Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an interactive graphical display table system that reacts to user input in the form of touching or placing objects on the interactive graphical display table system by generating graphical images and animations responsive to the input. More particularly, the invention is directed to a large size graphical display device mounted in a horizontal configuration for use as a table having a transparent touch sensitive input device located over the viewing surface of the display device. Input from the touch sensitive input device causes a controller to generate graphical ambiences for the display device and to generate graphical input effects based on input from the touch sensitive input device.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     The requirement of generating increased sales of food and beverages in the restaurant and bar industry has long existed.  
         [0005]     The object of this invention relates to the use of large-size graphical display monitors mounted in a horizontal fashion in food and beverage establishments that respond to objects placed on or removed from the graphical display monitors by generating graphical images and animations. This invention addresses the aforementioned requirements by causing patrons to become occupied with these graphical images and animations each time food or beverages are placed on the graphical display monitors, thereby causing increased sales of food and beverages.  
         [0006]     Although a handful of other devices are known, no other device meets the objectives of providing a horizontally mounted large-size graphical display monitor that responds to user input on the surface of the large-size graphical display monitor by creating graphical and animation ambiences and effects.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The interactive display table system of the present invention includes a horizontally disposed upward facing display device for displaying video signals, a transparent touch sensitive overlay input device mounted over the top of the display device, and a transparent protective covering device mounted over the top of the transparent touch sensitive overlay input device and the display device. A housing receives the sub-assembly comprising the display device, the transparent touch sensitive overlay input, the transparent protective covering device and a controller having an output video connection to the display device and an input connection to the transparent touch sensitive input device. Furthermore, the housing compartment encloses the controller and the connections to the display device and the transparent touch sensitive input device.  
         [0008]     An interactive display surface system of the present invention has a graphical display device including a transparent touch sensitive overlay input device, a network device, and a controller connected to the video display, the touch sensitive overlay input device, and the network device. The controller further includes an operating system for interfacing with the graphical display device, the transparent touch sensitive overlay input device, and the network device, and an interactive display surface system software application.  
         [0009]     The interactive display surface system software application further comprises a central control module for communicating system messages to and from the operating system and communicating to a series of input handlers and output managers. The first in a series of input handlers is a touch sensor input handler in communication with the central control module for analyzing coordinates sent from the transparent touch sensitive overlay input device, and for determining when to apply a graphical change or effect to the video display device. A schedule input handler in communication with the central control module communicates real time clock information to and from the central control module for starting playlists, schedules, individual effect files, logging of activities of the schedule handler, and issuing operational commands to the central control module. A playlist input handler in communication with the central control module launches individual effect files, schedule files, other playlists, logging activities of the playlist handler, and issuing operational commands to the central control module. And finally, a network message input handler in communication with the central control module monitors commands sent from a network to the central control module.  
         [0010]     The first in series of output managers is an operating system output manager in communication with the central control module that reboots or shuts down the system, manages FTP server parameters, creates FTP users, and logs all of the operating system output manager activities. A display window output manager in communication with the central control module controls video output to the video display device. A physical display output manager in communication with the central control module controls hardware display settings on the video display device. And finally, a network manager in communication with the central control module controls network access via a wired or wireless network adapter device, creates and manages TCPIP values in the system, and transmits notifications to remote servers in a network.  
         [0011]     The present invention also includes a method of controlling an interactive display surface system, the interactive display surface system having a video display device including a transparent touch sensitive overlay input device, and a controller connected to the video display device and the touch sensitive overlay input device. The method of controlling provides an ambience background display, and changes the ambience background display to an alternate ambience background display every few minutes. Input to the touch sensitive overlay input device is input, and the system responds to the input by creating an effect to be displayed on the video display device at a location relative to the input provided to the touch sensitive overlay input device. When the input from the touch sensitive overlay input device is removed, the system responds by creating a new effect or continuing the created effect on the video display device at the location relative to the input provided to the touch sensitive overlay input device.  
         [0012]     An additional feature of the invention includes a method of controlling a network of interactive display surface devices, wherein each of the interactive display surface devices in the network has a video display device, a transparent touch sensitive overlay input device, and a controller connected to the video display device, and the touch sensitive overlay input device, and the controller is in communication with the network of interactive display surface devices. The system provides an ambience background display at a first interactive display surface device and communicates information of the ambience background display to the network of interactive display surface devices. A correlating ambience background display is provided at a second interactive display surface device once the information of the display is communicated.  
         [0013]     These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is an environmental, perspective view of an interactive display table according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional assembly view of an interactive display table according to him to the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of an application software system that controls an interactive display table according to the present invention.  
