Vibratory Panel Devices and Methods for Controlling Vibratory Panel Devices

Abstract

There is provided a method of generating a primary effect in a vibratory panel device comprising at least N+M transducers connected to a panel, where N and M are integers greater than or equal to 1. Each transducer is electrically connected to signal processing circuitry and the signal processing circuitry is configured to receive signals from or provide signals to each transducer. The method comprises: obtaining N electrical signals to be applied respectively to N of the transducers to produce the primary effect; and processing the N electrical signals to produce M additional electrical signal(s), such that when the M signal(s) are applied to respective transducers other than the N transducers, a secondary effect is produced. The secondary effect may be for example cancellation of any audio output resulting from providing haptic feedback.

1 . A method of generating a primary effect in a device comprising a panel which supports vibrations and at least N+M transducers connected to the panel, where N and M are integers greater than or equal to 1, each transducer being electrically connected to signal processing circuitry and the signal processing circuitry being configured to receive signals from or provide signals to each transducer, the method comprising:
 obtaining N electrical signals to be applied respectively to N of the transducers to produce the primary effect; and   processing the N electrical signals to produce M additional electrical signal(s), such that when the M signal(s) are applied to respective transducers other than the N transducers, a secondary effect is produced.   
     
     
         2 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the processing of the N electrical signals comprises processing a pair of N signals to generate an additional M signal according to the formula C=−(L+R)/2, where L and R are control signals to be applied to respective ones of the N transducers and C is a control signal to be applied to one of the M transducers. 
     
     
         3 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  or  claim 2  in which the N electrical signals are configured to enable the device to provide haptic feedback in response to an input stimulus and the M additional signal(s) are configured to reduce any acoustic vibration that would otherwise occur on application of the N signals to the respective transducers. 
     
     
         4 . A method as claimed in  claim 1 ,  2  or  3  in which the M additional signals are configured such that their application to respective transducers causes a reduction of any net displacement of the device caused by the application of the N signals to respective transducers. 
     
     
         5 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  in which the N electrical signals are configured to enable the device to generate audio signals and the M additional signals are for use in audio signal generation. 
     
     
         6 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 2  to  4  further comprising additionally obtaining N electrical signals for audio signal generation and processing the N electrical signals for audio signal generation to produce M additional electrical signal(s) for use in audio signal generation, such that when the M additional signal(s) for audio signal generation are applied to respective transducers other than the N transducers a side effect to audio signal generation by the N transducers is produced. 
     
     
         7 . A method as claimed in  claim 5  or  6  in which the M additional signals for use in audio signal generation are configured to boost the acoustic output. 
     
     
         8 . A method as claimed in  claim 5 ,  6  or  7  wherein the processing of the N electrical signals comprises processing a pair of N signals to generate an additional M signal for use in audio signal generation according to the formula C=+(L+R)/2, where L and R are control signals to be applied to respective ones of the N transducers and C is a control signal to be applied to one of the M transducers. 
     
     
         9 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 5  to  8  in which the M additional signals for use in audio signal generation are configured to reduce mechanical vibration in the device when applied to the M transducers. 
     
     
         10 . A method as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the processing of the N electrical signals comprises processing a pair of N signals to generate an additional M signal according to the formula C=−(L+R)/2, where L and R are control signals to be applied to respective ones of the N transducers and C is a control signal to be applied to one of the M transducers. 
     
     
         11 . A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the N signals are supplied to signal processing circuitry which outputs the original N signals as well as the M signals. 
     
     
         12 . A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which N is greater than M. 
     
     
         13 . A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which M=N/2. 
     
     
         14 . A method as claimed in  claim 13  in which M=1 and N=2. 
     
     
         15 . A method of obtaining a desired response from a device comprising a panel which supports vibrations and N+M transducers connected to the panel, where N and M are integers greater than or equal to one, each transducer being electrically connected to signal processing circuitry and the signal processing circuitry being configured to receive signals from or provide signals to each transducer, the method comprising:
 receiving N+M electrical signals generated from respective ones of the N+M transducers in response to a physical action on the panel that is desired to be sensed, and   processing the N+M signals to produce N signals corresponding to signals from N respective ones of the N+M transducers,   wherein the signals from the other M transducers are used to correct the signals from the N transducers for one or more phenomena affecting all of the transducers other than the physical action.   
     
     
         16 . A method as claimed in  claim 15  in which the device is configured to sense acoustic vibrations and the signals from the M transducers are used to reduce background noise in the signals from the N transducers. 
     
     
         17 . A method as claimed in  claim 15  in which the device is configured to sense acoustic vibrations and the signals from the M transducers are used to improve the sensitivity of the device to low frequency vibrations. 
     
     
         18 . A method as claimed in  claim 15  in which the device is configured to sense touch and the signals from the M transducers are used to reduce the effects of common mode vibrations in the signals from the N transducers. 
     
     
         19 . A method as claimed in any of  claims 15  to  18  in which N is greater than M. 
     
     
         20 . A method as claimed in  claim 19  in which M=N/2. 
     
     
         21 . A method as claimed in  claim 20  in which M=1 and N=2. 
     
     
         22 . Signal processing apparatus configured to implement the method of any preceding claim. 
     
     
         23 . A control circuit for a vibratory panel device comprising signal processing apparatus configured to implement the method of any of  claims 1  to  14  and a control signal generator configured to generate the N signals. 
     
     
         24 . A control circuit for a vibratory panel device comprising signal processing apparatus configured to implement the method of  claim 6  or any of  claims 7  to  14  when dependent on  claim 6 , and a control signal generator configured to generate the N signals for use in providing haptic feedback. 
     
