Integrated Keyboard and Touchpad via Dynamic Boundary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laptop computers are limited in size due to the shared space required by the keyboard and touchpad, leading to reduced effectiveness and usability, as users must remove their fingers from the keyboard to use the touchpad and vice versa, restricting motion range and functionality.
Innovation Solution
A data input system featuring a touch-sensitive screen that selectively displays a keyboard or touchpad interface, providing tactile feedback and allowing for both modes to occupy the same space, using multiple layers including a flexible display, tactile layers, and ITO patterns to detect pressure and transmit signals, enabling flexible and intuitive data entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the keyboard and touchpad are reduced in size to make the laptop smaller, then the laptop physical size is reduced, but the keyboard becomes more difficult to type on and the touchpad tracks a smaller range of motion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the keyboard and touchpad into a single integrated input device that occupies a unified space on the laptop. The keyboard portion and touchpad portion are merged such that they share the same physical area, allowing the laptop to be smaller while maintaining adequate typing and tracking surfaces through the combined layout.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated input device serves multiple functions within a single structure. The same physical space accommodates both keyboard typing and touchpad tracking operations, with the boundary between keyboard and touchpad areas being indistinct or removable, allowing the device to adapt to different input needs without requiring separate dedicated spaces.
2Reliability
If the touchpad is positioned separately from the keyboard, then each component can be optimized for its function, but the user must remove fingers from the keyboard to use the touchpad, reducing operational efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The keyboard and touchpad are merged into a single integrated input device where the boundary between keyboard and touchpad areas is indistinct or removable. This integration allows users to transition between typing and tracking operations without physically moving their hands to separate locations, thereby maintaining functional optimization while improving operational efficiency.
3Device complexity
If fixed physical boundaries between keyboard and touchpad areas are maintained, then each area can be clearly defined, but the laptop must occupy more physical space to accommodate both areas with their minimum requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The boundary between keyboard and touchpad areas is made dynamic rather than fixed. The boundary can be indistinct or removable, allowing the input device to adapt its configuration based on usage needs. This dynamic approach eliminates the need for rigid structural divisions, reducing the overall space required while maintaining functional clarity.
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 a smaller laptop form factor with improved usability by consolidating keyboard and touchpad functions, enhancing user experience and reducing physical size constraints while maintaining effective data input capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
The screen is touch-sensitive and responds to pressure applied by a user's finger
Implementation Method 2
at least one layer that transmits signals to a processing unit
Implementation Method 3
a layer that provides tactile feedback to the user
Data Source
AI summary
A data input system including a screen that selectably displays an image of a data input device such as a keyboard or a computer mouse. The screen tracks pressure applied by the user, and processes an input signal created by the pressure into input data according to the image displayed on the screen.