Contamination detection in touch based sensor arrays
First Claim
1. A touch based control system for a device, said touch based control system comprising:
- a first sensor and a second sensor proximate said first sensor, at least one of said first and second sensors including a touch sensitive area associated therewith; and
a controller coupled to said first and second sensors and monitoring detected activations of said first and second sensors, and wherein said controller is configured to distinguish between an activation resulting from a touch to said touch sensitive area and an activation resulting from contamination between said first and second sensors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A touch based control system for a device includes a first sensor and a second sensor proximate the first sensor. At least one of the first and second sensors includes a touch sensitive area associated therewith. A controller is coupled to the first and second sensors. The controller monitors detected activations of the first and second sensors. The controller is configured to distinguish between an activation resulting from a touch to the touch sensitive area and an activation resulting from contamination between the first and second sensors. Further, a method for detecting contamination in a sensor array is provided that includes selecting a sensor as the active sensor, pulsing the selected sensor, and if a response is detected during the pulse to the selected sensor, the pulse to the selected sensor is repeated and the non-selected sensors are checked for a response after the pulse.
26 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A touch based control system for a device, said touch based control system comprising:
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a first sensor and a second sensor proximate said first sensor, at least one of said first and second sensors including a touch sensitive area associated therewith; and a controller coupled to said first and second sensors and monitoring detected activations of said first and second sensors, and wherein said controller is configured to distinguish between an activation resulting from a touch to said touch sensitive area and an activation resulting from contamination between said first and second sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for detecting contamination in a touch based sensor array, the method comprising:
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selecting a sensor as the active sensor; pulsing the selected sensor; checking for a response from the selected sensor during the pulse; repeating the pulse to the selected sensor when a response is detected during the pulse; checking for a response from a non-selected sensor after the pulse to the selected sensor; and giving a notification of contamination between the selected and non-selected sensors when a response is detected from the non-selected sensor after the pulse to the selected sensor. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification