US Patent Application 18325565. DIFFERENTIAL ACOUSTIC TOUCH AND FORCE SENSING simplified abstract

DIFFERENTIAL ACOUSTIC TOUCH AND FORCE SENSING

Organization Name

Apple Inc.==Inventor(s)==

[[Category:Marduke Yousefpor of San Jose CA (US)]]

[[Category:Mohammad Yeke Yazdandoost of San Francisco CA (US)]]

[[Category:Aaron Scott Tucker of Redwood City CA (US)]]

[[Category:Marcus Yip of San Carlos CA (US)]]

[[Category:Ehsan Khajeh of Los Gatos CA (US)]]

[[Category:Brian Michael King of Saratoga CA (US)]]

[[Category:Giovanni Gozzini of Berkeley CA (US)]]

DIFFERENTIAL ACOUSTIC TOUCH AND FORCE SENSING - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18325565 titled 'DIFFERENTIAL ACOUSTIC TOUCH AND FORCE SENSING

Simplified Explanation

- The patent application is about a system and method for acoustic touch and force sensing. - It can detect the position of an object touching a surface and the amount of force applied to the surface. - Time-of-flight (TOF) techniques are used to determine the position and applied force. - Transducers, such as piezoelectric devices, are used to transmit ultrasonic waves along the surface and through a deformable material. - The location of the object and the applied force are determined based on the time it takes for the waves to be transmitted and received. - The system is designed to be insensitive to water contact, making it suitable for touch sensing in devices that may become wet or submerged in water.

Original Abstract Submitted

Acoustic touch and/or force sensing system architectures and methods for acoustic touch and/or force sensing can be used to detect a position of an object touching a surface and an amount of force applied to the surface by the object. The position and/or an applied force can be determined using time-of-flight (TOF) techniques, for example. Acoustic touch sensing can utilize transducers (e.g., piezoelectric) to simultaneously transmit ultrasonic waves along a surface and through a thickness of a deformable material. The location of the object and the applied force can be determined based on the amount of time elapsing between the transmission of the waves and receipt of the reflected waves. In some examples, an acoustic touch sensing system can be insensitive to water contact on the device surface, and thus acoustic touch sensing can be used for touch sensing in devices that may become wet or fully submerged in water.