US 12,189,899 B2
Touch sensing with water rejection
Andrew William Shorten, San Jose, CA (US); Sai Zhang, Santa Clara, CA (US); Andreas Johannes Koeberl, San Francisco, CA (US); Eric S. Winokur, San Francisco, CA (US); Liqun Yang, Shanghai (CN); Sabino Joseph Pietrangelo, II, Mountain View, CA (US); Branislav Jovanovic, San Francisco, CA (US); and Ari Y. Benbasat, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 25, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/448,879.
Application 17/448,879 is a continuation of application No. 16/786,921, filed on Feb. 10, 2020, granted, now 11,157,109.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/897,118, filed on Sep. 6, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0011920 A1, Jan. 13, 2022
Int. Cl. G06F 3/041 (2006.01); G06F 3/01 (2006.01); G06F 3/044 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/04186 (2019.05) [G06F 3/017 (2013.01); G06F 3/044 (2013.01); G06F 2203/04104 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a cover substrate;
a touch sensor panel comprising a plurality of touch nodes that are configured to be driven with a first stimulation signal; and
one or more conductors disposed between the cover substrate and the housing and electrically insulated from the housing, wherein the one or more conductors are configured to be biased at a first potential in a first mode of touch operation and driven with a second stimulation signal in a second mode of touch operation.
 
13. A method comprising:
at an electronic device comprising a housing, a cover substrate, a touch sensor panel comprising a plurality of touch nodes that are configured to be driven with a first stimulation signal, and one or more conductors disposed between the cover substrate and the housing and electrically insulated from the housing:
biasing the one or more conductors at a first potential in a first mode of touch operation; and
driving the one or more conductors with a second stimulation signal in a second mode of touch operation to shield one or more objects contacting the cover substrate from capacitively coupling to ground through the housing.
 
17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by an electronic device comprising a housing, a cover substrate, a touch sensor panel comprising a plurality of touch nodes that are configured to be driven with a first stimulation signal, and one or more conductors disposed between the cover substrate and the housing and electrically insulated from the housing, cause the electronic device to:
bias the one or more conductors at a first potential in a first mode of touch operation; and
drive the one or more conductors with a second stimulation signal in a second mode of touch operation to shield one or more objects contacting the cover substrate from capacitively coupling to ground through the housing.