Patent ID: 11895754
Assignee: ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus comprising:
a surface that includes a plurality of row wires and a plurality of column wires forming intersection points, wherein intersection points between row wires and column wires include:
a pressure sensor (i) coupled to the row wire and the column wire at the intersection point and (ii) configured to sense a pressure exerted upon the surface, and
a light emitting diode (LED) coupled to the row wire and the column wire at the intersection point in parallel to the pressure sensor;

a selector configured to selectively complete an electrical path the flows from a power supply through a selected intersection point;
a controller coupled to the selector and configured to control operation of the surface, wherein the controller is configured to operate in one of a pressure-sensing mode or an illumination mode;
a switch bank coupled to the controller and the surface, wherein the controller is configured to operate the switch bank in tandem with the selector when operating in the pressure-sensing mode;
a resistor bank coupled to the controller and the surface, wherein the controller is configured to operate the resistor bank in tandem with the selector when operating in the illumination mode; and
a switch operatively coupled to the controller, wherein:
when the controller is configured to operate in the pressure-sensing mode, the controller operates the switch such that the switch completes a circuit between the selector, the surface, and the switch bank, and
when the controller is configured to operate in the illumination mode, the controller operates the switch such that switch completes a circuit between the selector, the surface, and the resistor bank.