US 12,169,597 B1
Keyboard with haptic trackpad
Eliyahu Barel, Rosh-HaAyin (IL); and Ahia Peretz, Elkana (IL)
Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed on Oct. 19, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/490,656.
Int. Cl. G06F 3/01 (2006.01); G06F 3/02 (2006.01); G06F 3/041 (2006.01); G06F 3/044 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/016 (2013.01) [G06F 3/0213 (2013.01); G06F 3/0416 (2013.01); G06F 3/0447 (2019.05); G06F 2203/04105 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A deformable keyboard, comprising:
a force-sensing haptic trackpad comprising:
a touch receiving surface;
a haptic actuator coupled to the touch receiving surface; and
a printed circuit board (PCB) coupled to the touch receiving surface;
a base plate spaced from the PCB;
a plurality of resilient members coupling the base plate to the PCB;
a bending sensor configured to detect bending of the keyboard;
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
use at least data from the bending sensor to determine that the keyboard is bending;
at least on condition of determining that the keyboard is bending, use the data from the bending sensor to adjust an initial haptic driving signal to an adjusted haptic driving signal; and
drive the haptic actuator with the adjusted driving signal to generate haptic output via the touch receiving surface.