Abstract:
There is disclosed and claimed new and improved photoelectric sensing array system, method, and apparatus for large area IR touch screens to increase the resolution of the array, and to provide ease of manufacture and testing.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     Priority is claimed under 35 USC 119(e) for Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/516,294, filed Nov. 3, 2003. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a photoelectric sensing array system, method and apparatus for a touch input device or touch screen. Touch screens are often used in conjunction with a display as an input device to a computer display, a kiosk display, or other display application. The touch screen device is typically a finger as shown in  FIG. 1 . Other touch means may be employed such as a pointer, pencil, or other object. 
     There are different types of touch screens available including infrared, resistive, capacitive, and acoustic wave. This invention relates to infrared touch screens. Infrared touch screens comprise an array of infrared photo emitters, each paired with an array of infrared (IR) photo detectors. 
     The position of an opaque object located between the transmitting array and the receiving array is determined by individually pulsing the infrared photo emitter sources while electronically sensing the response of the corresponding photo detectors. 
     The IR prior art discloses arrays that produce a multitude of invisible light beams, whereby corresponding sensors are blocked at the position where an opaque object is located. The center of the opaque object can be determined by electronically sensing current flow in each of the photo sensors, and then computing the center point of the region of blocked photosensors. Commonly this IR detection process is done in two axes simultaneously to create a two dimensional sensing grid such as found on a computer touch screen as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     In the IR prior art, the sensor arrays of this type have the light emitting transmitters mounted on one side and the photo detecting receivers mounted on the opposite side. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,672,364 (Lucas); 4,841,141 (Ouchi); 4,891,508 (Campbell); 4,893,120 (Doering et al); 4,904,857 (Ando et al); 4,928,094 (smith); 5,162,783 (Moreno) and 5,579,035 (Beiswenger), which are each incorporated herein by reference. 
     Technical and manufacturing improvements in the production of displays such as LCD, plasma, and rear projection have made available large area displays. Large displays are desirable in applications such as dynamic signage, kiosks, lobby portholes, and games. These large displays require large touch screens to provide a large interactive display surface. 
     The development and production of large touch screens is complex. Resistive and capacitive touch screens are not easy to fabricate in large sizes due to poor yield. Similarly, acoustic wave attenuates with large touch systems size. Infrared touch screens are more readily scaled to large sizes than other touch system technologies. However, problems such as alignment of sensors, resolution, mean time between failures and manufacturability are magnified with increasing size. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     In accordance with this invention, there is provided a new and improved photoelectric sensing array system, method and apparatus for large area IR touch screens to increase the resolution of the array, to improve ease of manufacture and testing, and to increase mean time between failure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a touch screen being used over a computer monitor. 
         FIG. 2  is a prior art diagram of an infrared (IR) touch matrix. 
         FIG. 3  is a prior art block diagram of a touch system. 
         FIG. 4  is a circuit for controlling the current of the infrared photo emitters. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a method to use axis scanning to detect a small object in an infrared touch area 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of process to use off axis scanning to detect a small object in an infrared touch area in which focus is placed on likely areas to be touched 
         FIG. 7   a  is a standard photo emitting diode with a concentrated beam in the center 
         FIG. 7   b  shows the effect of a dispersing filter used to defocus the light concentration 
         FIG. 8  shows a fingernail in the area of a standard touch screen 
         FIG. 9  shows a fingernail in the area of a touch screen in which emitters and receivers pairs have been zigzagged to increase resolution in one axis. 
         FIG. 10   a  shows a flexible strip populated with emitters and receivers that may be folded to define a touch area 
         FIG. 10   b  show the flexible strip folded into a touch array 
         FIG. 11  shows emitters interspersed with receivers to aide in troubleshooting 
         FIGS. 12   a  and  12   b  are a configuration of boards daisy chained together to form a large touch screen. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As noted above,  FIG. 1  shows a touch screen being used with a finger. 
