Patents Assigned to Flatfrog Laboratories AB
  • Patent number: 11099688
    Abstract: An optical IR touch sensing apparatus configured to determine, based on output signals of light detectors, a light energy value for each light path across a touch surface, and generate a transmission value for each light path based on the light energy value. A processor is then configured to process the transmission values to determine an object reference point on the touch surface where the light is attenuated or occluded by an object and determine, from a set of light paths unaffected by an object, a set of object boundary light paths comprising one or more light paths passing closest to the object reference point. The characteristics of the object may then be determined in dependence on the set of object boundary light paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Tomas Christiansson, Kristofer Jakobson, Nicklas Ohlsson
  • Patent number: 11029783
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention provides a touch sensing apparatus, comprising: a light transmissive element (10) that defines a touch surface; a set of emitters (30a) arranged around the periphery of the touch surface to emit beams of light into the light transmissive element, wherein a first portion of the beams (50) of light propagate inside the light transmissive element while illuminating the touch surface such that an object touching the touch surface causes an attenuation of the propagating light, and wherein a second portion of the beams (90) of light pass out of the light transmissive element and are reflected to travel above the touch surface, a set of light detectors (30b) arranged around the periphery of the touch surface to receive light from the set of emitters from the transmissive element and from above the touch surface, wherein each light detector is arranged to receive light from more than one emitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Ola Wassvik, Håkan Bergström, Ivan Karlsson, Thomas Craven-Bartle
  • Patent number: 10963104
    Abstract: A touch sensing apparatus is disclosed, comprising a light transmissive panel that defines a touch surface, an opposite rear surface, and panel sides extending between the touch surface and rear surface. The panel sides define a perimeter of the light transmissive panel. The touch sensing apparatus comprises a plurality of light emitters and detectors arranged along the perimeter and adjacent the panel sides, a light guide arranged along the perimeter and having a first reflective surface comprising a diffusive light scattering element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Håkan Bergström, Aleksander Kocovski
  • Patent number: 10845923
    Abstract: A touch sensing apparatus is disclosed comprising a panel that defines a touch surface, a plurality of light emitters and detectors arranged along a perimeter of the panel. The light emitters are arranged to emit a respective beam of emitted light that travels above the touch surface, wherein the light detectors are arranged to receive detection light from the emitted light. The plurality of light emitters and detectors are arranged above the touch surface and are connected to a substrate extending in a direction parallel with a normal axis of a plane in which the panel extends. A method of assembling a touch sensing apparatus is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Daniel Skagmo, Robert Ehn, Hakan Bergstrom
  • Patent number: 10775937
    Abstract: An optical IR touch sensing apparatus configured to determine, based on output signals of light detectors, a light energy value for each light path across a touch surface, and generate a transmission value for each light path based on the light energy value. A processor is then configured to operate an image reconstruction algorithm on at least part of the thus-generated transmission values and determine a position of a touching object on the touch surface, and an attenuation value corresponding to the attenuation of the light resulting from the object touching the touch surface. Using these values, the processor is configured to identify the type of object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Tomas Christiansson, Mattias Krus, Kristofer Jacobson, David Gillsjö
  • Patent number: 10775935
    Abstract: An assembly for holding and controlling curvature of a glass plate for an optical touch sensitive system is described. The assembly comprising a first frame element extending in a first plane and configured to extend at least partially around a panel; at least one second frame element extending in a second plane and forming a support portion for the plate, and at least one spacing element positioned at least partially between the support portion and the first frame element. The spacing element us configured to control a curvature of the first frame element and wherein the at least one second frame element is configured to engage the plate at the support portion, is attached to the first frame element, and is tiltable, by controlling the curvature of the first frame element with said spacing element, to control a curvature of the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Aleksander Kocovski, Hakan Bergstrom, Jens Thorvinger
  • Patent number: 10761657
    Abstract: A method of operating an optical touch apparatus is described wherein, the optical touch apparatus comprising a panel, a plurality of emitters and a plurality of detectors arranged with respect to the panel, the plurality of detectors configured to receive light from the plurality of emitters thereby defining detection samples of light transmitted between pairs of emitters and detectors. The optical touch apparatus being further configured to operate in an ambient light evaluation mode comprising the steps of: generating a first set of samples over a first integration time and a second set of samples over a second integration time using at least one detector, and applying a filter to at least the first and second set of samples to generate a residual ambient light value indicative of ambient light noise, wherein the touch apparatus is configured to perform the following steps: operating according to the ambient light evaluation mode for a plurality of repetitions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Tomas Christiansson, Henrik Wall, Nicklas Ohlsson, Mattias Krus, Tomas Svensson
  • Patent number: 10739916
    Abstract: A touch sensing apparatus is disclosed comprising a panel that defines a touch surface, a plurality of light emitters and detectors arranged along a perimeter of the panel. The light emitters are arranged to emit a respective beam of emitted light that travels above the touch surface, wherein the light detectors are arranged to receive detection light from the emitted light. The plurality of light emitters and detectors are arranged above the touch surface and are connected to a substrate extending in a direction parallel with a normal axis of a plane in which the panel extends. A method of assembling a touch sensing apparatus is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Daniel Skagmo, Robert Ehn, Hakan Bergstrom
  • Patent number: 10606416
    Abstract: A touch sensing apparatus is disclosed comprising a panel that defines a touch surface, a plurality of light emitters and detectors arranged along a perimeter of the panel. The light emitters are arranged to emit a respective beam of emitted light that travels above the touch surface, wherein the light detectors are arranged to receive detection light from the emitted light. The plurality of light emitters and detectors are arranged above the touch surface and are connected to a substrate extending in a direction parallel with a normal axis of a plane in which the panel extends. A method of assembling a touch sensing apparatus is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Daniel Skagmo, Robert Ehn, Hakan Bergstrom
  • Patent number: 10606414
    Abstract: An optical IR touch sensing apparatus configured to determine, based on output signals of light detectors, a light energy value for each light path across a touch surface, and generate a transmission value for each light path based on the light energy value. A processor is then configured to process the transmission values to determine an object reference point on the touch surface where the light is attenuated or occluded by an object and determine, from a set of light paths unaffected by an object, a set of object boundary light paths comprising one or more light paths passing closest to the object reference point. The characteristics of the object may then be determined in dependence on the set of object boundary light paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Tomas Christiansson, Kristofer Jakobson, Nicklas Ohlsson
  • Patent number: 10496227
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention provides a touch sensing apparatus, comprising: a light transmissive element (10) that defines a touch surface; a set of emitters (30a) arranged around the periphery of the touch surface to emit beams of light into the light transmissive element, wherein a first portion of the beams (50) of light propagate inside the light transmissive element while illuminating the touch surface such that an object touching the touch surface causes an attenuation of the propagating light, and wherein a second portion of the beams (90) of light pass out of the light transmissive element and are reflected to travel above the touch surface, a set of light detectors (30b) arranged around the periphery of the touch surface to receive light from the set of emitters from the transmissive element and from above the touch surface, wherein each light detector is arranged to receive light from more than one emitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Ola Wassvik, Håkan Bergström, Ivan Karlsson, Thomas Craven-Bartle
  • Patent number: 10481737
    Abstract: An optical IR touch sensing apparatus can determine, based on output signals of light detectors, a light energy value for each light path across a touch surface, and generate a transmission value for each light path based on the light energy value. A processor can operate an image reconstruction algorithm on at least part of the thus-generated transmission values and determine a position of a touching object on the touch surface, an attenuation value corresponding to the attenuation of the light resulting from the object touching the touch surface, and an occlusion compensation value for compensating the occlusion affect from other objects on the touch surface. Using these values, the processor can identify the type of object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Tomas Christiansson, Kristofer Jakobson
  • Patent number: 10474249
    Abstract: A touch sensing apparatus includes a group of emitters arranged to emit light to illuminate at least part of the touch surface, a light detector arranged to receive light from the group of emitters, and a processing element. Each emitter is controlled to transmit a code by way of the emitted light such that the code identifies the respective emitter. The codes may at least partly be transmitted concurrently. The codes may be selected such that a value of an autocorrelation of each code is significantly higher than a value of a cross-correlation between any two codes of different emitters. The processing element processes an output signal from the light detector to separate the light received from the individual emitters based on the transmitted codes, and to determine the position of the object/objects based on the light received from the individual emitters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Christer Fahraeus, Henrik Wall, Ola Wassvik, Tomas Christiansson
  • Patent number: 10437389
    Abstract: A touch sensing apparatus is disclosed comprising a panel that defines a touch surface, a plurality of light emitters and detectors arranged along a perimeter of the panel. The light emitters are arranged to emit a respective beam of emitted light that travels above the touch surface, wherein the light detectors are arranged to receive detection light from the emitted light. The plurality of light emitters and detectors are arranged above the touch surface and are connected to a substrate extending in a direction parallel with a normal axis of a plane in which the panel extends. A method of assembling a touch sensing apparatus is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Daniel Skagmo, Robert Ehn, Hakan Bergstrom
