Touch Pad Coordinate Switching for Finger Cursor and Pen Drawing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch pads struggle to simultaneously enable precise cursor control with a finger and detailed line drawing with a pen due to the mismatch between relative and absolute coordinate systems, limiting their functionality.
Innovation Solution
A system incorporating a sensor electrode group, integrated circuit, and device driver that converts touch positions to relative coordinates and pen positions to absolute coordinates within a logical region, allowing seamless integration of finger and pen inputs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the touch pad uses relative coordinates to enable cursor control with a finger, then the ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision deteriorates because the position on the touch surface and the position on the display surface do not correspond one-to-one
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between two coordinate output modes based on the input device type: relative coordinates for finger input and absolute coordinates for pen input. This dynamic adaptation allows the touch pad to optimize for cursor control when a finger is used while maintaining position correspondence when a pen is used.
Solution Approach 2:
The coordinate system parameters are changed based on the input device. The device driver detects whether the input is from a finger or pen and adjusts the coordinate output format accordingly - using relative coordinate parameters for fingers and absolute coordinate parameters for pens, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and position precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If the touch pad uses absolute coordinates to enable line drawing with a pen, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates because the advantage of relative coordinates for cursor control is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between two coordinate output modes based on the input device type: relative coordinates for finger input and absolute coordinates for pen input. This dynamic adaptation allows the touch pad to optimize for cursor control when a finger is used while maintaining position correspondence when a pen is used.
Solution Approach 2:
The coordinate system parameters are changed based on the input device. The device driver detects whether the input is from a finger or pen and adjusts the coordinate output format accordingly - using relative coordinate parameters for fingers and absolute coordinate parameters for pens, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and position precision.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the touch pad detects both touch position and pen position, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for different coordinate conversion methods
Solution Approach 1:
The device driver acts as an intermediary layer between the touch pad hardware and the operating system. It receives raw coordinate data from the integrated circuit, identifies the input device type, performs the appropriate coordinate conversion (relative or absolute), and outputs the processed coordinates to the OS. This intermediary approach manages the complexity centrally rather than in the hardware, maintaining adaptability while organizing the conversion logic.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a system for a touch pad used by both a finger and a pen to input operations to a computer. The system includes a sensor electrode group, an integrated circuit, and a memory storing a device driver. The sensor electrode group is configured to be placed over a touch surface that is different from a display surface of the computer. The integrated circuit uses the sensor electrode group to detect a touch position on the touch surface where the finger is in contact and a pen position on the touch surface where the pen is in contact and supplies the detected touch position and pen position to the device driver. The device driver is configured to convert the touch position into relative coordinates when the device driver receives the touch position, and convert the pen position into absolute coordinates when the device driver receives the pen position.