OPTICAL INFORMATION INPUT DEVICE, ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH OPTICAL INPUT FUNCTION, AND OPTICAL INFORMATION INPUT METHOD

• US 20110043826A1
• Filed: 08/06/2010
• Published: 02/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Kiyose, Kanechika
• Application Number:
  US12/851,822
• Publication Number:
  US 20110043826A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/614
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/03 by measuring coordinates of points
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/24 for measuring contours or curvatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421

Abstract

An optical information input device adapted to optically detect a position of an object matter in an input area, includes: a first coordinate detection section adapted to detect a first coordinate corresponding to a position of the object matter in a first X-Y plane, which is an imaginary plane in the input area; a second coordinate detection section adapted to detect a second coordinate corresponding to a position of the object matter in a second X-Y plane, which is an imaginary plane distant from the first X-Y plane in a Z direction in the input area; and a three-dimensional information generation section adapted to generate three-dimensional information of the object matter based on the first coordinate and the second coordinate.

Claims

1. An optical information input device adapted to optically detect a position of an object matter in an input area, comprising:

a first coordinate detection section adapted to detect a first coordinate corresponding to a position of the object matter in a first X-Y plane, which is an imaginary plane in the input area;

a second coordinate detection section adapted to detect a second coordinate corresponding to a position of the object matter in a second X-Y plane, which is an imaginary plane distant from the first X-Y plane in a Z direction in the input area; and

a three-dimensional information generation section adapted to generate three-dimensional information of the object matter based on the first coordinate and the second coordinate.

2. The optical information input device according to claim 1 further comprising:

a position detection light source adapted to emit a position detection light beam to be applied to the object matter in the input area to thereby form a light intensity distribution of the position detection light beam in the first X-Y plane and the second X-Y plane;

a first light detector having a light receiving section facing to the first X-Y plane; and

a second light detector having a light receiving section facing to the second X-Y plane.

3. The optical information input device according to claim 2 further comprising:

a light guide plate adapted to take in the position detection light beam emitted from the position detection light source, and then emit the position detection light beam toward the input area.

4. The optical information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the three-dimensional information generation section includes a three-dimensional movement information generation section adapted to generate three-dimensional movement information corresponding to a motion of the object matter as the three-dimensional information based on a temporal variation of the first coordinate and a temporal variation of the second coordinate.

5. The optical information input device according to claim 4, wherein

the three-dimensional movement information generation section includes at least one of

a first movement information generation section adapted to generate first movement information corresponding to a movement of the object matter in the first X-Y plane as the three-dimensional movement information,

a second movement information generation section adapted to generate second movement information corresponding to a movement of the object matter in the second X-Y plane as the three-dimensional movement information,

a third movement information generation section adapted to generate third movement information corresponding to a movement direction when the object matter moves in the Z direction as the three-dimensional movement information, and

a fourth movement information generation section adapted to generate fourth movement information corresponding to a variation of a tilt of the object matter in the input area as the three-dimensional movement information.

6. The optical information input device according to claim 4, wherein

the three-dimensional movement information generation section includes a gesture information generation section adapted to specify the motion of the object matter as one of a plurality of gesture patterns based on the three-dimensional movement information to generate gesture information corresponding to the motion of the object matter.

7. The optical information input device according to claim 1, wherein

the three-dimensional information generation section includes a tilt information generation section adapted to generate tilt information corresponding to a tilt of the object matter in the input area based on the first coordinate and the second coordinate.

8. An electronic device, comprising:

the optical information input device according to claim 1;

an electronic device main body; and

a control section adapted to make the electronic device main body perform operations different from each other based on the three-dimensional information.

9. An optical information input method adapted to optically detect a position of an object matter in an input area, comprising:

generating a first coordinate corresponding to a position of the object matter in a first X-Y plane, which is an imaginary plane in the input area, and a second coordinate corresponding to a position of the object matter in a second X-Y plane, which is an imaginary plane distant from the first X-Y plane in a Z direction in the input area; and

generating three-dimensional information of the object matter based on the first coordinate and the second coordinate.