US 11,954,279 B2
Solid-state touch-enabled switch and related method
Andrew Jonathan Wright, Fremont, CA (US); Hao-Yen Tang, San Jose, CA (US); Chien-Te Lee, Zhubei (TW); and Mo Maghsoudnia, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to UltraSense Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by UltraSense Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on May 1, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/310,055.
Application 18/310,055 is a continuation of application No. 17/960,945, filed on Oct. 6, 2022, granted, now 11,662,850.
Application 17/960,945 is a continuation of application No. 17/713,894, filed on Apr. 5, 2022, granted, now 11,481,062, issued on Oct. 25, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/309,879, filed on Feb. 14, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0266839 A1, Aug. 24, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06F 3/01 (2006.01); G06F 3/041 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/0414 (2013.01) [G06F 3/016 (2013.01); G06F 3/0416 (2013.01)] 29 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A solid-state switch for an external system, comprising:
a cover member;
at least two transducers including a first solid-state transducer and a second transducer, the first solid-state transducer being mechanically coupled to the cover member and configured to generate first signals in response to a perturbation at the cover member, the second transducer being configured to generate second signals;
a microcontroller configured to obtain (1) first data from the first signals and (2) second data from the second signals and determine user inputs in accordance with at least the first data, the second data, and an operational state of the solid-state switch;
a user feedback device; and
a switching circuit;
wherein:
the user feedback device is configured to be powered by a power supply via the switching circuit;
the user feedback device is configured to provide feedback to a user of the solid-state switch in accordance with a switching behavior of the switching circuit;
the microcontroller is couplable by a digital bus to a master controller of the external system; and
the switching behavior of the switching circuit is determined in accordance with either one or both of the following: (a) commands from the master controller to the microcontroller, and (b) the user inputs as determined by the microcontroller.