       FIG. 2  is a prior art diagram of a touch screen array using surface mounted infrared receivers R and emitters E. The infrared receivers R and emitters E are arranged to form a grid. Each Y axis emitter E ( 21 ) is paired with a Y axis receiver R ( 23 ). Each X axis emitter E ( 22 ) is paired with an X axis receiver R ( 24 ). The Y axis emitters E ( 21 ) are continuously scanned to produce IR beam or light pulses ( 25 ) that are detected by the Y axis receivers R ( 23 ). When a finger or stylus enters the grid, it prevents the Y axis receivers R from receiving the IR beam ( 25 ) at that point. The beam ( 25 ) is broken or interrupted by the stylus. Because the Y axis emitters E are scanned in a controlled order by a microcontroller or microprocessor (not shown), it is easily determined which beam corresponding to a Y axis coordinate is broken. After a beam break is detected in the Y axis, a similar scan is initiated in the X axis to determine the X coordinate. After the X and Y axes coordinates are determined, they are reported to the host computer. In other embodiments, the X and Y axes are scanned simultaneously. For a small screen size of about 10 inches diagonal, the circuit board may be formed of a single piece comprising and forming a frame around the display. For relatively small size displays, small surface mount components may be used because strong beam strength is not required to travel across the short distance. 
       FIG. 3  shows a prior art schematic diagram of the IR touch system. The microcontroller ( 32 ) controls communication with the host computer ( 31 ) and interface ( 31   a ) such as RS232. The microcontroller ( 32 ) further controls the scanning of the emitters E through the emitter matrix select logic ( 35   a ,  35   b ) composed of circuits for selecting and for driving the emitters E ( 36 ). 
     The receivers R ( 37 ) are polled through the receiver matrix decode logic, ( 34   a ) and ( 34   b ) composed of a series of multiplexed (i.e., 16:1) analogue decoders. The output from receiver matrix and decoder logic ( 34   a ) is digitally converted by serial A/D converter ( 33 ). The output of the A/D converter ( 33 ) is sent to the microcontroller ( 32 ) where it is subtracted from a previously obtained ambient reading. An individual ambient reading may be obtained for each receiver R ( 37 ) at power up, immediately prior to the emitter E ( 36 ) it is paired with is activated, or just after the emitter E ( 36 ) it is paired with being activated. 
     The emitter E ( 36 ) is paired with a receiver R ( 37 ). The emitter E and receiver R pairs are discrete elements, and thus the IR touch screen has limited resolution. Infrared touch screens are usually limited in resolution detecting a stylus with a diameter of about one-half the distance between centers of the LEDs. Thus an IR touch screen with LED spacing of 0.25 inch can detect a stylus of 0.125 inch or greater. 
     In a large touch screens, slight imperfections in the LEDs such as the centering of the beam are magnified due to the large distance the beam must travel before it is detected. To eliminate the problems caused by imperfections, more current is provided to the LEDs. LED emitters produce light proportional to the current they receive. However, the greater the current, the shorter the life of the LED. This in turn decreases the life of the touch screen. It is desirable to provide enough current to allow the touch screen to function properly without unnecessarily shortening the life of the screen. 
     In the case of large touch systems it is desirable to optimize the current based on the length the emitter beam must travel to the receiver board. For example, in a 42-inch diagonal display, the light from emitter boards on the X axis must travel about 2 feet, and on the Y axis it must travel about 3 feet. It is not necessary to drive the X-axis emitters at the same high current as the Y-axis emitters. It is desirable to drive the X axis emitters at a lower current the Y axis emitters. 
     In accordance with this invention,  FIG. 4  shows a circuit that accommodates two different current settings of the X and Y axes.  FIG. 4  shows a block diagram that allows for different current levels to be applied to the emitters E of the X and Y axis ( 43 ). A standard “Current Sink Circuit” ( 42 ) sets the emitter current ( 43 ) according to the voltage level of “ISET” ( 45 ). The voltage level “ISET” ( 45 ) is controlled by one of two “Set Resistors” ( 46 ) and ( 47 ), which are selected by a “Selecting Means” ( 44 ). The “Selecting Means” ( 44 ) is controlled by the “X or Y Select Signal” ( 41 ) generated by a microcontroller (not shown). 
     Increased Resolution 
     The prior art such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,857 (Masters et al) describes methods of off axis scanning that allows for increased touch resolution specifically by scanning to locate a coarse touch X and Y location and refining it with an off axis scan based on the coarse scan. 
     This method requires that a coarse location be reported for the X and the Y before a fine scan is initiated. However, in the case of a long fingernail, used as a stylus, the fingernail is wide on one axis, and narrow on the other axis. The wide axis may be one-quarter inch and the narrow axis may be as thin as a one-sixteenth of an inch. If a fingernail enters the IR field, the touch screen will report a break for one axis, but not necessarily for the other. 
     In accordance with this invention,  FIG. 5  shows a method of scanning a touch screen to detect for a fingernail whereby the X axis is continuously scanned in a vertical direction and the Y axis is continuously scanned in a horizontal direction. If the X axis receiver detects a touch and the Y axis receiver detects a touch, a coordinate is reported. If the X axis receiver detects a touch and the Y axis receiver does not detect a touch, a fine scan (off axis scan) is initiated in the X axis or the Y axis or both axes to triangulate a point and determine the Y axis coordinate. If the Y axis detects a touch and the X axis does not detect a touch, a fine scan (off axis scan) is initiated in the Y axis, or the X axis, or both axes to triangulate a point and determine the X axis coordinate. 
     More specifically, the process begins with a coarse scan of X axis emitter and receiver pairs ( 501 ). After a single coarse X axis scan, a beam break will be detected or it will not be detected ( 502 ). If an X axis break is not detected, a coarse Scan of the Y axis is initiated ( 503 ). After a single coarse scan of the Y axis is completed, a beam break will either be detected or not be detected ( 504 ). If no beam break is detected, the process begins again with a coarse scan of the X axis ( 501 ). 
     If a beam break is detected after completing a coarse scan of the X axis, then a coarse scan of the Y axis is initiated ( 505 ). Because a beam break was detected in the coarse scan of X axis, it is expected that a beam break will be detected in the coarse scan of the Y axis. If beam break is detected ( 507 ), the X axis and Y axis coordinates are reported ( 511 ). However, if a beam break is not detected as expected at ( 507 ), an off axis Y scan is initiated at ( 508 ) and the results of this scan are used to report the X and Y axes coordinates ( 511 ). 
     If a coarse scan of the Y axis ( 503 ) results in a beam break ( 504 ) without a coarse scan of the X axis ( 501 ), a coarse scan of the X axis is initiated ( 506 ). If this scan does not result in a beam break ( 509 ), an off axis scan of the X axis ( 510 ) is initiated and the results reported ( 511 ). 
     To eliminate needless fine scanning, the system may further be improved by employing a learning algorithm in which the microprocessor “learns through experience” where the most likely touch locations are and provides a fine scan at those places first. This is especially useful for kiosks or other applications in which the same positions are touched constantly. If buttons (or touch locations) are known in advance, these may be preprogrammed into the touch system and thus eliminate the need to “learn”.  FIG. 6  shows this scanning with a learning algorithm. 
     More specifically, the off axis scan of  FIG. 5 , ( 508 ) is replaced with the process steps of  FIGS. 6 , ( 608   a ), ( 608   b ), and ( 608   c ). In  FIG. 6 , ( 608   a ) is an off axis scan of “learned” Y coordinates. These coordinates are the most likely Y coordinates to have a beam break. If a scan of these coordinates does not report a break ( 608   b ), the search is broadened to include the remaining Y coordinates ( 608   c ). The results are reported ( 611 ). 
     The same learning algorithm is applied to the X axis. In  FIGS. 6 , ( 610   a ), ( 610   b ), and ( 610   c ) replace  FIG. 5  ( 510 ), ( 510   a ), being an off axis scan of “Learned” X coordinates. These coordinates are the most likely X coordinates to have a beam break. If a scan of these coordinates does not report a break ( 610   b ), the search is then broadened to include the remaining X coordinates ( 610   c ). The results are reported ( 611 ). 
     In the prior art, filters may be used to shield IR emitters and receivers from external light. In the embodiment of this invention, a textured optical filter is used to obtain additional resolution. With a smooth optical filter, a thin beam of light is emitted from the center of the emitter. A textured filter will cause the emitted beam projected to the opposing receiver to be wider, to diverge and to be more dispersed.  FIG. 7   a  shows a smooth filter ( 71 ), and an inactive and unlit emitter ( 72 ). An active or lit emitter ( 73 ) has a bright center ( 74 ). If a stylus is inserted off center of the beam concentration, an insignificant amount of light will be blocked from the receiver. Thus the stylus will not be detected. 
       FIG. 7   b  shows the effects of a textured optical filter ( 75 ) that is shown as a dotted body. The active or lit emitter ( 73 ) has a more dispersed and homogenous light output ( 76 ). If a stylus breaks a beam slightly off center, the result will be a larger amount of light blocked from reaching the emitter. Thus the stylus will be detected. 
