negative voltage in phase 1 201 and drive the addressed column 103' with a reference voltage in phase 1. The driver circuit 105 may also drive the addressed column 103 with a positive / negative voltage in phase 2 202 and drive the addressed row 102' with a reference voltage in phase 1. These alternatives may apply to all embodiments disclosed herein.

[0062] Figure 3 FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a driving voltage for addressing a tactile effect element according to an embodiment. Figure 3 , the voltage 302 of the voltage pulses 303, 304 is presented as a function of time 301. The first voltage pulse 303 may be applied during phase 1 201, and the second voltage pulse 304 may be applied during phase 2 202. The voltage pulses 303, 304 may be generated, for example, by a booster circuit included in the driver circuit 105. Figure 3 In the embodiment of FIG. 3 , the amplitude of the first voltage pulse 303 may be shown to be smaller than the amplitude of the second voltage pulse 304 , but this is merely an example.

[0063] The driver circuit 105 may drive the first voltage pulse 303 to the addressed column 103' while driving the reference voltage to the addressed row 102' during phase 1 201. On the other hand, the driver circuit 105 may drive the second voltage pulse 304 to the addressed row 102' while driving the reference voltage to the addressed column 103' during phase 2 202. Alternatively or additionally, the driver circuit 105 may drive pulses similar or dissimilar to the pulses 303, 304 in any other manner.

[0064] The amplitude of the first voltage pulse 303 and / or the amplitude of the second voltage pulse 304 may be in the range of 50-500 volts (V). The amplitude of the first voltage pulse 303 and / or the amplitude of the second voltage pulse 304 may also be in any sub-range of this range, such as 100-200 V, 100-250 V, 50-200 V, 50-250 V, 100-500 V, or 50-500 V.

[0065] The duration of the first voltage pulse 303 and / or the duration of the second voltage pulse 304 may be in the range of 0-50 milliseconds (ms). The duration of the first voltage pulse 303 and / or the duration of the second voltage pulse 304 may also be any sub-range of this range, such as 1-10ms, 1-20ms, 2-10ms, 2-20ms, 1-30ms, 2-30ms, 3-20ms or 3-10ms.

[0066] According to an embodiment, the second voltage and the third voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage and the first voltage includes the first voltage pulse 303 and the fourth voltage includes the second voltage pulse 304; or the first voltage and the fourth voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage and the second voltage includes the first voltage pulse 303 and the third voltage includes the second voltage pulse 304. For example, the first voltage pulse 303 and the second voltage pulse 304 may have the same polarity relative to the substantially constant reference voltage. For example, the first voltage pulse 303 and the second voltage pulse 304 may be positive relative to the substantially constant reference voltage, or the first voltage pulse 303 and the second voltage pulse 304 may be negative relative to the substantially constant reference voltage.

[0067] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of voltage applied to an addressed tactile effect element 101 ′ according to an embodiment is illustrated. Figure 4 The voltage 401 presented in the embodiment can be related to Figure 3 The pulses 303 and 304 presented in the embodiment correspond.

[0068] As from Figure 4 As can be seen from the embodiment of the present invention, the voltage 401 applied to the addressed tactile effect element 101' can be negative during phase 1 201 and can be positive during phase 2 202. This is due to the fact that during phase 1 201, the drive circuit 105 can apply a positive drive voltage to the addressed column 103', and during phase 2 202, the drive circuit 105 can apply a positive drive voltage to the addressed row 102'. Therefore, the voltage 401 on the addressed tactile effect element 101' can change sign between phase 1 201 and phase 2 202. The polarity of the voltage 401 depends on how the voltage is measured. Therefore, the voltage 401 can also be positive during phase 1 201 and negative during phase 2 202.

[0069] Voltage 401 may be referred to as bipolar. This bipolar voltage may be achieved even if driver circuit 105 does not include a bipolar booster because driver circuit 105 may drive a positive voltage to the columns in phase 1 201 and to the rows in phase 2 202, or vice versa, as described above. This may reduce the amount of hardware required because a bipolar booster or two separate boosters may not be required.

[0070] Figure 5A schematic diagram of addressing a tactile effect element according to an embodiment is illustrated. Only phase 1 201 can be used to address a tactile effect element by applying a positive voltage to an addressed column 103' while applying a reference voltage to an addressed row 102'. Alternatively, a negative voltage may be used in place of the positive voltage, or a positive or negative voltage may be applied to an addressed row 102' while driving a reference voltage to an addressed column 103'. The drive circuit 105 may also keep some rows / columns floating, as described herein.