         [0017]     FIGS.  4 A-D are logic flow chart diagrams that show a decision-making process used by various interface handlers according to an interactive display table of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0018]     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]     With respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an interactive display table  10  has a video display  11  horizontally mounted within the top surface of the table  14  such that the video display device faces directly upward. A transparent touch sensitive overlay device  12  is mounted directly on top of the video display device  11  so that there is no visual obstruction of the output of the video display device  11 . The transparent touch sensitive overlay device  12  identifies the local coordinates of any touch input via touch or tactile sensors that can be pressure sensitive input devices, infrared sensors, or like. The sensors can track large and small items placed on the surface, such as a customer&#39;s drink or car keys. A transparent protective covering  13  covers the touch sensitive overlay device  12  and the video display device  11  to protect from dirt, environmental contaminants, spilled food or beverages, constant wear from high use environments, and any potentially damaging objects to the video display device  12 . The transparent protective covering  13  typically is a vacuum-formed acrylic covering which is mounted into place over the top of the display surface  11  with screws or other appropriate locking mechanisms.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows an assembly view of the interactive display table to hand wherein the transparent protective covering  13  covers over the touch sensitive overlay device  12  that rests upon the video display surface of video display  11 . This assembly then is lowered into an upper cavity on the top surface of table  14  to provide a uniformly flat table surface. A controller  15  is connected to video display device  11  and touch sensitive overlay device  12  via thruway  18  and mounts under or below the upper surface of table  14 . A protective housing  16  holds controller  15  and prevents unwanted access to controller  15  from unauthorized users or damage from those sitting at table  14 . The housing  16  may be comprised of the rest of the table body  14 , and may be made of wood, plastic, metal, glass or other suitable materials. Table legs  17  extend downward from the rear surface of table  14 . Table  14  can be support with a plurality of legs at various heights, for example, a standard table height or a coffee table height, or may be supported in a countertop configuration, for example, on the top of a bar.  
         [0021]     The controller  15  is an embedded device running an operating system and custom software for controlling the display  11  and is placed in the housing described above. The controller  15  continuously monitors for any touch sensitive display device data from the touch sensitive overlay device  12 , and generates an output video signal that is compatible with the video display device&#39;s  11  required video input formats. The video display device  11  can be a plasma display screen, an LCD display screen, a CRT display screen, a rear-projection television display screen, an LED matrix or a video projection device. The output video signal of controller  15  can comprise raster graphics, vector graphics, text, HTML, graphic animations, video, and all commonly supported Web browser graphic media.  
         [0022]     Controller  15  may also communicate with other video display devices  11  via a communication network. To accomplish this, controller  15  may have a wired or wireless network communication port such as an Ethernet port.  
         [0023]     With respect to  FIG. 3 , controller  15  communicates with the touch sensitive overlay device  12 , the display device  11 , and a network device  24  through an operating system that manages hardware communications between the external devices ( 11 ,  12  and  24 ) and a software control application  21 . A central control module  26 , manages the communication between control interfaces handlers and output manager modules. The central control module  26  handles routing of incoming system messages to the various handlers, and implements commands sent from the various output managers to the output devices.  
         [0024]     The first of the control interface handlers is a touch sensor input handler  27  which analyzes coordinates received from the touch sensitive overlay input device  12  and determines when to apply a graphical change or effect to the video display device  11 . This portion of the code analyzes coordinates sent to the program from the touch sensor  12 . This portion of the code indicates where the last item was placed on the table or if any items are remaining on the table. These items are objects substantial enough to cause the touch sensor to communicate a different coordinate. For example, items that can trigger this message are a finger, a drink glass, a purse, a bowl, etc. Responsive to these coordinates, the graphical changes or effects can be comprised of two different types of graphical information in the preferred invention: an ambience graphic, or an effect graphic. An ambience graphic changes the entire screen of the graphic display device  11 , either in color, as a theme or an overall animation. The effect graphic is a localized graphic that takes place on the graphic display device  11  only at or around the point where there is input on the touch sensitive input device  12 . On a new coordinate message, the touch sensor handler decides whether an ambience change or graphic effect needs to occur on the display in some predetermined fashion, such as highlighting a graphical object or performing the appropriate response for the current graphic effect.  
         [0025]     The second of the control interface handlers is a schedule input handler  28  that communicates real-time clock information to and from the central control module  26  to start playlists of ambiences or effects, schedules for graphical output of ambience or effects, individual effect files, logging of activities of the schedule handler, and issuing operational commands to the central control module  26 . The schedule input handler  28  uses time of day information from the central control module  26  to control these various functions.  
         [0026]     The third of the control interface handlers is a playlist input handler  29  that launches individual effect files, schedules ambiences or effect files, other playlists, logging activities of the playlist handler, and issuing operational commands to the central control module. The playlist input handler  29  generally controls the sequence of various operations in the controller  15 .  
         [0027]     The fourth of the control interface handlers is a network message input handler  30  that monitors commands sent from the network to the central control module  26 . Upon receipt of any network message, network message handler  30  routes commands through central control  26  to the appropriate output manager.  
         [0028]     The first of the output managers is an operating system manager  31  that controls the rebooting or shutting down of the display system, managing of FTP server parameters, creation of FTP users, and logging all of the operating system output manager activities.  
         [0029]     The second of the output managers is a display window output manager  32  that controls the video output to the display device  11  so that all graphic image, animations, and video file types are properly displayed on the output device  11 .  
