Capacitive Touch Cover with Distinct Input Portions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing supplementary covers for electronic devices do not effectively enable visible content on touch screens while allowing accurate actuation of touch sensitive areas, particularly for capacitive screens, without compromising the device's functionality or aesthetics.
Innovation Solution
A cover with an output portion for visible content and distinct input portions, each with a physical characteristic for demarcation, that can be actuated to enable touch sensitive area activation, using materials like silicone and polycarbonate, ensuring capacitive coupling and resilience for accurate input on capacitive touch screens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a supplementary cover is applied over the touch screen to provide physical input portions, then the device gains enhanced input capability and protection, but the visibility of content on the touch screen and the accuracy of touch actuation are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The cover employs a thin, flexible membrane structure that allows touch forces to transmit through the material to the underlying capacitive touch screen. The membrane is sufficiently thin to maintain capacitive coupling while providing physical form factors for key input portions, thus enabling both protective coverage and accurate touch actuation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover material parameters are specifically optimized to balance multiple requirements: thickness is controlled to maintain capacitive coupling (enabling touch sensitivity), flexibility is adjusted to allow force transmission, and surface properties are tuned to provide appropriate tactile feedback while preserving optical transparency for content visibility.
2Strength
If the cover material is made thicker to provide better protection and more defined input portions, then protection and physical demarcation are improved, but capacitive coupling with the touch screen is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The solution utilizes a thin flexible film rather than a thick rigid structure. This thin film provides sufficient protection while maintaining the electrical properties necessary for capacitive coupling, as the film thickness is kept below the threshold that would significantly attenuate the capacitive signal from the touch screen.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover employs composite material construction combining layers with different properties: a thin transparent protective layer for strength and optical clarity, and a flexible membrane layer for touch transmission. This composite structure achieves both protection and capacitive coupling without requiring excessive thickness of any single material layer.
3Illumination intensity
If the cover is made transparent to maintain visibility, then content visibility is preserved, but the physical characteristics needed for demarcating input portions are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cover exhibits spatially varying properties: the base material is transparent for overall visibility, while specific input portion regions have modified optical and tactile characteristics (such as slight opacity variations, surface relief, or tactile markings) that provide local demarcation cues without compromising the global transparency needed for screen visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover utilizes subtle optical property variations including color differences, transparency gradients, or surface reflectivity changes at input portion locations to provide visual and tactile demarcation. These variations are sufficient for user identification of input areas while maintaining overall screen visibility through the cover material.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables users to accurately actuate touch sensitive areas on capacitive touch screens through the cover, providing a visible and functional interface similar to a keyboard, while maintaining the device's original functionality and aesthetics.
Implementation Method 1
ensuring capacitive coupling and resilience for accurate input on capacitive touch screens
Implementation Method 2
The resiliently deformable region may be formed of silicone or other elastomeric material
Data Source
AI summary
A cover configured to overlie a touch screen of an electronic device the cover including an output portion configured to enable content presented on the touch screen to be visible to a user through the cover; and the cover including a plurality of distinct input portions each sharing a physical characteristic that demarcates each of the plurality of distinct input portions as an input portion, wherein each of the plurality of distinct input portions is configured to enable one of a plurality of touch sensitive areas of the touch screen to be actuated.