     
         25 . A control circuit as claimed in  claim 24  further comprising a control signal generator configured to generate the N electrical signals for audio signal generation. 
     
     
         26 . A computer readable medium bearing instructions which when implemented in signal processing apparatus cause the apparatus to implement the method of any of  claims 1  to  21 . 
     
     
         27 . A device comprising a panel which supports vibrations, N+M transducers connected to the panel, where N and M are integers greater than or equal to one, and signal processing circuitry, each transducer being electrically connected to the signal processing circuitry and the signal processing circuitry being configured to:
 obtain N electrical signals to be applied respectively to N of the transducers to produce a primary effect; and   process the N electrical signals to produce M additional electrical signal(s), such that when the M signal(s) are applied to respective transducers other than the N transducers, a secondary effect is produced.   
     
     
         28 . A device as claimed in  claim 27  further comprising a control circuit adapted to generate the N electrical signals for input to the N transducers, in which the signals output from the control circuit are input to the signal processing circuitry. 
     
     
         29 . A device as claimed in  claim 27  or  28  for providing haptic feedback in which the N electrical signals are configured to enable the device to provide haptic feedback in response to an input stimulus and the M additional signal(s) are configured to reduce any acoustic vibration that would otherwise occur on application of the N signals to the respective transducer(s). 
     
     
         30 . A device as claimed in  claim 29  in which the M additional signals are configured such that their application to respective transducers causes a reduction of any net displacement of the device caused by the application of the N signals to respective transducers. 
     
     
         31 . A device as claimed in  claim 29  or  30  wherein the processing of the N electrical signals comprises processing a pair of N signals to generate an additional M signal according to the formula C=−(L+R)/2, where L and R are control signals to be applied to respective ones of the N transducers and C is a control signal to be applied to one of the M transducers. 
     
     
         32 . A device as claimed in  claim 22  or  28  in which the N electrical signals are configured to enable the device to generate audio signals and the M additional signals are for use in audio signal generation. 
     
     
         33 . A device as claimed in  claim 29 ,  30  or  31  in which the transducers are additionally used for audio signal generation in which the signal processing circuitry is configured to additionally obtain N electrical signals for audio signal generation and to process the N electrical signals for audio signal generation to produce a set of M additional electrical signal(s) for use in audio signal generation, such that when the M additional signal(s) for audio signal generation are applied to respective transducers other than the N transducers a side effect to audio signal generation is produced. 
     
     
         34 . A device as claimed in  claim 32  or  33  in which the M additional signals for use in audio signal generation are configured to boost the acoustic output. 
     
     
         35 . A device as claimed in  claim 32 ,  33  or  34  wherein the processing of the N electrical signals comprises processing a pair of N signals to generate an additional M signal for use in audio signal generation according to the formula C=+(L+R)/2, where L and R are control signals to be applied to respective ones of the N transducers and C is a control signal to be applied to one of the M transducers. 
     
     
         36 . A device as claimed in  claim 32  or  33  in which the M additional signals for use in audio signal generation are configured to reduce mechanical vibration leakage in the device. 
     
     
         37 . A device as claimed in  claim 36  wherein the processing of the N electrical signals comprises processing a pair of N signals to generate an additional M signal according to the formula C=−(L+R)/2, where L and R are control signals to be applied to respective ones of the N transducers and C is a control signal to be applied to one of the M transducers. 
     
     
         38 . A device as claimed in any of  claims 27  to  37  in which N is greater than M. 
     
     
         39 . A device as claimed in  claim 38  in which M=N/2. 
     
     
         40 . A device as claimed in  claim 30  in which N=2 and M=1. 
     
     
         41 . A device comprising a panel which supports vibrations, N+M transducers connected to the panel, where N and M are integers greater than or equal to one, and signal processing circuitry, each transducer being electrically connected to the signal processing circuitry and the signal processing circuitry being configured to:
 receive N+M electrical signals generated from respective ones of the N+M transducers in response to a physical action on the panel that is desired to be sensed, and   process the N+M signals to produce N signals corresponding to respective ones of the N transducers,   wherein the signals from the other M transducers are used to correct the signals from the M transducers for one or more phenomena other than the physical action affecting all of the transducers.   
     
     
         42 . A device as claimed in  claim 41  configured to sense acoustic vibrations in which the signals from the M transducers are configured to reduce background noise in the signals from the N transducers. 
     
     
         43 . A device as claimed in  claim 41  configured to sense touch in which the signals from the M transducers are configured to reduce the effects of common mode vibrations in the signals from the N transducers. 
     
     
         44 . A device as claimed in  claim 41  configured to sense acoustic vibrations in which the signals from the M transducers are configured to improve the sensitivity of the device to low frequency vibrations. 
     
     
         45 . A device as claimed in any of  claims 41  to  44  in which N−M=M/2. 
     
     
         46 . A device as claimed in  claim 44  in which M=1 and N=2. 
     
     
         47 . A device as claimed in any of  claims 27  to  46  in which the device is one of a mobile communications device, tablet computing device and portable personal computer. 
     
     
         48 . A device as claimed in any preceding claim in which the panel comprises a substrate, a layer of electroactive material applied to the substrate and a layer of material applied to the electroactive material forming separate active areas whereby signals may be applied to or received from respective areas of the electroactive material,
 wherein the layer of material forming the active areas forms at least three active areas comprising at least two primary active areas and at least one secondary active area, the secondary active area being positioned relative to the two primary active areas such that one or both of the following conditions is provided:   at least one secondary active area can be driven to at least partially offset any net displacement of the panel caused by driving two of the primary active areas; and   the at least one secondary active area can sense vibrations of the panel affecting both of the two primary active areas.