Patent ID: 11861115
Assignee: APPLE INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 19:
20. A method for determining a location of an object contacting a surface and an amount of applied force by the object contacting the surface, the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of acoustic transducers:
transmitting a first ultrasonic wave in the surface toward an opposite edge of the surface;
receiving a first ultrasonic reflection from the surface; and
determining a first time-of-flight between the first ultrasonic wave transmitted in the surface and the first ultrasonic reflection from the surface;

determining the location of the object contacting the surface based on one or more respective first time-of-flight measurements corresponding to one or more of the plurality of transducers;
for each of a plurality of acoustic transducers:
transmitting a second ultrasonic wave through a deformable material disposed between the surface and a rigid material;
receiving a second ultrasonic reflection from the deformable material in response to the second ultrasonic wave transmitted through the deformable material traversing a thickness of the deformable material; and
determining a second time-of-flight between the second ultrasonic wave transmitted through the deformable material and the second ultrasonic reflection from the deformable material; and

determining the amount of applied force by the object contacting the surface based on one or more respective second time-of-flight measurements corresponding to one or more of the plurality of transducers.