Abstract:
A tactile feedback system having a mechanical keyboard that mechanically interfaces with a touch screen panel so that when a key is displaced a section of the touch screen panel is activated through key contact thereby providing a tactile response to the operator to enhance the operators confidence that the desired key action has taken place.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to a tactile feedback system and, more specifically, to a tactile feedback system that includes a keyboard that mechanically interfaces with a touch screen panel.  
         CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0002]    None  
         STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0003]    None  
         REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
         [0004]    None  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The concept of touch screen systems and devices having a touch screen panel are well known in the art. Typically, one presses a finger against the touch screen panel to activate a selected region of the panel. While touch screen panels can provide immediate visual indication of contact they do not provide tactile feedback to the user. In order to confirm that an action has taken place on a touch screen panel a user needs to look at the screen to confirm that the correct area has been pressed and that the required action has been performed. Although touch screen panels require visual confirmation of an action they do not provide the tactile feedback needed when critical activities are performed. In order to provide tactile feedback a keyboard can be electrically interfaced with the touch screen system.  
           [0006]    The present invention eliminates the need for electrically interfacing a keyboard with a touch screen system by providing a mechanical keyboard having a plurality of keys that when depressed contact the touch screen panel. By coordinating the area of contact of the keys with a selected portion of the touch screen panel one can quickly convert a touch screen system with no tactile feedback to a touch screen system with tactile feedback.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    A touch screen system with tactile feedback with the system having a mechanical keyboard that mechanically interfaces with a touch screen panel so that when a key is displaced it inherently provides tactile feedback to the user as well as activates a section of the touch screen panel with the tactile feedback enhancing the operators confidence that the key action has occurred. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a top view of a touch screen with a pivotally attached keyboard in an inoperative position;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a side view of the touch screen of FIG. 1;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a side view of the touch screen of FIG. 2 with the keyboard rotated into an operative position;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a top view of the touch screen of FIG. 1 with the keyboard in the operative position;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is an isolated sectional view of a portion of the touch screen and one of the keys in the keyboard with the key located in a non-contact condition with the touch screen;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5A is an isolated sectional view of a portion of the touch screen of FIG. 5 with and one of the keys in the keyboard located in a contact condition with the touch screen;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is a an isolated top view of one of the keys of the keyboard having an external marking together a portion of the surrounding resilient key retainer and a portion of the touch screen;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is a an isolated top view of an alternate embodiment of one of the keys of the keyboard having a transparent viewing surface to allow one to view a portion of the touch screen through the top surface of the key;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is a side view of the alternate embodiment of FIG. 7 showing the key in the non-contact condition;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 is a top view of a hand-held personal computer with a touch screen having a keyboard pivotally connected in an inoperative condition; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 10 is a top view of the personal computer of FIG. 9 with the keyboard pivoted to a condition where the keyboard covers the entire touch screen. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0019]    Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral  10  identifies a touch screen system having a touch screen panel  11  with a mechanical keyboard  12  having a double hinge  13  secured along one side thereof. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the touch screen system  10  with touch screen panel  11  supported by a housing  15  and a set of legs  16 . The keyboard  12  is shown in an inoperative position and pivotally supported by a double hinge  13 .  
