SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING LOW GROUND MASS CONDITIONS IN SENSOR DEVICES
Granted: July 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130173211
A processing system for an input device includes a sensor module and a determination module. The sensor module includes sensor circuitry and is configured to acquire a first plurality of measurements of change in capacitive coupling between each sensor electrode of a first set of sensor electrodes and a second set of sensor electrodes. The sensor module is further configured to acquire a second plurality of measurements of change in capacitive coupling between each sensor electrode of…
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MATHEMATICALLY INDEPENDENT SIGNALING IN GRADIENT SENSOR DEVICES
Granted: July 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130169581
A processing system for an input device includes a transmitter module, a receiver module, and a determination module. The transmitter module is configured to simultaneously drive a first end of a transmitter electrode with a first drive signal and drive a second end of the transmitter electrode with a second drive signal to produce a voltage gradient across the transmitter electrode, wherein the first drive signal and the second drive signal are mathematically independent. The receiver…
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING USER INPUT USING SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION FROM MULTIPLE ELECTRODES
Granted: June 27, 2013
Application Number:
20130162585
The embodiments described herein provide improved sensor devices. In one embodiment, an input device comprises a processing system, transmitter sensor electrodes, and a receiver sensor electrode. The processing system is configured to simultaneously transmit a first transmitter signal with a first transmitter electrode and a second transmitter signal with a second transmitter electrode. In one embodiment the first transmitter signal corresponds to an upper sideband and the second…
DEVICE AND METHOD FOR EMULATING A TOUCH SCREEN USING FORCE INFORMATION
Granted: June 20, 2013
Application Number:
20130155018
Methods, systems and devices are described for operating an electronic system to emulate a touch sensitive interface using a touchpad and a display screen which does not overlap the touchpad. The method includes determining positional information and force information for an input object in a sensing region of the touchpad; positioning an input object representation on the display screen based on the positional information; selecting a user selectable item on the display screen based on…
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A CLICKABLE INPUT DEVICE
Granted: June 20, 2013
Application Number:
20130155017
An input device includes a capacitive sensing device including a plurality of sensor electrodes disposed on a substrate, the capacitive sensing device having an edge region, a support structure, and a separation device coupled to the support structure and the capacitive sensing device. The separation device is configured to allow non-uniform displacement of the capacitive sensing device and activation of a button in response to a force applied to the capacitive sensing device by a user.…
FORCE SENSING INPUT DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING FORCE INFORMATION
Granted: June 20, 2013
Application Number:
20130154948
The embodiments described herein provide devices, systems and methods that facilitate improved performance in an input device. The input device, for example, may include an input surface configured to rotate about a first axis, a proximity sensor configured to sense an input object in a sensing region proximate to the input surface of the input device, a force sensor configured to sense a force applied to the input surface of the input device, and a processing system communicatively…
COMBINED TOUCHPAD AND KEYPAD USING FORCE INPUT
Granted: June 20, 2013
Application Number:
20130154938
Methods, systems and devices are described for determining positional information and force information for input objects using an input device. The various embodiments provide improved user interface functionality by detecting positional information and force information at a sensing surface having a configurable sub-region, and operating the input device in either a touchpad mode or a keypad mode based on whether the force information exceeds a threshold value.
FORCE TOUCH MOUSE
Granted: June 20, 2013
Application Number:
20130154933
Methods, systems and devices are described for operating an electronic device with a mouse, wherein the mouse includes a mouse movement sensor, a force sensor, and an input object position sensor. Operation of the mouse involves generating a first signal representing movement of the mouse relative to a working surface, generating a second signal representing force manually applied to the mouse, generating a third signal based on an input object in a sensing region of the mouse, and…
FLEXIBLE TIMING AND MULTIPLEXING FOR A DISPLAY DEVICE COMPRISING AN INTEGRATED CAPACITIVE SENSING DEVICE
Granted: May 23, 2013
Application Number:
20130127779
Embodiments of the invention generally provide an input device that simultaneously transmits a multiplexed signal across two or more transmitter electrodes used in touch detection. The multiplexed includes two or more component signals that are transmitted on respective electrodes (or channels). The component signals are then decoded and correlated to indicate a positional location of an input object. Various multiplexing schemas—e.g., code division multiplexing, frequency division…
SINGLE SUBSTRATE TOUCH SENSOR
Granted: May 9, 2013
Application Number:
20130113752
The embodiments described herein are related to capacitive input device, including a substrate, a plurality of first sensor electrodes deposited on the substrate and arranged in a first direction, an insulating layer, a plurality of connecting elements deposited on the insulating layer, a plurality of second sensor electrodes. The plurality of second sensor electrodes includes a plurality of sensor electrode elements deposited on the substrate ohmically isolated from the plurality of…