[0071] Figure 6 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating addressing of a tactile effect element according to an embodiment. Figure 6 In the embodiment, similar to Figure 2 and 5 In an embodiment, during phase 1 201, the driver circuit 105 may drive a positive voltage to the addressed column 103' and a reference voltage to the addressed row 102'.

[0072] On the other hand, during phase 2 202, the driver circuit 105 may drive a negative voltage to the addressed column 103' while driving a reference voltage to the addressed row 102'. In this manner, similar to Figure 2 In an embodiment of the present invention, a bipolar voltage may be implemented on the addressed tactile effect element 101'. The drive circuit 105 may also leave some rows / columns floating, as described herein.

[0073] If two or more tactile effect elements 101 need to provide tactile effects at the same time, then time interleaving can be used to address the tactile effect elements. If the tactile effect elements 101 to be addressed are located in different rows and columns, this can be beneficial. If the tactile effect elements 101 to be addressed are located in the same row or column, then they can be addressed without time interleaving. The addressing of each tactile effect element can be implemented using any of the embodiments described herein, for example. For example, such tactile effect elements 101 can be addressed continuously in time quickly enough so that the user cannot distinguish the time difference between continuous tactile effects. For example, the time interval between such continuous addressing can be less than 100ms, 50ms, 30ms, 25ms, 20ms, 15ms, 10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, or 0.1ms. The maximum time interval length that the tactile effect is felt at the same time can vary from person to person. For example, the time interval can be measured between the end of the first addressing and the beginning of the second addressing. This interleaving can avoid problems that may occur in matrix addressing.

[0074] According to an embodiment, the driving circuit 105 is further configured to successively address at least two different tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix. According to a further embodiment, the time interval between the consecutive addressing is short enough so that the tactile effects due to the consecutive addressing appear to be simultaneous to a human being. For example, the time interval between the consecutive addressing is less than 30 ms.

[0075] The device 100 can also be configured to perform haptic effects and touch detection using the haptic effect elements 101 of the haptic element matrix 104. In such cases, if haptic effects and touch sensing are used simultaneously, the haptic effects can interfere with the touch sensing. Therefore, the haptic effects and touch sensing can be implemented in a time-staggered manner. For example, the device 100 can implement a recovery period between haptic effects and touch sensing.

[0076] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the correspondence between the tactile element matrix 104 and the keyboard 110 according to an embodiment is illustrated. If the tactile effect element 101 is used to provide a tactile effect for a key 1011 of the keyboard 110, then the key 1011 can be physically positioned differently according to the desired adjacent distortion effect. For example, a tactile effect can be provided to adjacent keys by tactile effect elements 101 that are not electrically adjacent in the tactile element matrix 104. In this way, if any unwanted tactile effect is generated in the tactile effect element 101 that is not addressed due to the adjacent tactile effect element 101' being addressed, then the unwanted tactile effect is unlikely to affect the tactile sensation felt by the user. Therefore, for example, the so-called QWERTY keyboard can be designed in such a way that the user's fingers are not disturbed by the unwanted tactile effect. The correspondence 1012 between the tactile effect element 101' and the key 1011' is shown in FIG. Figure 7 . Another correspondence 1013 between the tactile effect element 101" and the key 1011" is shown, and yet another correspondence 1014 between the tactile effect element 101" and the key 1011"' is shown. As can be perceived, the keys 1011' and 1011" are not adjacent, but the keys 1011' and 1011"' are adjacent in the keyboard 110. In the matrix 104, the tactile effect elements 101' and 101"' are not adjacent, but the tactile effect elements 101' and 101" are adjacent.

[0077] The haptic effect element 101 may be configured to provide a haptic effect for an area that may not correspond to a single button. For example, the haptic effect element 101 may provide a haptic effect for a specific area of ​​the touch screen or for a plurality of buttons.

[0078] According to an embodiment, the tactile effect elements 101 in the tactile element matrix 104 include piezoelectric elements.

[0079] According to a further embodiment, the tactile effect elements 101 in the tactile element matrix 104 are further configured to detect a touch.

[0080] For example, the device 100 may further include a controller. The controller may be integrated with the drive circuit 105. When the user presses the tactile effect element 101, a voltage may be generated between the row 102 and the column 103 connected to the tactile effect element 101. This voltage may be detected by a controller electrically coupled to the row 102 and the column 103. For example, the controller may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which may be configured to convert an analog voltage into a digital signal. Based on the row 102 and the column 103, the controller may detect which tactile effect element 101 is pressed.

[0081] The ADCs in the controller connected to rows 102 and columns 103 where tactile effect elements 101 are not touched may detect significantly lower signals than the ADCs connected to rows 102 and columns 103 where tactile effect elements 101 are touched. There may be several tactile effect elements 101 that are touched, pressed, slid, or otherwise actuated by a user simultaneously, thereby providing sufficiently large signal differences across several pairs of rows 102 and columns 103 that can be detected and identified in the controller. Different and adjustable sensitivity thresholds may be used to identify different types of touch events in the controller.

[0082] The controller may also be configured to also utilize relevant information from the haptic effect element 101 to record the movement of the finger(s), pressure profile, etc. Based on the detected signals, the controller may drive the haptic effect element 101 as disclosed herein to provide a haptic experience for the user.

[0083] Figure 8 A flow chart representation of a method 700 according to an embodiment is illustrated. The method 700 may include driving 701 addressed columns of a tactile element matrix with a first voltage. The method 700 may also include driving 702 addressed rows of the tactile element matrix with a second voltage. The method 700 may also include maintaining 703 at least one column of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows. The method 700 may also include maintaining 704 at least one row of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows.

[0084] Although Figure 8 The flowchart representation of the method 700 in the embodiment of the present invention may indicate a specific order of steps 701-704 of the method 700, but the steps 701-704 may be performed in any order. In addition, one or more of the steps 701-704 may be performed substantially simultaneously.

[0085] The device 100 and / or the method 700 can be used in, for example, a laptop touchpad. The tactile element matrix 104 can be configured to determine a force threshold and provide a touch (click) confirmation. When the mechanical click function is replaced by the tactile element matrix 104, the thickness of the touchpad stack can be reduced and it is possible to provide a more accurate and uniform click feeling. "Uniform" can mean that no matter where the finger touches the surface, the click feeling is similar. The tactile element matrix 104 can enable new functions, such as providing a tactile feeling on the touchpad when the computer cursor moves on a virtual button on the screen. The force sensitivity of the touchpad surface can also provide new possibilities. For example, pressing hard with a finger can trigger certain functions on the computer (such as shortcut functions).

[0086] The device 100 and / or method 700 may also be used in, for example, a vehicle such as a car. The device 100 and / or method 700 may provide haptic effects when a user / driver of the vehicle interacts with various systems of the vehicle such as an information system, an entertainment system, and / or a control system.

[0087] The device 100 and / or method 700 can also be used, for example, to create a full qwerty (laptop) keyboard, replacing mechanical keys. This can provide at least some of the following benefits: space savings (thinner stack = thinner laptop), increased robustness, seamless, closed surface that may be easy to clean, new design options - material choices, new features and faster typing speeds, (e.g., selecting uppercase letters by applying more pressure with the finger on the key), fully configurable - the user can change the way the keys feel (more or less "key travel", sensitivity, audio sounds from the keys).

[0088] When the device 100 and / or method 700 is combined with a screen / display, it may be possible to create a virtual on-screen keyboard without compromising tactile feel / feedback. A benefit of a virtual keyboard may be that the layout (position and function) of the keys may be easily reconfigured, such as when changing between languages ​​or certain applications (e.g., text editing versus gaming).

[0089] In some embodiments, one haptic effect element 101 may correspond to one key on a keyboard. For example, for a full qwerty keyboard, this may require up to 100 haptic feedback elements 101. Each haptic effect element may need to be wired / connected to a controller / driver / lifter. With so many individual haptic effect elements 101, the haptic element matrix 104 can reduce the number of connectors and the complexity of wiring.

[0090] The device 100 and / or method 700 may also be used in conjunction with a display. It may also be possible to create more tactile experiences, such as feeling textures, ridges or other structures as a finger moves across a surface / display.

[0091] In some embodiments, the tactile effect element 101 may not be a discrete element. Instead, it may also be possible to deposit the piezoelectric material on a carrier material and use a layer of such piezoelectric material in the tactile element matrix 104. This may reduce costs and make assembly easier.

[0092] The functions described herein may be performed at least in part by one or more computer program product components (such as software components). According to an embodiment, the device includes a processor (such as a microcontroller) configured by a program code of an embodiment that performs the described operations and functions when executed. Alternatively or additionally, the functions described herein may be performed at least in part by one or more hardware logic components. For example, but not limited to, illustrative types of hardware logic components that may be used include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application specific standard products (ASSPs), systems on chip (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and graphics processing units (GPUs).

[0093] Any range or device value given herein may be expanded or altered without losing the effect sought. Furthermore, any embodiment may be combined with another embodiment unless expressly not permitted.

[0094] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or actions, it should be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Instead, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as examples of implementing the claims, and other equivalent features and actions are intended to fall within the scope of the claims.

[0095] It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those embodiments that solve any or all of the problems described or have any or all of the benefits and advantages described. It will be further understood that reference to "an" item may refer to one or more of those items.

[0096] The steps of the methods described herein may be performed in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. In addition, individual blocks may be deleted from any method without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the above-described embodiments may be combined with aspects of any other embodiment described to form further embodiments without losing the effects sought.

[0097] The term "comprising" is used herein to mean including the identified methods, blocks or elements, but such blocks or elements do not include an exclusive list and the method or apparatus may include additional blocks or elements.

[0098] It will be understood that the above description is given as an example only and various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The above description, examples and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of the exemplary embodiments. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity or with reference to one or more separate embodiments, those skilled in the art may make various changes to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this specification.

Claims

1. A device (100), comprising: A tactile element matrix (104) comprising tactile effect elements (101), wherein the tactile effect elements are electrically arranged in rows and columns; as well as The driving circuit (105) is configured to, in a first stage (201): driving the addressed columns (103') of the tactile element matrix with a first voltage; driving the addressed rows (102') of the tactile element matrix with a second voltage; While driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, maintaining all other columns (103) of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; as well as while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, maintaining all other rows (102) of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; wherein one of the first voltage and the second voltage comprises voltage pulses and the other comprises a substantially constant reference voltage; The tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix include discrete piezoelectric elements.

2. The device (100) of claim 1, wherein the impedance between the floating column or row and the substantially constant reference voltage is at least 100 kilo-ohms.

3. The device (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the drive circuit is further configured to, in a second phase (202) subsequent to the first phase: driving the addressed columns of the matrix of tactile elements with a third voltage; driving the addressed rows of the matrix of tactile elements with a fourth voltage; while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, maintaining all other columns of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; as well as While the addressed columns and addressed rows are driven, all other rows of the tactile element matrix are held at a floating voltage.

4. The device (100) according to claim 3, wherein: The second voltage and the third voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage, and the first voltage includes a first voltage pulse (303), and the fourth voltage includes a second voltage pulse (304); or The first voltage and the fourth voltage include substantially constant reference voltages, and the second voltage includes a first voltage pulse (303), and the third voltage includes a second voltage pulse (304).

5. The device (100) of claim 4, wherein the first voltage pulse and the second voltage pulse have the same polarity relative to a substantially constant reference voltage.

6. The device (100) according to claim 3, wherein The second voltage and the fourth voltage include a substantially constant reference voltage, and the first voltage includes a first voltage pulse, and the third voltage includes a second voltage pulse; or The first voltage and the third voltage include substantially constant reference voltages, and the second voltage includes first voltage pulses, and the fourth voltage includes second voltage pulses.

7. The device (100) of claim 6, wherein the first voltage pulse and the second voltage pulse have opposite polarities relative to a substantially constant reference voltage.

8. The device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the driving circuit is further configured to: At least two different tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix are addressed consecutively.

9. The device (100) according to claim 8, wherein the time interval between consecutive addressings is less than 30 ms.

10. The device (100) of claim 1, wherein the tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix are further configured to detect touch.

11. The device (100) of claim 1, wherein a first terminal (120) of the tactile effect element (101) is connected to a row conductor of a row and a second terminal (121) of the tactile effect element (101) is connected to a column conductor of a column.

12. The device (100) of claim 1, wherein the haptic effect is produced for a specific haptic effect element located at an intersection of a driven addressed row and a driven addressed column.

13. The device (100) according to claim 1, further comprising a keyboard matrix comprising different keys, wherein the keys are configured as the keyboard matrix so that adjacent keys of a certain key corresponding to a certain tactile effect element are different from adjacent tactile effect elements of the certain tactile effect element.

14. A method (700) for driving a tactile element matrix comprising tactile effect elements, wherein the tactile effect elements are electrically arranged in rows and columns, the method comprising: driving (701) addressed columns of the tactile element matrix with a first voltage; driving (702) the addressed rows of the matrix of tactile elements with a second voltage; while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, maintaining (703) all other columns of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; as well as while driving the addressed columns and the addressed rows, maintaining (704) all other rows of the tactile element matrix at a floating voltage; wherein one of the first voltage and the second voltage comprises voltage pulses and the other comprises a substantially constant reference voltage; The tactile effect elements in the tactile element matrix include discrete piezoelectric elements.

15. A computer program product comprising program code configured to perform the method according to claim 14 when the computer program is executed on a computing device.

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