         [0030]     The third of the output managers is a physical display output manager  33  that controls hardware display settings on the video display device  11 . These hardware display settings may include screen resolution, screen sleep mode, and screensaver shut off settings.  
         [0031]     The fourth of the output managers is a network manager that controls network access via either a wired or wireless network adapter device and creates and manages TCP/IP values in the system and transmits notifications to remote servers in a network.  
         [0032]     FIGS.  4 A-D illustrate a series of decision-making processes used by various interface handlers. Notice “events” referred to in the diagrams may be any operation undertaken by the system like starting a new effect or ambience, rebooting of the system, to FTP a file, etc.  
         [0033]      FIG. 4A  illustrates the logic sequence of the touch sensor handler  27  determining if an effect sequence is running. If an effect sequence is determined to be running, the touch sensor handler  27  sends a command to the appropriate output manager via central control  26 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 4B  illustrates the logic sequence of the schedule handler  28  determining if an event is scheduled. If an event is determined to be scheduled, the schedule handler  28  transmits a command to the appropriate output manager via central control  26 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 4C  illustrates the logic sequence of the playlist handler  29  that determines if a next event is found. If an event is found, the playlist handler  29  transmits a command to the appropriate output manager via central control  26 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 4D  illustrates the logic sequence of the network message handler  30  that determines if a valid command has been received. If a valid command has been received, the network message handler  30  transmits a command to the appropriate output manager via central control  26 . All of these previous examples of FIGS.  4 A-D illustrate the logic of the input handler&#39;s in determining certain system parameters and routing command messages through the central control  26  to corresponding output managers.  
         [0037]     A first embodiment of the present invention provides for an ambience background display on the interactive display device. This ambience background display fills the entire display device screen, and alternates between a variety of ambience background displays every few minutes. By providing input to the touch sensitive overlay input device, the interactive display device table responds graphically by generating graphical images or animations on or around the location provided by the touch sensitive overlay input device. When that which caused the input to the touch sensitive overlay input device is removed, a new graphic effect is generated and displayed on or near the location where the initial touch input originated.  
         [0038]     A second embodiment of the present invention provides for a network of interactive display tables, where each of the interactive display tables are connected to each other via a wired or wireless network. When a first interactive display table generates either an ambience or an effect, communication of that ambience or effect is transmitted to the remaining interactive display tables in the network. When the communication is received by the remaining interactive display tables in the network, a correlating ambience is generated on each of the remaining interactive display tables. These subsequent generated ambiences may be delayed by predetermined amounts of time, to create a chase effect of ambiences on the interactive display table network. Additionally, a graphic effect display at a single interactive display table may communicate information to adjacent interactive display tables in the network to generate corresponding graphic effects at those adjacent interactive display tables.  
         [0039]     The practical effect of the present invention is to encourage consumption of drinks and food, thereby increasing bar or restaurant revenues. Each time a patron sees a new ambient or graphic effect, he will be encouraged to raise his glass, and will naturally be inclined to take a sip while experimenting with the behavior of this new effect. The graphic ambience and graphic effects may be sold on a subscription basis. The interactive display table connects to the Internet via a wired or wireless connection and downloads new ambient or graphic effects periodically. Examples of effects may include: a star field effect, that causes a black hole under an object placed on the touch sensitive input wherein surrounding stars are sucked into it; blowing smoke through a wind tunnel, where objects placed on the display surface form a graphical obstruction and cause graphic turbulence around the objects; lava, wherein graphical lava flows around an object set on the display surface; bubbles, form in a burst when an object on the display surface is set down; ocean waves, that break around an object set on the display surface as if it were a rock or other obstruction; coral reef, where fish and sea animals are attracted or frightened by objects placed on the display surface; an animated or static logo of the establishment that operates the interactive display surface which appears when objects are put on the display surface; a line drawing routine, where lines are drawn between items placed on the display surface and are redrawn whenever an item is removed or moved to a new location. These examples are only illustrative of the difference graphical animations that may be programmed into the system.  
         [0040]     Additional information that may be displayed on the interactive display tables are signals to clients when seating in the restaurant becomes available, the display of an establishment&#39;s menu, the display of an establishment&#39;s logo, other informational displays such as sports scores, Keno numbers, weather, or video or lighting effects.  
         [0041]     The interactive display table can also be configured to have an interactive request indicator on one predesignated portion of the display device screen wherein a patron can touch this portion to change a graphic indicator from one color to another, which indicates when another round of drinks or service is desired. The indicator can be easily glimpsed by passing waitpersons, making service more efficient particular in noisy environments.  
         [0042]     The interactive display table of the present invention may be configured in a network setting of more than one interactive display table to perform special presentations of graphical or video images. For example, separate pieces of a single static or moving image may be divided and displayed in portions on separate interactive display tables in a single network. Additionally, a network configuration of interactive display tables may be configured to provide a variety of competitive interactive games at two or more interactive display tables to solicit competitive interaction between patrons seated at those interactive display tables.  
         [0043]     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

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