EXTENDED PROXIMITY SENSOR DEVICE WITH ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE PROTECTION
First Claim
1. A sensing device comprising:
- a substrate;
a plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes disposed on the substrate;
an electrostatic discharge (ESD) shunt disposed on the substrate, the ESD shunt having an associated first resistance; and
an extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode having an associated second resistance, the second resistance substantially greater than the first resistance such that an electrostatic discharge at a first exposed location would be attracted to the ESD shunt via a first potential discharge path to the ESD shunt instead of the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode via a second potential discharge path to the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, where the first potential discharge path is longer than the second potential discharge path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An input device is provided with improved electrostatic discharge protection. Specifically, the input device includes a plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes configured for object detection. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) shunt is disposed near the capacitive sensing electrodes and configured to provide ESD protection to the capacitive sensing electrodes. The input device also includes an extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode configured to for object detection of relatively distant objects. The ESD shunt has an associated first resistance, and the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode has an associated second resistance. The second resistance is greater than the first resistance such that an electrostatic discharge at a first exposed location would be attracted to the ESD shunt via a first potential discharge path instead of being attracted to the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode via a second potential discharge path, where the first discharge path is longer than the second discharge path.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sensing device comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes disposed on the substrate; an electrostatic discharge (ESD) shunt disposed on the substrate, the ESD shunt having an associated first resistance; and an extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode having an associated second resistance, the second resistance substantially greater than the first resistance such that an electrostatic discharge at a first exposed location would be attracted to the ESD shunt via a first potential discharge path to the ESD shunt instead of the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode via a second potential discharge path to the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, where the first potential discharge path is longer than the second potential discharge path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A sensing device configured to be in an assembly comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes disposed on the substrate; an electrostatic discharge (ESD) shunt disposed on the substrate, the ESD shunt having an associated first resistance, where the first resistance comprises a resistance between a location on the ESD shunt and a system ground; a first exposed location, the first exposed location being a location that would be exposed after assembly, the first exposed location having an associated first discharge path to the ESD shunt; and an extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode having an associated second discharge path from the first exposed location, the first discharge path longer than the second discharge path, the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode having an associated second resistance, where the second resistance comprises a resistance between a location on the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode and a processor, the second resistance greater than the first resistance such that an electrostatic discharge at the first exposed location would be more attracted to the ESD shunt via the first discharge path than to the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode via the second discharge path. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An electronic system comprising:
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a system housing; a substrate, the substrate configured to be physically coupled with the system housing; a plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes disposed on the substrate; an electrostatic discharge (ESD) shunt disposed on the substrate, the ESD shunt having an associated first resistance; a first exposed location, the first exposed location corresponding to a vulnerability in the system housing such that the first exposed location is subject to electrostatic discharge, the first exposed location having an associated first discharge path to the ESD shunt; an extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode having an associated second discharge path from the first exposed location, wherein the first discharge path is longer than the second discharge path, and wherein the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode has an associated second resistance, the second resistance greater than the first resistance such that an electrostatic discharge at the first exposed location would be attracted to the ESD shunt via the first discharge path instead of the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode via the second discharge path; and a processor physically coupled to the substrate, coupled to the plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes, and coupled to the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode, the processor configured to detect capacitances using the plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes and the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode.
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Specification