Circular touch sensor
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A touch sensor, comprising:
- multiple sensor pads arranged about a center point in an iris pattern, where each sensor pad has at least one associated edge that spirals about the center point to a boundary; and
circuitry coupled to the sensor pads to detect contact to one or more of the sensor pads.
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Abstract
A circular touch sensor has three or more sensors arranged in an iris pattern. Each pad is defined by continuous edges that spiral outward about a center point. The unique geometric shape allows measurement of relative amounts of contact on adjoining sensors. In one implementation, the sensors measure relative capacitance of two or more sensors, thereby enabling high precision identification of the point of contact. With as few as three pads, the circular touch sensor is less expensive than traditional 12-pad to 16-pad circular sensors.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A touch sensor, comprising:
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multiple sensor pads arranged about a center point in an iris pattern, where each sensor pad has at least one associated edge that spirals about the center point to a boundary; and
circuitry coupled to the sensor pads to detect contact to one or more of the sensor pads. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A pad assembly for a touch sensor, comprising:
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N sensor pads arranged about a center point; and
each sensor pad defining approximately 1/N of a contact region defined by first and second boundaries, where the second boundary is farther from the center point than the first boundary, and said each sensor pad having at least one associated edge that originates at the first boundary and spirals about the center point through the contact region to the second boundary. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A device, comprising:
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a processor; and
a circular touch sensor coupled to provide user input controls to the processor, the circular touch sensor comprising;
multiple sensor pads arranged about a center point; and
each sensor pad having at least one associated edge that originates at a first boundary and spirals about the center point to a second boundary, where the second boundary is farther from the center point than the first boundary.
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Specification