Patents by Inventor Harald Philipp

Harald Philipp has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10306758
    Abstract: Disclosed examples of electrode structures and methods of manufacture thereof may provide one or more advantages relating to enhanced conductivity, for example, while providing optically clear conductors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 10146382
    Abstract: An assembly has an array of first electrodes distributed across an active area of the touchscreen assembly such that the density of first electrodes increases in a first direction across the touchscreen. An array of second electrodes is distributed across an active area of the touchscreen assembly such that the density of second electrodes decreases in the first direction across the touchscreen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 10088960
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, an apparatus includes a first substrate with sense electrodes of a touch sensor disposed on it and a second substrate with drive electrodes of the touch sensor disposed on it. One or more of the following is true: the sense electrodes of the first substrate are made of a first conductive mesh of conductive material such that the sense electrodes include the first conductive mesh; and the drive electrodes of the second substrate are made of a second conductive mesh of conductive material such that the drive electrodes include the second conductive mesh. The apparatus also includes an insulating layer between the sense electrodes of the first substrate and the drive electrodes of the second substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Esat Yilmaz, Peter Sleeman, Samuel Brunet, Matthew Trend, Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9927476
    Abstract: A position sensor comprises first and second electrodes that generally extend in a first direction and are arranged in a pattern that defines a sensitive area, the second electrodes interleaved with the first electrodes in a second direction. The first electrodes comprise first, second, and third groups of elements, elements in the first, second, and third groups being connected to each other but not to elements in another group. The elements have shapes configured for adjacent elements in the first and second groups to co-extend in the first direction over a first portion of the sensitive area and to provide ratiometric capacitive signals with respect to each other in the first direction, and adjacent elements in the second and third groups to co-extend in the first direction over a second portion of the sensitive area and to provide ratiometric capacitive signals with respect to each other in the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Harald Philipp, Luben Hristov
  • Publication number: 20180052546
    Abstract: A capacitive touch sensor wherein the touch sensitive panel has drive electrodes arranged on the lower side of a substrate and sense electrodes arranged on the upper side. The drive electrodes are shaped and dimensioned to substantially entirely cover the touch sensitive area with individual drive electrodes being separated from each other by small gaps, the gaps being so small as to be practically invisible. The near blanket coverage by the drive electrodes also serves to screen out interference from noise sources below the drive electrode layer, such as drive signals for an underlying display, thereby suppressing noise pick-up by the sense electrodes that are positioned above the drive electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Publication date: February 22, 2018
    Inventors: Peter Sleeman, Samuel Brunet, Matthew Trend, Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9823784
    Abstract: A capacitive touch sensor wherein the touch sensitive panel has drive electrodes arranged on the lower side of a substrate and sense electrodes arranged on the upper side. The drive electrodes are shaped and dimensioned to substantially entirely cover the touch sensitive area with individual drive electrodes being separated from each other by small gaps, the gaps being so small as to be practically invisible. The near blanket coverage by the drive electrodes also serves to screen out interference from noise sources below the drive electrode layer, such as drive signals for an underlying display, thereby suppressing noise pick-up by the sense electrodes that are positioned above the drive electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Sleeman, Samuel Brunet, Matthew Trend, Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9632628
    Abstract: A device includes a plurality of adjacent electrodes for a touch sensitive device. The electrodes run generally in a first direction. Adjacent electrodes are interdigitated to provide one or more interpolation sections of the electrodes. Touch sensitive devices may utilize such interdigitated electrodes as drive electrodes, along with transverse sense electrodes formed over a display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Harald Philipp, Esat Yilmaz
  • Patent number: 9600124
    Abstract: A sensor is arranged to determine the presence of an object from a change in a capacitance of a sensing element. The sensor includes a capacitance measurement circuit operable to perform measurement cycles to measure a capacitance of the sensing element, and a controller circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Harald Philipp, Esat Yilmaz
  • Patent number: 9569037
    Abstract: A method of sensing the presence of a body from a change in an amount of charge present on a capacitively charged key. The method comprises inducing charge onto the key during a drive part of a measurement cycle, coupling a signal measurement capacitor to the key during a signal measurement part of the measurement cycle to the effect that the charge induced on the key during the drive part of the measurement cycle is transferred to the signal measurement capacitor, determining from a noise measurement part of the measurement cycle an amount of charge induced on the key by noise during the signal measurement part of the measurement cycle, and controlling the drive part, the signal measurement part and the noise measurement parts of the cycle to provide the charge sensing circuit with a measurement of the signal from which the noise induced on the key has been or can be substantially cancelled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Esat Yilmaz, Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9551904
    Abstract: A touchscreen includes touchscreen electrode elements distributed across an active area of a substrate, and the touchscreen overlays a display. The touchscreen electrode elements are configured to avoid creating moiré patterns between the display and the touchscreen, such as angled, wavy, zig-zag, or randomized lines. In a further example, the electrodes form a mesh pattern configured to avoid moiré patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9489072
    Abstract: In touch sensitive display devices, the display scanning circuitry responsible for driving images of the panel screen can cause noise on the electrodes of nearby touch sensors. The display controller circuit and/or the touch sensor controller circuit of the exemplary touchscreen display devices may be configured to reduce such noise during the touch sensor acquisition cycle by implementing one or more of several techniques in which a portion of each of the sensor acquisition cycles occurs within a period of reduced noise from a cycle of the scanning of the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Publication number: 20160299605
