PROXIMITY SENSOR DEVICE AND METHOD WITH SUBREGION BASED SWIPETHROUGH DATA ENTRY
Granted: November 26, 2009
Application Number:
20090289902
A touch sensor device and method is provided that facilitates improved device usability. Specifically, the device and method provide improved user interface functionality by facilitating quick and easy data entry using proximity sensors with limited space. The electronic device includes a processing system and a sensor adapted to detect strokes in a sensing region. The device is adapted to provide user interface functionality by defining a plurality of subregions in the sensing region…
PROXIMITY SENSOR DEVICE AND METHOD WITH SWIPETHROUGH DATA ENTRY
Granted: November 26, 2009
Application Number:
20090288889
A touch sensor device and method is provided that facilitates improved device usability. Specifically, the touch screen device and method provide user interface functionality while reducing the possibility of inadvertent activation of certain functions. The touch screen device comprises a proximity sensor adapted to detect object presence in a sensing region, a display screen overlapping the sensing region, and a processing system. The touch screen device is adapted to provide user…
FINGER/STYLUS TOUCH PAD
Granted: November 19, 2009
Application Number:
20090283342
A touch pad module to implement user input functions to an electronic device is disclosed. The touch pad module includes a sensor layer which, when used in conjunction with an insulative layer and contiguous conductive layer enable the touch pad module to sense both finger and stylus input data to the electronic device.
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROL OF MULTIPLE DEGREES OF FREEDOM OF A DISPLAY
Granted: November 12, 2009
Application Number:
20090278812
A method for controlling multiple degrees of freedom of a display using a single contiguous sensing region of a sensing device is disclosed. The single contiguous sensing region is separate from the display. The method comprises: detecting a gesture in the single contiguous sensing region; causing rotation about a first axis of the display if the gesture is determined to comprise multiple input objects concurrently traveling along a second direction; causing rotation about a second axis…
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING A CAPACITANCE BY TRANSFERRING CHARGE FROM A FIXED SOURCE
Granted: September 10, 2009
Application Number:
20090224776
A touch sensor device and method is provided that determines measurable capacitances for object detection. The systems and methods measure capacitance by controllably transferring charge from a storage capacitor, and determining the measurable capacitance by measuring the residual voltage remaining on the storage capacitor after the transfer. The systems and methods thus provide an accurate determination of the measurable capacitance that can be used for object proximity sensing.
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GUARDING A CHARGE TRANSFER CAPACITANCE SENSOR FOR PROXIMITY DETECTION
Granted: August 20, 2009
Application Number:
20090206852
Methods, systems and devices are described for determining a measurable capacitance for proximity detection in a sensor having a plurality of sensing electrodes and at least one guarding electrode. A charge transfer process is executed for at least two executions. The charge transfer process includes applying a pre-determined voltage to at least one of the plurality of sensing electrodes using a first switch, applying a first guard voltage to the at least one guarding electrode using a…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTENDED ADJUSTMENT BASED ON RELATIVE POSITIONING OF MULTIPLE OBJECTS CONTEMPORANEOUSLY IN A SENSING REGION
Granted: August 13, 2009
Application Number:
20090201261
A touch sensor device and method is provided that facilitates improved device usability. Specifically, the device and method provide improved user interface functionality by facilitating extended parameter adjustment using proximity sensor devices. The device includes a processing system and a sensor adapted to detect objects in a sensing region. The device is adapted to provide user interface functionality by determining a measurement descriptive of a location of a first object relative…
POSITION SENSOR
Granted: July 23, 2009
Application Number:
20090184940
A low-cost x-y digitizing system for use in consumer electronic devices, such as portable digital assistants, mobile telephones, web browsers and the like. The digitizer includes a resonant stylus, an excitation winding for energizing the resonant stylus and a set of sensor windings for sensing the signal generated by the stylus, from which the x-y position of the stylus is determined. A novel stylus design is described together with novel digitizer windings and novel excitation and…
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING A CAPACITANCE USING SWITCHED CHARGE TRANSFER TECHNIQUES
Granted: July 9, 2009
Application Number:
20090174416
Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using charge transfer techniques. According to various embodiments, a charge transfer process is performed for two or more times. During the charge transfer process, a pre-determined voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance, and the measurable capacitance is then allowed to share charge with a filter capacitance through a passive impedance that remains coupled to both the measurable capacitance and…
HANDHELD COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONFERENCE CALL INITIATION
Granted: February 26, 2009
Application Number:
20090054107
A handheld communication device and method is provided that facilitates improved device usability. The handheld communication device and method uses a touch screen interface, where the touch screen comprises a proximity sensor adapted to detect object motion in a sensing region, a display screen overlapping the sensing region, and a processor. The touch screen is adapted to provide user interface functionality on the communication device by facilitating the display of user interface…
