Patents Examined by Stephone B. Ballen
  • Patent number: 4839512
    Abstract: Apparatus for sensing locations and magnitudes of forces applied on a surface includes a grid comprised of energy input devices running in one direction and energy output devices running another direction with the input and output devices crossing each other. Transducers that meter energy from the input devices to the output devices as a function of the magnitude of forces applied thereon are positioned at the intersections of the input devices with the output devices. Interrogation apparatus is also included, along with energy output detectors and measuring devices, for sensing and determining locations, as well as magnitudes, of forces applied on the grid. Several embodiments of energy input and energy output devices are shown and described, as well as several embodiments of transducers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1989
    Assignee: Tactilitics, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard P. Speck