CAPACITIVE SENSING AND ABSOLUTE POSITION MAPPING IN DISPLACEMENT TYPE POINTING DEVICES
First Claim
1. An input apparatus, comprising:
- a sense system comprising a spatial arrangement of sense electrodes and at least one drive electrode;
a displaceable member movable in an operational zone over the sense system and comprising a conductive coupling element operable to capacitively couple signals from the at least one drive electrode to ones of the sense electrodes underlying the conductive coupling element;
a measurement system coupled to the sense electrodes and operable to generate measurement signals indicative of amounts of overlap between the conductive coupling element and ones of the sense electrodes; and
a processing system coupled to the measurement system and operable to produce from the measurement signals an output signal with information conveying motion measures corresponding to absolute positions of the conductive coupling element in the operational zone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A displaceable member moves in an operational zone over a sense system that includes a spatial arrangement of sense electrodes and at least one drive electrode. A conductive coupling element of the displaceable member capacitively couples signals from the at least one drive electrode to ones of the sense electrodes underlying the conductive coupling element. A measurement system generates measurement signals indicating amounts of overlap between the conductive coupling element and ones of the sense electrodes. A processing system produces from the measurement signals an output signal with information conveying motion measures corresponding to absolute positions of the conductive coupling element in the operational zone. At least one regional sense electrode may include discrete electrically conducting sensing elements distributed across a respective region of the operational zone. The drive electrode may include discrete electrically conducting sensing elements interspersed among the sensing elements of the at least one regional sense electrode.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An input apparatus, comprising:
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a sense system comprising a spatial arrangement of sense electrodes and at least one drive electrode; a displaceable member movable in an operational zone over the sense system and comprising a conductive coupling element operable to capacitively couple signals from the at least one drive electrode to ones of the sense electrodes underlying the conductive coupling element; a measurement system coupled to the sense electrodes and operable to generate measurement signals indicative of amounts of overlap between the conductive coupling element and ones of the sense electrodes; and a processing system coupled to the measurement system and operable to produce from the measurement signals an output signal with information conveying motion measures corresponding to absolute positions of the conductive coupling element in the operational zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An input apparatus, comprising:
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a sense system comprising a spatial arrangement of regional sense electrodes in respective regions of an operational zone and at least one drive electrode, wherein at least one of the regional sense electrodes comprises discrete electrically conducting sensing elements distributed across a respective one of the regions of the operational zone, and the drive electrode comprises discrete electrically conducting sensing elements interspersed among the sensing elements of the at least one regional sense electrode; and a displaceable member movable in an operational zone over the sense system and comprising a conductive coupling element operable to capacitively couple signals from the at least one drive electrode to ones of the sense electrodes underlying the conductive coupling element. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An input method, comprising:
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in response to movement of a displaceable member in an operational zone over a spatial arrangement of sense electrodes and at least one drive electrode, generating measurement signals indicative of amounts of overlap between a conductive coupling element of the displaceable member and ones of the sense electrodes; and producing from the measurement signals an output signal with information conveying motion measures corresponding to absolute positions of the conductive coupling element in the operational zone. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification