ILLUMINATED OPTICAL NAVIGATION MODULE

• US 20110205154A1
• Filed: 02/25/2010
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Lowles, Robert James, Ramrattan, Colin Shiva
• Granted Patent: US 8,937,598 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/157
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• 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 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means

Abstract

A navigation module for a handheld communication device having a navigation pad, a chrome-like ring surrounding the navigation pad, an illumination ring surrounding the navigation pad, and at least one light source is optically coupled to at least the illumination ring. The illumination ring can be interposed between the chrome-like ring and the navigation pad. The chrome-like ring can be interposed between the illumination ring and the navigation pad. The light source can be a light emitting diode.

Claims

1. A navigation module for a handheld communication device, the navigation module comprising:

a navigation pad having a top surface and a bottom surface;

a chrome-like ring surrounding the navigation pad;

an illumination ring surrounding the navigation pad;

at least one light source optically coupled to at least the illumination ring;

a capacitive sensor positioned below the bottom surface of the navigation pad and configured to detect movement of an object above the top surface of the navigation pad in the Z axis in the event the object is within a set range of the top surface of the navigation pad; and

an optical sensor positioned below the bottom surface of the navigation pad and configured to detect movement of the object in at least one of X axis and Y axis in the event the object is in contact with the top surface of the navigation pad.

2. The navigation module of claim 1 wherein the at least one light source is a light emitting diode (LED).

3. The navigation module of claim 1 wherein at least one of the chrome-like ring and the illumination ring is non-conductive vacuum metallization (NCVM).

4. The navigation module of claim 1 wherein the illumination ring and chrome-like ring are positioned with one of the illumination ring being interposed between the chrome-like ring and the navigation pad and the chrome-like ring being interposed between the illumination ring and the navigation pad.

5. The navigation module of claim 1 further comprising a lens between the bottom surface of the navigation pad and the optical sensor.

6. The navigation module of claim 1 further comprising a printed circuit board communicatively coupled to the optical sensor and the capacitive sensor.

7. The navigation module of claim 6 wherein the printed circuit board is communicatively coupled to a microprocessor with the microprocessor communicatively coupled with the optical sensor, the capacitive sensor, and the at least one light source.

8. The navigation module of claim 7 wherein the microprocessor is configured to cause the at least one light source to illuminate.

9. The navigation module of claim 7 wherein the at least one light source is optically coupled to the chrome-like ring and the microprocessor is configured to cause the at least one light source to illuminate.

10. The navigation module of claim 1 further comprising at least one light pipe interposed between at least one light source and the illumination ring.

11. A handheld communication device comprising:

a display;

a keyboard; and

a navigation tool further comprising;

a navigation pad having a top surface and a bottom surface;

a chrome-like ring surrounding the navigation pad;

an illumination ring surrounding the navigation pad;

at least one light source optically coupled to at least the illumination ring;

a capacitive sensor positioned below the bottom surface of the navigation pad and configured to detect movement of an object above the top surface of the navigation pad in the Z axis in the event the object is within the range of the top surface of the navigation pad; and

an optical sensor positioned below the bottom surface of the navigation pad and configured to detect movement of the object in at least one of X axis and Y axis in the event the object is in contact with the top surface of the navigation pad; and

a microprocessor communicatively coupled to the display, keyboard, capacitive sensor, and optical sensor.

12. The handheld communication device of claim 11 wherein the at least one light source is a light emitting diode (LED).

13. The handheld communication device of claim 11 wherein at least one of the chrome-like ring and illumination ring is non-conductive vacuum metallization (NCVM).

14. The handheld communication device of claim 11 wherein the illumination ring and chrome-like ring are positioned with one of the illumination ring being interposed between the chrome-like ring and the navigation pad and the chrome-like ring being interposed between illumination ring and the navigation pad.

15. The handheld communication device of claim 11 further comprising a lens between the bottom surface of the navigation pad and the optical sensor.

16. The handheld communication device of claim 11 further comprising a printed circuit board communicatively coupled to the optical sensor and the capacitive sensor.

17. The handheld communication device of claim 11 wherein the microprocessor is configured to cause the at least one light source to illuminate.

18. The handheld communication device of claim 11 wherein the at least one light source is optically coupled to the chrome-like ring and the microprocessor is configured to cause the at least one light source to illuminate.

19. The handheld communication device of claim 11 wherein the navigation tool further comprises at least one light pipe interposed between at least one light source and the illumination ring.

20. An optical navigation module for a handheld communication device, the optical navigation module comprising:

a navigation pad having a top surface and a bottom surface;

a chrome-like ring surrounding the navigation pad and adapted to illuminate;

at least one light source optically coupled to the chrome-like ring;

a capacitive sensor positioned below the bottom surface of the navigation pad and configured to detect movement of an object above the top surface of the navigation pad in the Z axis in the event the object is within a set range of the top surface of the navigation pad; and

an optical sensor positioned below the bottom surface of the navigation pad and configured to detect movement of the object in at least one of X axis and Y axis in the event the object is in contact with the top surface of the navigation pad.