Disclosed are four arrangements for providing tactility on a touch surface keyboard. One approach is to provide tactile feedback mechanisms, such as dots, bars, or other shapes on all or many keys. In another embodiment, an articulating frame may be provided that extends when the surface is being used in a typing mode and retracts when the surface is used in some other mode, e.g., a pointing mode. The articulating frame may provide key edge ridges that define the boundaries of the key regions or may provide tactile feedback mechanisms within the key regions. The articulating frame may also be configured to cause concave depressions similar to mechanical key caps in the surface. In another embodiment, a rigid, non-articulating frame may be provided beneath the surface. A user will then feel higher resistance when pressing away from the key centers, but will feel a softer resistance at the key center. The inventor is Carl lWayne Westerman.

Seven other patents have also appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here's a summary of each.

Patent number 20090314621 is for a brick layout and stackup for a touch screen. A touch sensor panel is disclosed having an array of co-planar single-layer touch sensors fabricated on a single side of a substrate. The sense (or drive) lines can be fabricated in a single strip as columnar or zig-zag patterns in a first orientation, and the drive (or sense) lines can be fabricated as rows of polygonal (e.g. brick-shaped or pentagonal) conductive areas in a second orientation. Each sense (or drive) line in the first orientation can be coupled to a separate metal trace in the border area of the touch sensor panel, and each polygonal area in the second orientation can also be coupled to a metal trace in the border area of the touch sensor panel. The metal traces can allow both the row and column lines to be routed to the same edge of the substrate for flex circuit attachment. The inventor is Steve Porter Hotelling.

Patent number 20090316944 is for an in-the-ear porting structures for an earbug. Systems, apparatus and methods are discussed for controlling resonance in in-the-ear headphones. Resonance effects resulting from wave reflection and superposition can occur in the cavity formed by the port tube of an earbud and the wearer's ear canal. In this invention, acoustically resistive structures are provided to create sound diffusion in the cavity. In one embodiment, a spring coil with several adjustable parameters is inserted into the port tube. In another embodiment, a pattern of grooves is carved into the inner surface of the port tube. Porous filters can also be used in conjunction with both of the embodiments described above. The result of providing the resistive structures in an earbud is a flattened cavity frequency response and improved sound quality. The inventors are Victor M. Tiscareno and Kurt Stiehl.

Patent number 20090319886 involves techniques for extracting modifications to a web page. Embodiments of a method for modifying a document, which may be performed by a system, are described. During operation, the system receives a selection of a subset of content in a first document. Note that the subset of the content may include one or more objects, and the selection may specify one or more positions of the one or more objects in the first document. Then, the system receives additional content associated with the selected subset. Next, the system generates a second document that includes the one or more positions associated with the subset of the content and the additional content. The inventor is Martin J. Murrett.

Patent number 20090319567 is for a system and method of data management using a structure to propagate changes to referenced objects. A system, method, and computer-readable medium for data management are disclosed, the method comprising changing original data in an original referenced object to create a changed referenced object having changed data, in response to the changing, performing the following for a referencing object that references the original referenced object. The inventors are Jeffrey Max Frazier, Stuart Brevard Russell and Michael John Brenner.

Patent number 20090319769 is for a discrete key generation method and apparatus. The patent involves a computer enabled secure method and apparatus for generating a cryptographic key, to be used in a subsequent cryptographic process, where the key is to be valid only for example during a specified time period. The method uses a polynomial function which is a function of an input variable such as time, and dynamically computes the key from the polynomial. This is useful for generating decryption keys used for distribution of encrypted content, where the decryption is to be allowed only during a specified time period. The inventors are Pierre Betouin, Mathieu Ciet and Augustin J. Farrugia.

Patent number 20090315411 involves a momentarily enabled electronic device. The patent is for a circuit or apparatus for providing intermittent or interruptible power to an electronic device. The circuit may provide power upon user initiation and interrupt that power in response to a user command, fault state, period of inactivity and so forth. As one example, interruptible power may be initially provided to activate or "power up" an electronic device and constant power provided after the initial activation. The initial powering up of the device may be facilitated by closing two contacts. The circuit may continue to provide power after the button is released through a monitoring and/or feedback mechanism. The inventor is John M. Depew.

Patent number 20090316359 involves a heat mechanism including a liquid-metal thermal coupling. Embodiments of a heat-transfer mechanism are described. This heat-transfer mechanism includes a first heatpipe having a first end and a second end, and a second heatpipe having a third end and a fourth end. Moreover, a heatpipe coupler is thermally coupled to the second end of the first heatpipe and the third end of the second heatpipe. This heatpipe coupler includes a housing surrounding a cavity and a liquid metal contained within the cavity, thereby providing a thermal path from the first end of the first heatpipe, which is configured to couple to a condenser, to the fourth end of the second heatpipe, which is configured to couple to an evaporator. The inventors are Richard Lidio Blanco and Douglas L. Heirich.

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