       FIG. 8  shows surface mounted emitters E ( 81 ,  82 ) and surface mounted receivers R ( 83 ,  84 ). In  FIG. 8  a fingernail ( 86 ) is wide in one axis (X axis) and narrow in another axis (Y axis). In a typical IR touch screen, when a fingernail enters a touch screen, with emitter E receiver R pairs spaced nominally, about one-quarter of an inch apart, it will likely interrupt or break beam. ( 85   b ) in one axis, the X axis in this orientation. The finger may not break beams on the Y axis ( 85   c ). However, if the resolution in the Y axis is increased so that emitter E receiver R pairs are spaced closer together, nominally about one-eighth of an inch apart as is shown in  FIG. 9 , detection of the fingernail in the Y axis will be more likely. Surface mount emitters E and receivers R are commercially available in a standard surface mount size package, which easily allows for about one-eighth inch spacing. The resolution may be doubled nominally to about one-sixteenth of an inch if the surface mounted emitters E and receivers R are zigzagged as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 9  shows surface mounted emitters E ( 91   a ,  91   b ) on the Y-axis and emitters E ( 92 ) on the X-axis. The emitters E ( 91   a ) are off-set and mounted behind the emitters E ( 91   b ). The surface mounted receivers R ( 93   a ,  93   b ) are on the Y-axis and the receivers R ( 94 ) are on the X-axis. The receivers R ( 93   a ) are offset and mounted behind the receivers R ( 93   b ). This results in higher resolution on the Y-axis. Thus a fingernail will likely break or interrupt a beam ( 95   a  and  95   b ). 
     Touch Screen Layout 
     Touch screens are generally laid out with a grid of X and Y LED emitter E and receiver R pairs around the periphery of a display. Generally they are placed on a circuit board of rigid material produced in the shape of a “picture frame” as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     This is a rigid structure that does not easily conform to the curved surface of a CRT. Also the process to produce the circuit board is a batch process and does not lend itself to a low cost process. Additionally there are commercial manufacturing limits to the size of a touch screen made in the shape of a picture frame. 
     In accordance with this invention, the rigid circuit board material is replaced with a flexible substrate such as Kapton, Mylar or other material known in the industry.  FIG. 10   a  shows a front view of an elongated strip of flex circuit ( 101 ) with LED emitters E ( 102 ) and receivers R ( 104 ) positioned in the front and LED receivers R ( 103 ) and emitters E ( 105 ) shown in gray and positioned on the back of the flex circuit. The dotted diagonal lines ( 106 ) indicate fold lines for making the flex circuit into a frame. It should be noted that  FIG. 10   a  only shows emitters E and receivers R. Other support components including scan circuitry and the microcontroller may also be added to the flex circuit.  FIG. 10   b  shows the flex circuit in  FIG. 10   a  folded into a touch frame. After folding, all emitters E and receivers R are on the same side of the frame formed by the folding of the flex circuit ( 101 ). 
     Prior art touch screens are made up of four sides in the shape of a square or rectangle. Two of the sides contain rows of LED IR emitters and two of the sides contain rows of LED IR receivers R also called photo receivers R. The emitters E are paired with the receivers R to form an X-Y grid. When an object is placed in the grid area, beams of light are obstructed in the X and Y-axis. Through the proper control circuitry, the X-Y coordinate defined by the broken beams is reported to the computer or other host device. 
     Pairs of receivers and emitters are prone to certain types of failures. For example an emitter may fail and not emit IR light when activated. Alternately, a photo detector or receiver R may fail and not detect the IR beam from the emitter. Both failures show up as a continuous broken beam. Additional diagnostics must be performed to determine if the emitter has failed or the receiver has failed. One possibility is to perform an off axis test, by using the neighbor of the detector in question to detect the beam of the emitter in question. An off axis test may also be performed by using the neighbor emitter to produce a beam for detection by the receiver in question. This has a disadvantage because often emitters E and receivers R are controlled in contiguous banks of 8 or 16 pairs. In this case, if there is a problem with the control logic, the off axis test will fail. 
     One method to eliminate this problem is to intersperse emitters E and receivers R on the same side such that every other component is an emitter E and every other component is a receiver R as shown in  FIG. 11 . When an emitter E ( 111 ) is activated, the beam ( 115   a ) may be detected by a receiver R ( 112 ) directly across from it and also by one of its nearest neighbors, a receiver R ( 113 ) by means of a cross talk beam ( 115   b ). If the receiver R ( 112 ) directly across from the emitter E ( 111 ) fails to detect the beam ( 115   a ), a further check may be performed with the neighbor receiver R ( 113 ) to determine if the emitter E ( 111 ) actually fired. The same check may be performed with the receivers R. If a receiver R is unable to detect an emitter E across from it, but can detect light from its nearest emitter E neighbor, it can be concluded that there is an obstruction or that the emitter has failed. 
