Patent ID: 6864882

Claim:
A protected touch panel display system comprising: a protective barrier through which light and energy can be emitted, the protective barrier having an interior side and an exterior side; a display screen for displaying information, the display screen positioned relative to the interior side of the protective barrier; a plurality of emitters positioned relative to the interior side of the protective barrier, each of the emitters adapted for emitting energy beams; a plurality of detectors positioned relative to the interior side of the protective barrier and each adapted to a generate a detection signal upon detecting any one of the energy beams; at least one emission guide positioned relative to the exterior side of the protective barrier and adapted to receive the energy beams from the interior side of the protective barrier and to channel the received energy beams across the exterior side of the protective barrier and through to the interior side of the protective barrier for detection by at least one of the detectors; a computer-readable medium for storing detection maps indicating which of the detectors should be receiving one of the energy beams from at least one of the emitters at any point in time; and a processor for executing computer-executable instructions for: generating a reference detection map based on the detection signals generated by the detectors and storing the reference detection map on the computer-readable medium, periodically generating a current detection map based on the detection signals generated by the detectors at a current point in time, wherein the current detection map and the reference detection map are generated at different times, accessing the computer-readable medium to compare the current detection map to the reference detection map in order to determine an absence of expected detection signals from at least one of the detectors, based on the absence of the expected detection signals, determining that at least two of the energy beams have been interrupted by a touch of the protective barrier, and based on the at least two interrupted energy beam, determining the location of the touch on the protective barrier.