THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALOG INPUT CONTROL DEVICE
First Claim
1. An input control device for inputting a signal representative of an applied force into a processing system comprising:
- a sensor die comprising;
a substrate;
at least one rigid island element formed in the substrate;
an elastic element surrounding said at least one rigid island element within said substrate;
a frame surrounding said elastic element;
at least one IC component located on the elastic element and responsive to a force applied to the elastic element;
at least one force-transferring element coupled to the rigid island formed in the substrate, wherein a force applied to the force-transferring element is transferred to the rigid island and thereby transferred to the elastic element and to the at least one IC component, such that the at least one IC component produces, in response to the force applied, a signal representative of the force applied; and
at least one electronic circuit coupled to the at least one IC component, where the at least one electronic circuit receives the signal representative of the force applied and in response produces an output signal proportional to the force.
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Abstract
A method and device for one or more dimensional input control of different functions in electronic devices is provided. Certain versions of the Present Invention provide a one or more dimensional input force interface control device for cell phones, portable gamers, digital cameras, and other applications. Certain alternate versions of the Present Invention exhibit one or more of the qualities of smallness, low-cost, high reliability, and/or high stability. Certain still alternate versions of the Present Invention provide a three, two or one-dimensional input finger force control device that (1.) accommodates a required ratio between X, Y and Z sensitivities, (2.) has low cross-axis sensitivity, (3.) allows process integration with other sensors and CMOS, (4.) is scalable, (5.) allows convenient solutions for applying an external force, and/or (6.) allows economic manufacturability for high volume consumer markets.
105 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An input control device for inputting a signal representative of an applied force into a processing system comprising:
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a sensor die comprising; a substrate; at least one rigid island element formed in the substrate; an elastic element surrounding said at least one rigid island element within said substrate; a frame surrounding said elastic element; at least one IC component located on the elastic element and responsive to a force applied to the elastic element; at least one force-transferring element coupled to the rigid island formed in the substrate, wherein a force applied to the force-transferring element is transferred to the rigid island and thereby transferred to the elastic element and to the at least one IC component, such that the at least one IC component produces, in response to the force applied, a signal representative of the force applied; and at least one electronic circuit coupled to the at least one IC component, where the at least one electronic circuit receives the signal representative of the force applied and in response produces an output signal proportional to the force. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An input control device for inputting a signal representative of an applied force into a processing system comprising:
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a sensor die comprising; a substrate; at least one rigid island element formed in the substrate; an elastic element surrounding said at least one rigid island element within said substrate; a frame surrounding said elastic element; at least two IC components located on the elastic element and responsive to a force applied to the elastic element; at least one force-transferring element coupled to the rigid island formed in the substrate, wherein a force applied to the force-transferring element is transferred to the rigid island and thereby transferred to the elastic element and to the at least two IC components, such that each of the at least two IC components produces, in response to the force applied, a respective signal representative of the force applied; and at least one electronic circuit coupled to the at least two IC components to receive the signals representative of the force applied, and where the at least one electronic circuit produces an output signal proportional to at least two components of a force vector representative of the force applied to the at least one force-transferring element. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification