Wedge-Shaped Touch Pad With Integrated Haptic Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumer electronic devices with touch-based interfaces often lack effective tactile feedback and ergonomic design, leading to user discomfort and aesthetically unappealing compact enclosures that restrict movement.
Innovation Solution
A standalone input device with a wedge-shaped touch pad that provides haptic feedback and is designed to be aesthetically appealing, featuring a touch surface inclined at an angle for improved user access, made from RF-transparent materials like plastic or ceramic, and incorporating a haptic engine for enhanced tactile experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a compact enclosure is used to achieve a sleek and aesthetically appealing design, then the aesthetic appeal is improved, but the range of movement for touch-based interface components is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible membrane as the touch-sensitive component, allowing it to be integrated into a compact enclosure while still providing adequate range of movement. The membrane's flexibility enables it to deflect sufficiently for user interaction without requiring a large structural footprint, thus resolving the contradiction between compact sleek design and operational range.
2Ease of operation
If haptic feedback mechanisms are added to improve tactile feedback, then the tactile feedback is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the haptic feedback mechanism with the existing touch-sensitive membrane structure. The feedback is generated through the same membrane that detects user input, eliminating the need for separate complex feedback mechanisms. This integration provides improved tactile feedback while minimizing increases in device complexity.
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
The device enhances user experience through improved ergonomics and aesthetics by providing a comfortable and intuitive tactile input mechanism with haptic feedback, while maintaining wireless communication capabilities and a sleek design.
Implementation Method 1
incorporating a haptic engine for enhanced tactile experience
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A~4B
AI summary
A stand alone input device can be a touch pad that provides touch inputs to an associated computing device. The input device can include a wedge-shaped base defining an inner cavity, a touch plate having a touch surface disposed over the inner cavity and configured to accept a touch input, cantilevered beams coupled to the wedge-shaped base and the touch plate and configured to deliver a force from the touch input, a haptic generator coupled to the cantilevered beams and configured to generate a haptic output in response to the touch input, an antenna component integrated within a wall of the wedge-shaped base and an antenna resonance cavity located within the inner cavity, and a switch assembly including a sliding component having a pin through a wedge-shaped base wall and a switch beam having a protrusion that engages multiple recesses located at a detent region on the sliding component.