       FIG. 12   a  shows a layout of daisy-chained emitter and receiver boards as practiced in this invention of a large area touch screen for large area displays.  FIG. 12   b  shows a single emitter board ( 121 ) used in the daisy-chain layout and configuration of  FIG. 12   a . These are shown with through-hole mounting of emitters E and receivers R, but surface mounting may be used as shown above in  FIG. 11 . An array of through-hole diode emitters E ( 129 ) is populated in a row along the edge of the emitter board ( 121 ). An array of through-hole diode receivers R is similarly populated in a row along the edge of a receiver board. 
     In the preferred embodiment receiver and emitter diodes are populated at a right angle to the circuit board as shown in  FIG. 12   a . This allows for ease of populating the diodes on the circuit board. The circuit board through-holes also act to align the diodes. Both emitter board and the receiver board have connectors on either end, for example ( 127 ) and ( 128 ) for emitter board ( 121 ). When an emitter board ( 121 ) or receiver board ( 124 ) is connected to another board in the same plane, as shown in  FIG. 12   a , a connector ( 127 ), is used. When a board is connected to a board in a different plane with connector ( 128 ), a flex connector or cable ( 122 ) is used. The flex cables ( 122 ) used with the flex connector ( 128 ) make it possible to round corners when assembling the layout in  FIG. 12   a . This also makes it easy to accommodate different display sizes without fabrication of different size circuit boards. 
     As shown in  FIG. 12   a , emitter boards ( 121 ) and receiver boards ( 124 ) are daisy chained together to form a ring around the active area of the display. The dimension of the emitter and receiver boards are selected to be easily manufactured by any circuit board manufacturer. The receiver boards and emitter boards are designed with a minimum of components to reduce the number of trace layers required for the circuit board. In the preferred embodiment, the number of trace layers is two. Decode Logic, Emitter Matrix Select Logic, a microcontroller, and the A/D reside on the controller board ( 123 ). The controller board ( 123 ) also has an array of emitter LEDs the same as board ( 121 ). It is opposite to and corresponds to receiver board ( 126 ). Both of the boards ( 123 ) and ( 126 ) may be of the same or different length as boards ( 121 ) and ( 124 ). Because of the added circuitry, the controller board ( 123 ) is somewhat more complex than either the receiver boards ( 124 ) or the emitter boards ( 121 ). Thus it has more trace layers and may also be slightly larger than the board ( 121 ). In the preferred embodiment, there is one controller per system. The boards ( 121 ), ( 124 ), and ( 126 ) may be referred to as daughter boards. 
     Each through-hole emitter or receiver package has wire leads which insert into holes within the circuit board. Each emitter or receiver is spaced slightly above the circuit board and may be adjusted by bending the lead wires for better alignment with the opposing emitter or receiver. 
       FIG. 12   a  shows a typical layout of a touch screen for a 42-inch diagonal display with a 9:16 aspect ratio. The typical active area ( 130 ) is approximately 36 inches×20 inches. Thus at least 36 inches of emitter-receiver pairs are required for the Y-axis and at least 20 inches of emitter-receiver pairs are required for the X-axis. In this illustration, the board ( 126 ) is nominally 12 to 14 inches and the two receiver boards ( 124 ) are nominally 12 inches for a total of 36 inches on one side of the display. They are paired with two 12-inch emitter boards ( 121 ) and one 12 to 14 inch controller board ( 123 ) on the opposite side. The Y-axis is made up of two 12-inch receivers ( 124 ) opposite two 12-inch emitters ( 121 ). LED/receiver pairs that fall outside the active area of the display are surplus and are ignored. 
     Although a microcontroller has been disclosed for the practice of this invention and its various embodiments, a microprocessor may also be used. As defined herein, a microcontroller has internal or built-in I/O (Input/Output) whereas a microprocessor has external I/O. In the Claims, controller is used to mean microcontroller, microprocessor and or any other computer means. 
     As disclosed herein, this invention is not to be limited to the exact forms shown and described. Modification and changes may be made by one skilled in the art within the scope of the following claims. 
     The foregoing description of various preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims to be interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.