Touchscreen Gestures LLC v. Google Inc.

Filing 1

COMPLAINT For Patent Infringement against Google Inc. ( Filing fee $ 350 receipt number 0540-3765999.), filed by Touchscreen Gestures LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit B, # 4 Exhibit C, # 5 Exhibit D)(Huff, Winston)

EXHIBIT
 B

1
1
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( 2 United States Patent
1)

(10) Patent No.: U S 7,180,506 B 2
(45) Date of Patent: F e b . 20, 2007

Lin et al.
(54)

(75)

(73)

)

M E TH O D FO R I DE NTI FY I NG A
M O V E M E N T OF SI NG LE TAP ON A TO UCH
DE V I CE

(56) R e f e r e n c e s

U.S. PATENT DO CUMENTS
5,854,450
5,943,043
6,037,882
6,337,678
6.504,530
6,995,752
2003/0063073

Inventors: J ao-Ching Lin, Hs in Chuang (TW);
Shyh-In Huang, Hs in Chuang (TW);
Lin-A bel Chu, Hs in Chuang (TW);
Chung-Yi Shen, Hs in Chuang (TW)
Assignee:

Sentelic Corporation, Taipei (TW)

Notice:

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 554 days.

Primary Examiner

r

i

o

r

12/1998 K e n t
8/1999 Fu n t h a t a et a l.
3/2000 L e v y
1/2002 F i s h
1/2003 W i l s o n et a l.
2/2006 L u

4/2003 Geaghati et al.

US 2005/0179645 A l A u g . 18, 2005

Ricardo Osorio

generating a control signal indicating the movement of

(51) I n t . Cl.
G09G 5/00 ( 2 0 0 6 . 0 1 )
(52) U . S . Cl.
3 4 5 / 1 7 3 ;
345/174
(58) F i e l d of Classification Search 3 4 5 / 1 5 6 ,
345/157, 173-177; 178/18.01-18.09

single tap in case o f the first time span being less than a
second time span, the first time span being greater than a
preset time span and only one contacting time being greater
than the preset time with the second time span.

See application file for complete search history.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets

.
4 0 1
Detect movement o f the/
object on the touch device.

/

402

Start counting time

Detect movement of the object / 403
contacting the touch device
being over and obtain a time span Ti
404
Accumulate time control h a v i n g ,
r
/eached the second time span T2

405
l

408

Slowatagie tap movement 10— No___,only >TI,TI >Tm in and
T2 a tap in the second time span?

Yes

No

345/173

A method for identifying a movement of single tap includes
having detected the movement of the object contacting the
touch dev ic e init iat ing t o s t art t ime c ounting, hav ing
detected the movement o f the object contacting the touch
device terminating and a first time span being obtained and

Publication Data

/

178/18.04
345/173
341/20
345/156
345/173
345/174

ABS TRACT

(57)
(22) Fi l e d: F e b . 12, 2004
P

A *
A *
A *
Bl*
Bl*
B2 *
Al*

* cited by examiner

(21) A p p l . No.: 10/776,691

(65)

Cited

/ 406
C o n t a c t position coordinates
being disposed in a legal zone?

/

407

Generate a control signal representing movement of single tap

U.S. Pat en t

F e b . 20, 2007

Sheet 1 of 5

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.
7.
4
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7,180,506 B 2

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U.S. P a t e n t

F e b . 20, 2007

Sheet 2 of 5

U

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7,180,506 B2

( start )
201

( , movement)-...,
No

Does an object
contact a touch
input device?
Yes
202

-\ N o
Other movements-d•
Yes
203

Displacement

S< Smax?
Yes
Single tap - )

FIG 2

U.S. P a t e n t

F e b . 20, 2007

Sheet 3 of 5

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1
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a m e

7,180,506 B2

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\ interface unit

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U.S. P a t e n t

F e b . 20, 2007

FIG 4

Sheet 4 o f 5

U

S

7,180,506 B 2

I
•
, 401
Detect movement of the/
object on the touch device.
1
I
/ 402
Start counting time
•
1
I
,
Detect movement of the object / 403
contacting the touch device
being over and obtain a time span Ti

Accumulate time control having
I
(
reached the second time span T2

404

405
/

408

Non-sineI tap movement H_No______ T2 > Il,T1 > Tmin and
Ie
o
n
l
y
a tap in the second time span?

Yes

No

/ 406
C o n t a c t position coordinates
being disposed in a legal zone?

