Electrical device with piezoelectric elements communicating haptically and audibly with user

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10824277-B2
Application number	US-201916286635-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2019
Priority date	Feb 27, 2018
Publication date	Nov 3, 2020
Grant date	Nov 3, 2020

Abstract

An electrical device providing audible and haptic communication with its user includes a touch screen, an array of piezoelectric elements, a memory, and a processor. The touch screen is divided into touch regions and each touch region carries one piezoelectric element. When receiving touch inputs from a user, the processor uses data and programs stored in the memory to (1) determine which touch region the touch input is located in, (2) determine which piezoelectric element corresponds to the determined touch region, and (3) vibrate the determined piezoelectric element at a predetermined frequency. The electrical device can output sound by (1) obtaining a signal of the sound to be output and (2) vibrating the piezoelectric element, or more than one at different predetermined frequencies, to output an audible sound.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical device comprising:
a touch screen configured to receive touch inputs, and the touch screen divided into a plurality of touch regions;
an array of piezoelectric elements disposed under the touch screen, and the piezoelectric elements having a one-to-one correspondence with the touch regions of the touch screen;
a memory storing instructions; and
a processor executing the instructions in the memory, and the processor coupled to the touch screen, the piezoelectric elements, and the memory;
wherein when the touch screen receives a touch input, the processor executes the instructions in the memory to perform operations comprising:
determining which touch region the touch input is located in;
determining which piezoelectric elements correspond to the determined touch region; and
vibrating the determined piezoelectric elements at a predetermined frequency; and

wherein when the electrical device needs to output sound, the processor executes the instructions in the memory to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a signal of the sound to be output; and
vibrating the piezoelectric elements to output the obtained signal of sound; and

wherein a volume of the sound to be output is proportional to the number of piezoelectric elements which are vibrated; and
wherein when the electrical device needs to output the sound, the processor executes the instructions in the memory, before vibrating the piezoelectric elements to output the sound, to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a set sound volume level; and
determining the number of piezoelectric elements to be vibrated.

2. The electrical device of claim 1 ,
wherein the touch screen is defined in an x-y coordinate system, and each touch region of the touch screen corresponds to a coordinate range of the x-y coordinate system;
wherein each piezoelectric element has a correspondence identification; and
wherein the memory stores correspondence between the touch regions and the correspondence identification of the piezoelectric elements.

3. The electrical device of claim 1 , wherein each piezoelectric element outputs the sound present in one channel.

4. The electrical device of claim 3 , wherein each piezoelectric element produces the sound in one frequency range.

5. The electrical device of claim 1 , wherein each piezoelectric element outputs the sound in one frequency range.

6. The electrical device of claim 1 , wherein when the electrical device needs to output the sound, the processor executes the instructions in the memory, after determining the number of piezoelectric elements to be vibrated, to perform operations comprising:
selecting the piezoelectric elements randomly; and
vibrating the selected piezoelectric elements to output the sound.

7. The electrical device of claim 1 , wherein when the electrical device needs to output the sound, the processor executes the instructions in the memory, after determining the number of piezoelectric elements to be vibrated, to perform operations comprising:
selecting the piezoelectric elements according to a type of the sound to be output; and
vibrating the selected piezoelectric elements to output the sound.

8. The electrical device of claim 1 , further comprising an interface unit; the interface unit coupled to the processor, and configured to connect the electrical device to a headset;
wherein when the electrical device needs to output the sound, the processor executes the instructions in the memory, after obtaining the signal of the sound to be output, to perform operations comprising:
determining whether a headset plug is inserted into the interface unit; and
transmitting the signal of the sound to be output to the interface unit when the headset plug is inserted into the interface unit such that the headset outputs the sound.

9. The electrical device of claim 1 , further comprising an audio input unit, the audio input unit coupled to the processor, and configured to receive audio signals, and the audio input unit comprising an audio codec;
wherein when the audio input unit receives sound, the audio codec removes noise in the sound and remove echo generated by the piezoelectric elements.

Assignees

• Chiun Mai Communication Systems Inc
• Chiun Mai Communcation Systems Inc

Inventors

• Tsai Sheng-Hsiung
• Hung Ching-Ming

Classifications

• G10L21/0208

  Noise filtering · CPC title

• G06F3/016 Primary

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title

• H04R17/00

  Piezoelectric transducers; Electrostrictive transducers (piezoelectric or electrostrictive elements in general H10N30/00; details of piezoelectric or electrostrictive motors, generators or positioners {H10N30/00}) · CPC title

• G06F3/0433 Primary

  in which the acoustic waves are either generated by a movable member and propagated within a surface layer or propagated within a surface layer and captured by a movable member · CPC title

• G10L2021/02082

  the noise being echo, reverberation of the speech · CPC title