    Abstract: An assembly has an array of first electrodes distributed across an active area of the touchscreen assembly such that the density of first electrodes increases in a first direction across the touchscreen. An array of second electrodes is distributed across an active area of the touchscreen assembly such that the density of second electrodes decreases in the first direction across the touchscreen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2016
    Publication date: October 13, 2016
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9448267
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, an apparatus comprises a charge-measurement capacitor and circuitry. The circuitry is configured to provide a pre-determined amount of charge to the charge-measurement capacitor and transfer an accumulated amount of charge on a sense electrode to the charge-measurement capacitor, the accumulated amount of charge having accumulated on the sense electrode due at least in part to noise. The circuitry is configured measure a voltage of the charge-measurement capacitor to determine the accumulated amount of charge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Harald Philipp, Daniel Pickett, Esat Yilmaz
  • Patent number: 9430104
    Abstract: A capacitive two-dimensional (2D) touch panel has three sets of interleaved electrodes. A first set of electrodes is spaced apart along the y-direction and these are galvanically connected to each other by a resistive strip connected at either end to a connection line. A second set of electrodes is also arrayed along the y-direction and these are galvanically connected to each other via a notionally non-resistive first connection. A third set of electrodes is also arrayed along the y-direction and these are galvanically connected to each other via a notionally non-resistive second connection. The second and third sets of electrodes are interleaved without galvanic cross-conduction to provide a gradient along the x-direction to resolve touch position in the x-direction. The first set of electrodes resolves touch position along the y-direction. Passive or active capacitive sensing techniques may be used to acquire the position information from the 2D touch panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9411481
    Abstract: A capacitive touch sensitive position sensor is provided which has a substrate defining a touch sensitive platform. First and second resistive bus-bars arranged spaced apart on the substrate. A conductive sensing area is formed between the bus bars and is constructed with first and second conductive elements connected to the first and second resistive bus-bars respectively, and spaced apart from each other by non-conducting gaps, so that currents induced in the conductive sensing area flow towards the bus-bars, but are prevented from flowing in a direction parallel to the bus-bars. This design removes pin-cushion distortion and enhances linearization of the output signals. Because the sensing region is not galvanically coupled from one bus bar to the other, the voltage gradients remain uniform and undistorted. Capacitive coupling from one side to the other does not produce a distortion component provided that the capacitance is allowed to fully charge and discharge across all locations in the sensing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9372579
    Abstract: A touchscreen display assembly has an array of first electrodes distributed across an active area of the touchscreen display assembly such that the density of first electrodes increases in a first direction across the touchscreen. An array of second electrodes is distributed across an active area of the touchscreen display assembly such that the density of second electrodes decreases in the first direction across the touchscreen. The position in the first direction of an input on the touchscreen can be determined by the proportion of first and second electrodes density in the area of the input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp
  • Publication number: 20160162073
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, an apparatus includes a first substrate with sense electrodes of a touch sensor disposed on it and a second substrate with drive electrodes of the touch sensor disposed on it. One or more of the following is true: the sense electrodes of the first substrate are made of a first conductive mesh of conductive material such that the sense electrodes include the first conductive mesh; and the drive electrodes of the second substrate are made of a second conductive mesh of conductive material such that the drive electrodes include the second conductive mesh. The apparatus also includes an insulating layer between the sense electrodes of the first substrate and the drive electrodes of the second substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2015
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Inventors: Esat Yilmaz, Peter Sleeman, JR., Samuel Brunet, Matthew Trend, Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9322633
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a sensor includes a plurality of drive electrodes running generally in a first direction. The sensor also includes a plurality of sense electrodes running generally in a second direction. The sense electrodes have branches running generally in the first direction. End portions of the adjacent branches of adjacent sense electrodes extend beyond one another to define respective coextensive portions of the branches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Esat Yilmaz, Peter Sleeman, Samuel Brunet, Matthew Trend, Harald Philipp
  • Patent number: 9250751
    Abstract: One embodiment provides a capacitive sensor for determining the presence of an object, such as a user's finger or a stylus. The sensor includes a substrate on which electrodes are deposited. A resistive drive electrode is arranged on one side of the substrate and a resistive sense electrode is arranged on the other side of the substrate. A shorting connection connects between two locations on one of the electrodes. The electrodes are connected to respective drive and sense channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Harald Philipp, Samuel Brunet
  • Patent number: 9244568
    Abstract: A two-dimensional touch sensor comprising a plurality of electrodes arranged in a mesh pattern on a substrate. Each electrode is formed by interconnected metal traces, the metal being intrinsically opaque, but the metal traces being sufficiently narrow to be practically invisible. The metal traces have a width less than or equal to 10 ?m and occupy less than or equal to 5% of the area of each electrode. The electrodes can be deposited additively via a printing process, for example using copper as the metal. The narrow width of the tracks allows the film to be highly transparent, since the electric field used in capacitive touch screens can be made to propagate with very low metal densities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventor: Harald Philipp