Yes
1

/

40?
•
Generate a.control signal representing movement of single tap
•

U.S. P a t e n t

F e b . 20, 2007

Sheet 5 of 5

Pressure
T2
Control signal

FIG 5

U

S

7,180,506 B2

US 7,180,506 B2
1
M E TH O D FO R I DE NTI FY I NG A
M O V E M E NT O F SI NG LE TAP ON A TO UCH
DE V I CE

2

Wherein, the controller, whic h sends at least a control
signal to a main unit corresponding to a movement of at least
an object contacting the touch device, comprises a coordinate calculating unit, a detecting contact unit, a counting
BACKG RO UND OF THE I NV E NTI O N
5
time unit, an operation unit and an encoding unit.
The coordinate calculating unit detects an electronic sig1. Field of Invention
nal sent b y the touc h device t o figure out a coordinate
The present invention is related to a method for identiposition of the object contacting the touch device.
fying a movement of single tap on a touch device, particuThe detecting contact unit detects the electronic signal
larly to an identify ing method capable o f resisting noise t o sent by the touch device to determine if the object contacts
effectively and enhancing identification rate and a controller
the touch device.
utiliz ing the method.
The operation unit figures out a first time span o f the
2. Brief Description of Related Art
object contacting the touch device during the object termiThe touch pad is a humanized input device in spite of the
nating contacting the touch device according to a result of
conventional input devices such as keyboard, mouse and 15
the determination done by the detecting contact unit, conlocus ball being unable to satisfy need of the user. Further,
trols the counting time unit to start time counting in case of
a trend of designing electronic products is to pursue lightthe object contacts the touch device and generates a control
ness, thinness, shortness and smallness s o that it is not
signal indicating the single tap in case of the first time span
possible to integrate all kinds o f input devices in a single
being less than a second time span, the first time span being
electronic product. Because the touch pad can provide the 20
greater than a preset time span and only one contacting time
user a humanized operation with handwriting input and has
being greater than the preset time in the second time span.
the func tion of the conventional input devices at the same
The encoding unit encodes the c ontrol s ignal and the
time, the touch pad has become the most popular choice.
coordinate pos ition and sending the encoded data t o the
Referring to FIG. 1, the touch pad 10 can access analog/
main unit.
digital conversion and figure out coordinates o f the touch 25
The method f or identify ing a movement o f single tap
point with a controller 20 after producing analog signals of
according to the present invention is to have detected the
voltage. Meanwhile, the controller 20 can identify if the user
movement of the object contacting the touch device initiatproduce a single tap or click, double taps or clicks, a drag or
ing time counting and have detected the movement o f the
a movement and then sends related control signal to a main
unit 30 to control the cursor on a screen 40 of the main unit 30 object contacting the touch device being terminated and a
first time span being obtained.
30 accessing movements o f shifting, selecting an item and
Finally, a control signal indicating the movement of single
executing a program.
tap can be obtained in case of the first time span being less
The analog/digital converter (not shown) in the controller
than a second time span, the first time span being greater
20 can be interfered by foreign noise such as electromagnetic wav e eas ily so that i t is necessary t o add proper 35 than a preset time span and only one contacting time being
greater than the preset time wit h the second time span.
samples and recognition algorithm in addition to requiring
careful lay out o f internal c irc uit and increasing various
In short, the present invention provides another restriction
filters for solving the problem. Otherwise, the noise is easy
regarding if the time span of the object contacting the touch
to res ult i n phenomenon o f temporary pseudo press o r
device is greater than the first time span and smaller than the
pseudo ex it such that the c ontroller 20 erroneously deter- 40 second time span in addition to the restriction regarding if
mines the movement.
only one contact movement in the second time span. Hence,
U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,931 discloses an identifying method
it is capable of resisting noise effectively to enhance accuof single tap wit h a touc h device and a b rie f summary
racy of recognizing movements. Moreover, due to being not
thereof is described hereinafter. Referring FIG. 2, firstly, it
necessary t o prov ide a restriction o f displacement, i t is
is to detect if an object such as touch pen contacts the touch 45 possible to lower down the set up cost for logic circuit.
device as shown in step 201 and then it is to compare time
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
T of the object with a default value Tmax and check if T is
smaller than Tmax as s hown in step 202. Further, it is to
make sure i f displacement S o f the object on the touch
The detail structure, the applied principle, the function
device is smaller than a default value Smax as shown in step 50 and the effectiveness o f the present invention can be more
203. I n case o f meeting t he preceding t wo conditions,
fully understood with reference to the following description
determination o f single tap movement can be made and a
and accompanying drawings, in which:
control signal of representing the single tap and information
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating relationship between
regarding coordinates of position at the spot of clicking can
a touch device, a controller and a main unit;
be sent to the main unit. However, the preceding method is 55
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating steps in a method f or
not possible to resist noise, whic h is apt to produce pheidentifying the movement of single tap disclosed in U.S. Pat.
nomenon o f pseudo press. Especially in order to c omply
No. 6,380,931;
with calculation o f the t wo restrictions (contact time and
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodidisplacement), the set up cost of the logic circuit is expenment o f a c ontroller in the touc h device o f the present
sive too.
6
0
invention;
S UMMA RY OF THE I NV E NTI O N
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating steps in a method for
identifying the movement o f single tap according t o the
present invention; and
Accordingly, a n object o f the present inv ention is t o
provide a method, whic h can filter unnecessary noise effec- 65
FIG. 5 a graph o f time sequence illus trating c ontrol
tively for enhancing accuracy of identifying a movement of
signals being produced corresponding to the movement of
single tap, and a controller thereof.
correct single tap according to the present invention.

