CAPACITIVE MOUSE

• US 20110001703A1
• Filed: 09/13/2010
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
• Inventors: Gillespie, David W., Day, Shawn P., Errington, Andrew M., Shaw, Scott J., Trent, Raymond A. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,035,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0312 for tracking the rotation of a spherical or circular member, e.g. optical rotary encoders used in mice or trackballs using a tracking ball or in mouse scroll wheels tracking relative movement in co-operation with a regularly or irregularly patterned surface, e.g. as in optical mice G06F3/0317; constructional details of scroll or thumb-wheels G06F3/0362; optical rotary encoders G01D5/3473
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts

Abstract

A pointing device some or all of whose elements are made from capacitive sensors. Such elements may include a rotary motion detector which includes a rotating member and a plurality of fixed capacitive detecting members; a rolling ball with patterned conductive surface and a plurality of fixed capacitive detecting members; capacitive touch sensors or capacitive switches to serve as mouse buttons; and a scrolling wheel, knob, or touch surface built from capacitive sensors. The pointing device further includes a capacitance measuring circuit and processor to measure variations of capacitance on the various capacitive elements and to determine the movement of and other activations of the mouse.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

an enclosure, the enclosure including an external surface and a back surface opposite the external surface;

a flexible substrate including a first portion affixed to the back surface, a second portion spatially separate from the first portion, and a bendable portion between the first portion and the second portion;

an array of sensors on the first portion of the flexible substrate, the array of sensors configured to sense objects proximate the external surface; and

a processor mounted to the second portion of the flexible substrate, the processor electrically coupled to the array of sensors, the processor configured to generate an output in response to object motion capacitively detected by the array of sensors.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the external surface comprises a touch surface.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the enclosure includes a first region affixed to the first portion, and wherein the first region is relatively thinner compared to another region of the enclosure adjacent to the first region.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

an adhesive coupling the first portion to the back surface.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate is between the array of sensors and the back surface.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the array of sensors is between the flexible substrate and the back surface.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the array of sensors is formed of conductive ink.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the array of sensors is formed of indium tin oxide.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate comprises a plastic material.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the plastic material comprises polyester.

11. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a backing affixed to the flexible substrate.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the array of sensors comprises a first plurality of sensors arranged in a first axis.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the array of sensors further comprises a second plurality of sensors arranged in a second axis, wherein the array of sensors is configured to sense the object motion in two dimensions.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the output is selected from a set consisting of:

cursor motion, zooming, one-dimensional scrolling, and two-dimensional scrolling.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate the output by:

applying ballistics.

16. A device comprising:

an enclosure, the enclosure including an external surface and a back surface opposite the external surface, wherein the external surface comprises a touch surface;

a flexible substrate including a first portion affixed to the back surface by adhesive, a second portion spatially separate from the first portion, and a bent portion between the first portion and the second portion;

an array of sensors on the first portion of the flexible substrate, the array of sensors configured to sense objects proximate the touch surface in two dimensions; and

a processor mounted to the second portion of the flexible substrate, the processor electrically coupled with the array of sensors, the processor configured to generate an output in response to object motion capacitively detected by the array of sensors.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the flexible substrate is between the array of sensors and the back surface.

18. The device of claim 16, wherein the flexible substrate comprises polyester

19. A method of providing an output using a capacitive device comprising an enclosure, the enclosure including an external surface and a back surface opposite the external surface, a flexible substrate including a first portion affixed to the back surface, a second portion spatially separate from the first portion, and a bent portion between the first portion and the second portion, an array of sensors on the first portion of the flexible substrate configured to sense objects proximate the external surface, and a processor mounted to the second portion of the flexible substrate, the method comprising:

operating the array of sensors to obtain signals;

determining motion of an object proximate to the external surface using the signals;

causing scrolling in response the object moving along a first axis;

causing continued scrolling in response to the object lifting from the external surface with a substantially non-zero speed along the first axis; and

not causing continued scrolling in response the object lifting from the external surface with a substantially zero speed along the first axis.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

decaying the continued scrolling.