IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,726,626
Granted Patent B2
US 11,726,626 · App. 17/646,041 · Granted Aug 15, 2023

Device for use with a touch screen

Inventors: Daniel Keith Van Ostrand (Leander, TX); Michael Shawn Gray (Dripping Springs, TX)
Assignee: SigmaSense, LLC.
G06F3/0446G06F3/03547G06F3/04883H03K17/962
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,726,626
App. No.
17/646,041
Granted
Aug 15, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

A device includes an AC coupling circuit, a sense-regulation circuit, an inbound data processing module, an outbound data processing module, and a communication circuit. The AC coupling circuit receives a sense signal from, and transmits a transmit signal to, a touch screen of a computing device. The sense-regulation circuit generates a receive error signal based on the sense signal and a representation of transmit data. The inbound data processing module converts transmit data into a representation of the transmit data. The outbound data processing module converts the receive error signal into receive data. The communication circuit receive the transmit data from, and sends the receive data to, another computing device.

Claims (49)

1. A device for interacting with a touch screen, the device comprises:

an AC coupling circuit operable to:

receive a sense signal from the touch screen, wherein the sense signal includes a representation of receive data; and

transmit a transmit signal to the touch screen, wherein the touch screen is capable of interpreting the transmit signal as an input to the touch screen;

a sense-regulation circuit operable to:

receive the sense signal from the AC coupling circuit;

generate a comparison signal based on the sense signal and a reference signal, wherein the reference signal includes a representation of the transmit data;

generate a receive error signal based on the comparison signal, wherein the receive error signal corresponds to the representation of receive data; and

convert the representation of transmit data into the transmit signal;

an inbound data processing module operable to convert transmit data into the representation of transmit data; and

an outbound data processing module operable to convert the receive error signal into the receive data.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprises:

a communication circuit operable to:

receive the transmit data from a computing device; and

send the receive data to the computing device, wherein the receive data includes information contained in the sense signal.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the sense-regulation circuit is further operable to:

receive the sense signal;

receive the representation of the transmit data;

compare the sense signal to the representation of the transmit data to generate the comparison signal;

generate the regulation signal based on the comparison signal; and

generate the transmit signal based on the sense signal and the regulation signal.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the sense-regulation circuit comprises:

an operational amplifier having:

a negative input coupled to receive the sense signal;

a positive input coupled to receive the representation of the transmit data; and

an output coupled to provide the comparison signal;

a regulation circuit operably coupled to generate the regulation signal based on the comparison signal; and

a dependent supply source operably coupled to provide an adjustment signal to a node coupling the negative input of the operational amplifier to the AC coupling circuit, wherein the dependent supply source generates the adjustment signal based on the regulation signal.

5. The device of claim 1 further comprises:

the sense-regulation circuit is further operable to:

receive the sense signal;

compare the sense signal to a reference signal to generate the comparison signal;

generate the regulation signal based on the comparison signal;

regulate receiving of the sense signal based on the regulation signal;

passes, as the transmit signal, the representation of the transmit data to the AC coupling circuit; and

the AC coupling circuit including:

a first AC coupling circuit for receiving the sense signal from the touch screen; and

a second AC coupling circuit for transmitting the transmit signal to the touch screen.

6. The device of claim 5 further comprises:

the first AC coupling circuit being physically located at a first location of the device; and

the second AC coupling circuit being physically located at a second location of the device, wherein the touch screen is capable of discerning between the first and second locations.

7. The device of claim 1 further comprises:

the AC coupling circuit is further operable to receive, as the sense signal, frequencies transmitted on at least one of column electrodes and row electrodes of the touch screen;

the outbound data processing module is further operable to:

determine a pattern of the frequencies from the receive error; and

interpret the pattern to produce the receive data.

8. The device of claim 1 further comprises:

a housing; and

the AC coupling circuit includes a conductive pad that is electrically isolated from the housing.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 28, 2021
From: VAN OSTRAND, DANIEL KEITH; GRAY, MICHAEL SHAWN
To: SIGMASENSE, LLC.
Reel/Frame 058486/0810 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 16436746 · Jun 10, 2019
Related Publication 20220121323A1 · Apr 21, 2022