PROXIMITY SENSOR DEVICE AND METHOD WITH ACTIVATION CONFIRMATION
Granted: February 26, 2009
Application Number:
20090051660
A touch sensor device and method is provided that facilitates improved device usability. Specifically, the touch screen device and method provide user interface functionality while reducing the possibility of inadvertent activation of certain functions. The touch screen device comprises a proximity sensor adapted to detect object presence in a sensing region, a display screen overlapping the sensing region, and a processor. The touch screen device is adapted to provide user interface…
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING A CAPACITANCE USING SIGMA-DELTA MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
Granted: February 12, 2009
Application Number:
20090039902
Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques. According to various embodiments, a voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance using a first switch. The measurable capacitance is allowed to share charge with a passive network. If the charge on the passive network is past a threshold value, then the charge on the passive network is changed by a known amount for a sufficient number of repetitions until the…
CAPACITIVE TOUCH SENSOR WITH CONDUCTIVE TRACE LINES IN BONDING REGION
Granted: February 12, 2009
Application Number:
20090040191
Methods and apparatus are provided for a capacitive touch sensor including a circuit substrate (which may be a flexible substrate) having a touch sensor controller coupled to a plurality of contacts through a plurality of conductive traces. The contacts are formed on a first (bottom) side of the circuit substrate while the conductive traces are formed on a second (top) side of the circuit substrate, but are ohmically (electrically) coupled to the contacts through the use of conductive…
INPUT DEVICE AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL TRACKBALL OPERATION
Granted: January 15, 2009
Application Number:
20090015559
Input devices and methods are provided in which a sensing system is adapted to detect motion of an object on a surface and a processing system is coupled to the sensing system. The processing system is adapted to effect movement of a display pointer on a display in a first direction in response to motion of the object on the surface and effect continued movement of the display pointer in the first direction in response to the object being removed from the surface.
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INITIATING ONE-DIMENSIONAL SIGNALS WITH A TWO-DIMENSIONAL POINTING DEVICE
Granted: January 15, 2009
Application Number:
20090015566
Scrolling or other user interface functions are provided in response to two-dimensional inputs produced by a touchpad or other input device. The user initially touches the touch sensor in an area near a periphery of the touch sensor and moves his or her finger along the periphery of the device, and then provides a subsequent motion of the finger across the touch sensor in a direction that departs from the periphery. The amount of scrolling produced on the computing system may be…
TOUCH PAD WITH FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE
Granted: January 1, 2009
Application Number:
20090002339
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.…
PROXIMITY SENSOR DEVICE AND METHOD WITH KEYBOARD EMULATION
Granted: November 20, 2008
Application Number:
20080284736
A proximity sensor device and method is provided that facilitates improved device usability by providing a at least one control function prior to the specialized host software loading, and then switch to provide full range of functionality when the specialized host software has been loaded. In one embodiment, the proximity sensor device comprises a proximity sensor adapted to detect object presence and a controller configured to output simulated keyboard information and output object…
PROXIMITY SENSOR AND METHOD FOR INDICATING A DISPLAY ORIENTATION CHANGE
Granted: November 20, 2008
Application Number:
20080284738
A proximity sensor device and method is provided that facilitates orientation changes in displays. The proximity sensor device and method provide a user with the ability to indicate an orientation change in a display using the sensing region of a proximity sensor device as a user interface. In one specific embodiment, proximity sensor device is implemented to indicate an orientation change in a first way responsive to detected object motion along the sensing region in a first direction,…
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CHANGING THE APPEARANCE OF A POSITION SENSOR WITH A LIGHT EFFECT
Granted: August 14, 2008
Application Number:
20080192026
Systems and methods for detecting a position of an object in a sensing region are disclosed. One system includes a position sensor having an opaque capacitive proximity sensor, a light source, and a light conductor coupled to the light source and at least partially disposed over the opaque sensor, the light conductor configured to transmit at least a portion of the light from the light source to generate driven light effects in the sensing region. The system further includes a processor…
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SWITCHED CHARGE TRANSFER CAPACITANCE MEASURING USING SHARED COMPONENTS
Granted: May 22, 2008
Application Number:
20080116904
Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using charge transfer techniques that can be implemented with many standard microcontrollers, and can share components to reduce device complexity and improve performance. In the various implementations of this embodiment, the passive network used to accumulate charge can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. Likewise, in various implementations a voltage conditioning circuit configured to…