DETERMINING ACTUATION OF MULTI-SENSOR-ELECTRODE CAPACITIVE BUTTONS
Granted: April 25, 2013
Application Number:
20130099805
In a method for determining actuation of a first capacitive button having a first set of at least three sensor electrode elements associated with at least three distinct sensor electrodes, and wherein a sensor electrode element of the first set of sensor electrode elements and a sensor electrode element of a second set of at least three sensor electrode elements of a second capacitive button share at least one sensor electrode in common, indicia is received from the at least three…
INPUT DEVICE WITH FORCE SENSING
Granted: April 25, 2013
Application Number:
20130099802
Devices and methods are provided that facilitate improved input device performance. The devices and methods utilize a first substrate with proximity sensor electrodes and at least a first force sensor electrode disposed on the first substrate. A second substrate is physically coupled to the first substrate, where the second substrate comprises a spring feature and an electrode component. The electrode component at least partially overlaps the first force sensor electrode to define a…
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING A POSITION-BASED ATTRIBUTE OF AN OBJECT USING DIGITAL CODES
Granted: April 18, 2013
Application Number:
20130093725
Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a position-based attribute of a finger, stylus or other object with a touchpad or other sensor having a touch-sensitive region that includes a plurality of electrodes. Modulation signals for one or more electrodes are produced as a function of any number of distinct digital codes. The modulation signals are applied to an associated at least one of the plurality of electrodes to obtain a resultant signal that is electrically…
TOUCH PAD WITH FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE
Granted: March 21, 2013
Application Number:
20130068602
A touch sensor device is provided that uses a flexible circuit substrate to provide an improved input device. Specifically, the present invention uses a touch sensor controller affixed to the flexible circuit substrate, which is coupled to a sensor component to provide a flexible, reliable and cost effective touch sensor suitable for a wide variety of applications. In one embodiment the touch sensor uses a flexible circuit substrate that provides relatively high temperature resistance.…
INPUT DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED DEFORMABLE ELECTRODE STRUCTURE FOR FORCE SENSING
Granted: March 21, 2013
Application Number:
20130068038
Devices and methods are provided that facilitate improved input device performance. The devices and methods utilize a first electrode and a second electrode disposed on a first substrate and a deformable electrode structure. The deformable electrode structure overlaps the first electrode and the second electrode to define a variable capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode that changes with the deformation of the deformable electrode structure. The deformable…
DISTRIBUTED BLANKING FOR TOUCH OPTIMIZATION
Granted: March 7, 2013
Application Number:
20130057512
Embodiments of the invention generally provide an input device with display screens that periodically update (refresh) the screen by selectively driving common electrodes corresponding to pixels in a display line. In general, the input devices drive each electrode until each display line (and each pixel) of a display frame is updated. In addition to updating the display, the input device may perform capacitive sensing using the display screen as a proximity sensing area. To do this, the…
INTERFERENCE SENSING WITHIN A DISPLAY DEVICE WITH AN INTEGRATED SENSING DEVICE
Granted: February 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130050144
Embodiments of the present invention generally provide a method and system for sensing interference in a display device having integrated input sensing. In various embodiments of the invention, input sensing performed on one or more rows of common electrodes may be operated for interference sensing, and, during the blanking period, some or all of the common electrodes may be operated for interference sensing. Interference measurements acquired during blanking periods may be used to…
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VOLTAGE GRADIENT SENSOR DEVICES
Granted: January 31, 2013
Application Number:
20130030740
A processing system for an input device includes a transmitter module, a receiver module, and a determination module. The transmitter module including transmitter circuitry, and is configured to drive a first end of a transmitter electrode such that the transmitter electrode exhibits a first voltage gradient extending from the first end of the transmitter electrode toward a second end of the transmitter electrode, wherein the first voltage gradient comprises a set of substantially…
TRACE SHIELDING FOR INPUT DEVICES
Granted: January 17, 2013
Application Number:
20130016065
Embodiments of the present invention generally provide shield electrodes for shielding one or more conductive routing traces from one or more receiver electrodes in an input device comprising a display device integrated with a sensing device to reduce the capacitive coupling between the conductive routing traces and the receiver electrodes. The shield electrode may be configured to reduce the effect of an input object on the capacitive coupling between the conductive routing traces and…
HIGH VOLTAGE DRIVER USING MEDIUM VOLTAGE DEVICES
Granted: January 3, 2013
Application Number:
20130002149
A voltage drive circuit is constructed by stacking NMOS and PMOS transistors to provide high voltage levels with an output voltage swing greater than the breakdown voltage of the individual transistors used to build the voltage drive circuit. The voltage drive circuit may include a series stack of capacitors connected between gates of the stacked PMOS and NMOS transistors. The capacitive loading causes the gate signals to change more synchronously. Errors in timing for these gate…