US 7,180,506 B2
3
DETAI LED DESCRIPTION OF THE
PREFERRED E MB O DI ME NT
Referring to FIG. 3, the controller 100 of a touch device
300 is used for identifying a movement of an object 200 on
the touch device 300 and sending a control signal corresponding the movement to a main unit 400. It is noted that
the touch device 300 can be a capacitance type, inductance
type and the like. The capacitance type of touch device 300
is specifically used for the embodiment.
The object 200 is utilized to contact with the touch device
300, that is, the movement o f the object 200 on the touch
device 300 results in the c ontroller 100 sending a control
signal, whic h corresponds to the movement, to the main unit
400. Generally, the control signal can be coordinates change,
a tap, double taps, a drag, a movement, scrolling, a left key,
a right key, a middle key and etc. to simulate behaviors o f
a mouse and a keyboard further.
The main unit 400 can be various electronic devices such
as a desktop computer, a note book computer, a personal
digital assistant (PDA), a c ellular phone, a remote controller
for different electric appliances or any other input device for
the electronic devices.
A preferred embodiment of the controller 100 includes a
analog/digital switching unit 1, a coordinate calculating unit
2, a detecting contact unit 3, an operation unit 4, an encoding
unit 5, a transmission interface unit 6 and a timer unit 7.
Because the touch device 300 distributes mult iple lead
wires in X and Y directions respectively, the touch device
300 will occur a change of capacitance value as soon as the
object 200 contacts the touch device 300. Thus, values such
as coordinates c an be figured out by way o f measuring
variations o f voltages.
The analog/digital switching unit 1 is connected to the
touch device 300 to convert different voltages into corresponding digital signals f or subsequent process. The coordinate calculation unit 2 decodes the digital signal sent from
the analog/digital switching unit 1 as corresponding absolute
coordinate values (X, Y).
The detecting contact unit 3 is capable of detecting if the
touch device 300 is pressed with an object and figuring out
time duration of the object 200 contacting the touch device
300. The time duration is a parameter for judging which one
of the movements, a tap, double tap or drag.
The operation unit 4 is connected t o t he coordinate
calculation unit 2 and the detecting contact unit 3. The
operation unit 4 is built in a logic calculation method, which
can determine if a movement operated by the user meets a
condition of a tap, double taps or drag. The present invention
emphasizes determination of single tap and a detail explanation about the determination of single tap will be description hereinafter.
The operation unit 4 is capable o f offering relative displacement except determination of movement, that is, after
multiple pairs of absolute coordinate values being transmitted to the operation unit 4 sequentially, the operation unit 4
can figure out a relative displacement of the object 200 on
the touch device 300 and even parameters such as velocity,
direction and distance o f the object 200 according to the
difference between t wo neighboring coordinates. A s f o r
whether sending the absolute coordinates o r the relativ e
displacement to the main unit 400, it depends on application
requirement of the main unit 400.
The encoding unit 5 connects with the operation unit 4 so
that it is possible for the encoding unit 5 to receive absolute
coordinate s ignal, relativ e displacement s ignal o r touc h
signals, whic h include single tap, double tap and drag. The