  • Patent number: 10401546
    Abstract: The invention provides an optical component for transferring light between an opto-electronic device and a light transmissive panel which defines two opposing boundary surfaces, the optical component having a shape formed from a geometric shape having a base surface, a lateral front surface and an axis, wherein the geometric shape is truncated by a plane intersecting the front surface, the base surface, and the axis, forming a back surface. The base surface is configured for mounting the optical component to the light transmissive panel and for coupling light into the light transmissive panel. The front surface being configured for coupling light from the front surface, through the base surface, and into the light transmissive panel for the light to propagate by total internal reflection within the light transmissive panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Thomas Craven-Bartle, Håkan Bergström
  • Patent number: 10372265
    Abstract: Touch sensitivity is enabled using a touch system that comprises a panel configured to conduct signals, along detection lines across a touch surface. A signal processor operates in a sequence of repetitions to: generate data samples that represent detected signal energy on the actual detection lines; generate based on the data samples, an interpolated sinogram comprising interpolation samples that represent fictitious detection lines which have a desired location on the touch surface; and reconstruct a signal interaction pattern for the touch surface based on the interpolated sinogram. The signal processor implements an error correction to counteract the influence of a change in validity status for a data sample among the data samples, by identifying interpolation samples affected by the change in validity status, and by setting each identified interpolation sample to a value that maintains a relative signal transmission of the fictitious detection line from a former repetition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Tomas Christiansson, Andreas Bjorklund, Mats Petter Wallander, Nicklas Ohlsson
  • Patent number: 10365768
    Abstract: A touch-sensitive apparatus operates by light frustration (FTIR) and comprises a light transmissive panel (1) that defines a front surface (5) and a rear surface (6), light emitters optically connected to the panel (1) so as to generate light that propagates by total internal reflection inside the panel, and light detectors (3) optically connected to the panel (1) so as to define a grid of propagation paths inside the panel (1) between pairs of light emitters and light detectors (3). Each light detector (3) is optically connected to the panel (1) via an angular filter (20). The filter (20) is applied to an outcoupling region on at least one of the front and rear surfaces (5, 6) and is configured to transmit light only within a confined range of angles with respect to the normal of the outcoupling region. The confined range extends from a lower angle limit ?min to an upper angle limit ?max.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Thomas Craven-Bartle, Håkan Bergström, Ivan Karlsson, Ola Wassvik, David Sernelius
  • Patent number: 10324566
    Abstract: A touch-sensitive apparatus includes an touch sensing part which operates a touch sensor arrangement to provide signal data representing a touch within a touch-sensing region on a front surface of a light transmissive panel; The touch-sensitive apparatus further includes a computer vision system part which operates a camera system to image a scene located externally of the touch-sensitive apparatus, and operates a computer vision controller to detect, based on image data generated by the camera system, at least one object within the scene. The touch-sensitive apparatus enables user interaction by touch control, gesture control and hover control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventor: Tomas Christiansson
  • Patent number: 10318041
    Abstract: A signal processor implements a technique for detecting objects on a panel which transmits signals inside the panel such that the objects are allowed to interact with (e.g. attenuate) the signals by contact with a touch surface of the panel. The signal processor operates to define cells that have a given location on the touch surface and are associated with a respective set of intersecting paths for the signals across the touch surface. The signal processor operates to obtain (90) an output signal from a signal detection arrangement that measures a signal property for each path; process (91) the output signal to obtain an interaction value for each path; and generate (93-95?) a cell value of a selected cell among the cells as either a robust measure of central tendency (e.g. a median) or a minimum/maximum among the interaction values for the intersecting paths. The signal processor determines (97) presence or absence of an object in the selected cell based on the cell value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Andreas Björklund, Tomas Christiansson, Mats Petter Wallander, Nicklas Ohlsson
  • Patent number: 10318074
    Abstract: A touch-sensitive display, comprising a transmissive panel defining the touch surface, a first set of OLED emitters forming display pixels, a second set of OLED emitters configured to emit light via an adjacent cell into the transmissive panel for propagation therein via total internal reflection, and a set of detectors configured to receive light from the second set of OLED emitters after the light has propagated inside the transmissive panel via total internal reflection. The first set and the second set of OLED emitters are arranged on the same substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
    Inventors: Gunnar Klinghult, Ivan Karlsson