         [0020]    Referring to FIG. 3 the keyboard  12  is shown rotated into an operative condition with the backside  12   a  of keyboard  12  in contact with touch screen panel  11 . In this condition the keyboard  12  occupies a fixed portion of the panel  11  and is held in fixed position by hinge  13  and the weight of the keyboard.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 shows a top view of the touch screen system  10  with the keyboard  12  occupying a portion of touch screen panel  11 . Keyboard  12  contains a set of keys  20  that correspond to the familiar conventional typewriter keyboard. One of the advantages of a keyboard is that because of continued practice and the tactile feedback obtained from activating the keys the keyboard users do not have to look at the screen or the keyboard as they type. The displacement of each of the keys as a letter is struck provides sufficient tactile feedback signal to the user to let the user know that key has been activated. In order to let a user know if his or her hands are properly positioned on the keyboard some type of projection or ridge can be placed on selected keys so the user knows his or her hand is properly positioned through feel alone thus eliminated the need to have the person look at the keyboard every time a certain key is struck. A conventional mechanical keyboard has the advantage of letting the user input information without having to look at the keyboard or the screen. In the present invention the tactile feedback inherent in a keyboard is captured by positioning a mechanical keyboard directly on at least a portion of a touch screen panel.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 shows an isolated view of a single key mechanism  21  from keyboard  12  with the single key mechanism  21  comprising a rigid finger pad  22  being supported by resilient member  33  having a contact member  34  protruding therefrom. FIG. 5 shows the key mechanism  21  in the non active condition with contact member  34  spaced from touch screen panel  11 .  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5A shows the key action when a force F is applied to key finger pad  22 . Note, the resilient member  33  flexes and bends at areas  33   a  to allow the contact member  34  to contact the touch screen panel  11 . As can be seen from FIG. 5A the displacement of the key finger pad  22  brings the contact member  34  into contact with a selected area on the touch screen panel  11 . Thus the touch screen panel  11  is not directly activated by a users finger but is activated by the bringing the contact member  34  into contact with the touch screen panel  11 . While the touch screen contact is the same as if a user had placed his or her finger on the touch screen the sensation to the operator has been altered since the operator can now feel the sensation of physical displacement of the key pad  22  as well as the key pad displacement arrested by contact with the touch screen panel  11 . Thus the operator receives a tactile feedback signal even though the signal has been applied to a touch screen panel. The sensing of-the displacement of the key pad  22  allows the operator to feel confident the proper input to the touch screen was achieved even though the operator may not be looking at the touch screen panel.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 shows an isolated top view of a key  21  with the touch panel  11  extending laterally below the key pad  22 . The resilient member  33  which can be a rubber diaphragm or some type of spring to provides sufficient resistance to displacement of key pad  22  so as to create a pressure sensation in the user&#39;s finger thereby providing the necessary tactile feedback to let the user know that the key has been properly activated. Resilient member  33  also allows the key pad  22  to return to non-active condition so as to be ready for further input.  
         [0025]    In the embodiment shown the key pad  22  includes, for example, a reference letter  35 , to let an operator know which letter will appear on the screen when a key is struck. In addition, key pad  22  includes a slight protuberance or ridge  36  while the surrounding key pads do not. This allows a user to locate his or her hand in the proper position on the keyboard without having to look at the keyboard keys.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment of an isolated top view of a key mechanism  38  that enables a user to view an image on the touch screen panel. This feature allows a user a quick visually confirmation if each of the keys when struck produces the proper response on the touch screen panel. The isolated key mechanism  38  comprises a key pad  40  that is supported by a resilient member  39 . Key pad  40  comprises two parts, a transparent viewing section  41  and a non-transparent section  42 .  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 8 shows a side view of the isolated key mechanism  38  of FIG. 7 showing that key pad  40  comprises a transparent section  41  that allows a user to look through the key pad  40  and observe the image area  11   a  on touch screen  11 . Located as part of key pad  40  is a second portion that can be opaque but which carries a contact member  43  for physically contacting the touch panel  11  in the region denoted by reference numeral  11   b.  That is a downward force on key pad  40  brings contact member  43  into contact with touch screen  11  at region  11   b  causing an image to appear at image area  11   a  which can be viewed through the transparent viewing window  41  located as part of key pad  40 . This feature not only allows a user to check to see if pressing the key pad  40  brings the proper response but it also could allow one to change the key response in the system and still allow a user to use the keyboard. For example, the system that generates the touch screen could provide letters in a different language so that the keyboard operation was not limited to only English responses.  
         [0028]    In the embodiment of FIGS.  1 - 4  the keyboard is shown in conjunction with a touch screen panel wherein the keyboard only occupies a portion of the touch screen. One of the features of the present invention is that it can be used with hand held computers having touch screens. FIG. 9 shows a top view of a hand held computer  50  having a touch screen  51  and a keyboard  52  hinged to computer  50  with keyboard  52  shown in the inoperative condition. In this condition the user may be reviewing information contained on the screen.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 10 shows the keyboard  52  pivoted to cover the entire touch screen by pivoting the keyboard about hinge  54 . In this condition the keys  53  cover the entire touch panel. This type of device is particularly useful for someone taking on-the-go inventory since the user can use one hand to input information to the computer  50  without having to look at the screen. The feedback from displacing the keys provides sufficient feedback to let the user know the proper entry is made. Should the user decide to check on other matters the keyboard  52  is rotated to an out-of-the way condition and the hand held computer  51  can be used as a conventional hand held computer. In the embodiment shown the key pad may be programmed with a conventional keyboard or may contain only numerals for entering inventory data.  
         [0030]    While the keyboard is shown hingedly connected to the hand held computer or the touch screen system other methods of attachment are usable with the invention. For example, a pin and hole arrangement where a pin on the touch screen system is aligned with a reference hole in the keyboard.