System and method for optically detecting a click event

• US 20040234107A1
• Filed: 05/19/2003
• Published: 11/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avago Technologies ECBU IP Singapore Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Machida, Akihiro, Baharav, Izhak
• Granted Patent: US 7,313,255 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0338 Fingerprint track pad, i.e. fingerprint sensor used as pointing device tracking the fingertip image
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1423 the instrument generating sequences of position coordinates corresponding to handwriting preprocessing or recognising digital ink G06V30/32

Abstract

An imaging system captures a sequence of images representing finger lift-up and finger put-down motions over a sensing area and produces an image signal for use in detecting a click event. At least one light source illuminates a finger interface upon which a user places a finger (or thumb). Light reflected from the finger is captured by an image sensor as image data corresponding to the sequence of images. At least one image signal is produced in connection with or based on the image data. The image signal is used to detect a finger lift-up or finger put-down motion. A click, such as a single click, double click or triple click, is detected based on a combination of finger lift-up and finger put-down motions within a configurable time range.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a finger click motion, comprising:

receiving an image signal associated with an image of a portion of a human finger within a sensing area of an optical sensor; and

analyzing said image signal to determine whether said image signal is indicative of a finger click motion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said analyzing comprises:

performing a comparison between said image signal and a previously received image signal to determine whether the difference between said image signal and said previously received image signal is indicative of a finger click motion.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said analyzing comprises:

performing a comparison between said image signal and a threshold value to determine whether said image signal is indicative of a finger click motion.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said analyzing said image signal is performed to detect a finger lift-up motion indicating motion of the portion of the human finger away from the sensing area of the optical sensor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said analyzing said image signal is performed to detect a finger put-down motion indicating motion of the portion of the human finger towards the sensing area of the optical sensor.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a finger click motion based on said image signal; and

repeating said receiving and said analyzing for at least one additional image until an additional finger click motion is detected.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said detecting said finger click motion is performed to detect a finger lift-up motion indicating motion of the portion of the human finger away from the sensing area of the optical sensor and said repeating is performed to detect a finger put-down motion indicating motion of the portion of the tip of the human finger towards the sensing area of the optical sensor, and said method further comprises:

detecting a single click event when detection of said finger lift-up motion is followed by detection of said finger put-down motion within a configurable time range.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said detecting said single click event further comprises:

determining a time difference between a time said finger lift-up motion is detected and a time said finger put-down motion is detected;

detecting said single click event when said time difference is within said configurable time range.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

detecting a multiple click event including two or more single click events detected within a configurable multiple click time range.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said image signal is a tracking quality signal measuring the tracking quality of the image.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said image signal is a shutter speed signal specifying the shutter speed used to capture the image.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said image signal is a unidirectionality signal measuring the correspondence between the image and a surface pattern indicator.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing image data representing a sequence of images resulting from motion of the portion of the human finger within the sensing area of the optical sensor in a selected mode of operation, said selected mode of operation being a finger navigation mode, a finger recognition mode or a stylus mode.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

providing click information associated with the detection of the finger click motion; and

selecting said selected mode of operation using said click information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said processing further comprises:

processing said image data using said click information.

16. An imaging system, comprising:

a finger interface having a sensing area on a surface thereof against which at least a portion of a human finger may be placed;

a light source for emitting light to illuminate the portion of the human finger placed against the surface of the finger interface; and

an optical image sensor for capturing light reflected from the portion of the human finger as an image thereof and producing an image signal associated with the image for use in detecting a finger click motion.

17. The imaging system of claim 16, further comprising:

an image processing system connected to receive said image signal and analyze said image signal to determine whether said image signal is indicative of a finger click motion, said image processing system further for outputting click information indicating the detection of said finger click motion.

18. The imaging system of claim 17, wherein said image processing system is further configured to receive and analyze at least one additional image signal associated with at least one additional image to detect an additional finger click motion.

19. The imaging system of claim 18, wherein said image processing system is further configured to detect said finger click motion including a finger lift-up motion indicating motion of the portion of the human finger away from the sensing area of the optical sensor and detect said additional finger click motion including a finger put-down motion indicating motion of the portion of the tip of the human finger towards the sensing area of the optical sensor, and wherein said image processing system is further configured to detect a single click event when said detected finger lift-up motion is followed by said detected finger put-down motion within a configurable time range.

20. The imaging system of claim 19, wherein said image processing system further comprises:

a timer for measuring the time between the detection of said finger lift-up motion and the detection of said finger put-down motion, said single click event being detected when said time measured by said timer is within said configurable time range.

21. The imaging system of claim 19, wherein said image processing system is further configured to detect a multiple click event including two or more single click events detected within a configurable multiple click time range.

22. The imaging system of claim 21, wherein said image processing system further comprises:

a timer configured to measure an elapsed time between consecutive detected single click events, said multiple click being detected when said elapsed time measured by said timer is within said configurable multiple click time range.

23. The imaging system of claim 17, wherein said image processing system is further configured to operate in a selected mode of operation, said selected mode of operation being a finger navigation mode, a finger recognition mode or a stylus mode.

24. The imaging system of claim 23, further comprising:

a mode switch for selecting said selected mode of operation using said click information.

25. The imaging system of claim 17, wherein said image processing system is further configured to process image data representing a sequence of images resulting from motion of motion of the portion of the human finger within the sensing area of said optical sensor using said click information.

26. The imaging system of claim 16, wherein said image signal is a tracking quality signal measuring the tracking quality of the image, a shutter speed signal specifying the shutter speed used to capture the image or a unidirectionality signal measuring the correspondence between the image and a surface pattern indicator.