4
encoding unit 5 can encode different signals as hand-write
input protocol or standard mouse protocol such as mouse
standard protoc ol o f Microsoft company o r PS/2 mouse
standard protocol of IBM company available for operation
5 s y s tem of the main unit 400.
The transmission interface unit 6 provides a function of
sending the encoded signal done by the encoding unit 5 to
the main unit 400 in series. Taking a desktop computer as an
example, the encoded signal is sent to a keyboard controller
to (n o t shown) or South Bridge chip (not shown) so that it is
possible to send an interruption request (I R()) to the processor of the main unit 400. As a result, the main unit 400
can further obtain required parameters such as coordinate
location and execution movement and movements such as
15 displacement o f the cursor, program selection or program
execution can be performed further.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the identify ing method o f
single tap movement according to the present invention at
the v ery first as steps 401, 402 illustrated is utiliz ing the
20 detecting contact unit 3 to detect the movement of the object
200 on the touch device 300. A positive edge of Ti time span
wave (temporary state while lower level position changes to
high level position) indicates a movement of contact occurring and the operation unit 4 controls the t imer unit 7 to
25 begin counting the time.
Next, as indic ated i n step 403, onc e t he objec t 200
detaches f ro m the touch device 300 after contacting the
touch device 300 a time duration T i (first time span), the
detecting contact unit 3 will detect the movement o f con30 tac ting the touch device 300 being over. It is a negative edge
of the wave shape shown in FIG. 5.
Then, step 404 shows that the t imer unit 7 terminates
counting the time after the time lapsing a second time span
T2 from starting counting the time.
35 S t e p 405 shows that the operation unit 4 determines if the
condition o f only one contact time duration being greater
than a preset time span I „ o f the tap movement except Ti
being smaller than the second time span T2 and greater than
a preset time span T„,,„ is fulfilled. I f the condition is not
40 fulfilled, the process is moved to step 408 and the operation
unit 4 can have judgment of other movements in case of the
original judgment being not the movement of single tap. I f
the c ondition is fulfilled, step 406 is processed.
In order to determine the movement o f single tap more
45 accurately, a legal zone (not shown) f or the movement o f
single tap is defined and judgment for position coordinates
(X,Y) o f the object 200 contacting the touch device 300
being within the legal zone ( X
1f the determination i n step 406 is ' Y E S ' ( X ,
I
Y,
i
t
means the movement is single tap definitely
-X
and
2 step 407 is executed to produce a control signal repre,senting the movement of single tap as shown in lower part
Y
of FIG. 5 being sent to the main unit 400 v ia the encoding
1
unit 5 and the transmission interface unit 6. I f the detenni-Y
55 nat ion in step 406 is 'NO ', it means the movement is not
2
single tap and the process is moved to step 408.
; In short, in order to obtain the movement o f single tap,
X
,
< X
2
following conditions have to be met:
, (1) Y >Tl
T2
60 1 2 ) T.,,,,,<T1
(
< (3) Only one contact time duration is greater than the
Y
preset time span T, f o r the movement of tap.
2
) (4) X, X X
.
It
2 .is appreciated that the method and device according to
65 t he; present inv ent ion c an res is t nois e effec tiv ely a n d
Y ,
enhance accuracy o f identifying the movement in case o f
time being counted f rom the object 200 being started to

US 7,180,506 B2
5

6

contact with the touch device 300, a determination of single
tap movement being performed within the second time span
T2, the first time span Ti being greater than the preset time
span Tmin and smaller than the second time span T2 and the
contact position coordinates (X, Y) of the object 200 on the
touch device 300 being in the legal zone o f single tap.

3. A controller of a touch device, whic h sends at least a
control signal to a main unit corresponding to a movement
of at least an object contacting the touch device, comprising:

a coordinate calculating unit, detecting an electronic signal sent by the touch device to figure out a coordinate
position of the object contacting the touch device;
Further, internal logic circuit of the controller 300 can be
a detecting contact unit, detecting the electronic signal
simplified to lower the installation cost and reduce power
sent by the touch device to determine i f the object
consumption.
While the invention has been described with referencing 10 c o n t a c t s the touch device;
to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that
a counting t ime unit, c ounting t ime during the object
modifications o r variations may be easily made without
contacting the touch device;
departing from the spirit of this invention, whic h is defined
an operation unit, figuring out a first time span o f the
by the appended claims.
object contacting the touch device during the object
1
What is claimed is:
5
terminating contacting the touch device according to a
1. A method f or identify ing a movement o f single tap,
result of the determination done by the detecting conwhich is a movement done with at least an object contacting
tact unit, controlling the counting time unit to start time
a touch device, comprising following steps:
counting in case of the object contacts the touch device
(A) having detected the movement of the object contacting the touch device initiating with starting time count- 20 a n d generating a control signal indicating the single tap
in case o f the first time span being less than a second
ing;
time span, the first time span being greater than a preset
(B) having detected the movement of the object contacttime span and only one contacting time being greater
ing the touch device terminating and a first time span
being obtained; and
than the preset time in the second time span; and
(C) generating a control signal indicating the movement 2 a n encoding unit, encoding the control signal and the
5
of single tap in case of the first time span being less than
coordinate position and sending the encoded data to the
a second time span, the first time span being greater
main unit.
than a preset time span and only one contacting time
4. Th e c ontroller as defined i n c laim 3, wherein the
being greater than the preset time with the second time
30 operation unit generates the control signal after the operation
span.
unit having determined the coordinate position of the object
2. The method for identifying a movement of single tap as
contacting the touch device being within a legal position of
defined in c laim 1, wherein the step C further determines
single movement.
contact position coordinates of the object contacting with the
touch device are in a legal zone f or single tap before the
control signal of single tap movement.
5