Capacitive mouse
First Claim
1. A rotary motion detector comprising:
- a rotating member, said rotating member including only one electrically conductive pattern of conductive material;
a capacitance detecting means operatively coupled to said rotating member said capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means operatively coupled to said capacitance detecting means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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.
-
Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, said rotating member including only one electrically conductive pattern of conductive material;
a capacitance detecting means operatively coupled to said rotating member said capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means operatively coupled to said capacitance detecting means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member;
a capacitance detecting means operatively coupled to said rotating member said capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means operatively coupled to said capacitance detecting means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements, said capacitance measuring circuit produces varying capacitance measurements for said processing means, said processing means uses said varying capacitance measurements to measure the motion of said rotating member to greater resolution than the size of said capacitance detecting members. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
-
-
23. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member;
a capacitance detecting means operatively coupled to said rotating member said capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, wherein said rotating member is electrically connected via physical contact to said capacitance measuring circuit, and said capacitance detecting means measures capacitance between said rotating member and said capacitance detecting members; and
processing means operatively coupled to said capacitance detecting means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements. - View Dependent Claims (24)
-
-
25. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member;
a capacitance detecting means operatively coupled to said rotating member, said capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means operatively coupled to said capacitance detecting means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements, wherein said processing means combines the capacitance measurements from said capacitance detecting member to compensate for variations in distance between said capacitance detecting member and said rotating member.
-
-
26. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, wherein said rotating member includes an electrically conductive notched pattern that is electrically grounded;
a capacitance detecting means operatively coupled to said rotating member said capacitance detecting means comprising a plurality of fixed capacitance detecting members and a capacitance measuring circuit that measures the variations of capacitance on said capacitance detecting members, and processing means operatively coupled to said capacitance detecting means to determine the movement of said rotating member based on said capacitance measurements.
-
-
27. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, said rotating member including spaced apart conductive regions disposed along a locus of points defined by a radius from the center of the rotating member, spaced apart conductive regions being electrically grounded;
at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces capacitively coupled to said spaced apart regions of said rotating member;
a capacitance measuring circuit operatively coupled to said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces; and
a processor operatively coupled to said capacitance measuring circuit.
-
-
28. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, said rotating member including spaced apart conductive regions disposed along a locus of points defined by a radius from the center of the rotating member;
at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces capacitively coupled to said spaced apart regions of said rotating member;
a capacitance measuring circuit operatively coupled to said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces; and
a processor operatively coupled to said capacitance measuring circuit, wherein said processor combines capacitance measurements from said capacitance measuring circuit to compensate for variations in distance between said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces and said rotating member.
-
-
29. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, said rotating member including spaced apart conductive regions disposed along a locus of points defined by a radius from the center of the rotating member;
at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces capacitively coupled to said spaced apart regions of said rotating member;
a capacitance measuring circuit operatively coupled to said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces; and
a processor operatively coupled to said capacitance measuring circuit, wherein said capacitance measuring circuit produces varying capacitance measurements for said processor and said processor uses said varying capacitance measurements to measure the motion of said rotating member to greater resolution that the size of said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces.
-
-
30. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, said rotating member including spaced apart conductive regions disposed along a locus of points defined by a radius from the center of the rotating member;
at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces capacitively coupled to said spaced apart regions of said rotating member;
a capacitance measuring circuit operatively coupled to said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces, wherein said rotating member is electrically connected via physical contact to said capacitance measuring circuit, and said capacitance measuring circuit measures capacitance between said rotating member and said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces; and
a processor operatively coupled to said capacitance measuring circuit.
-
-
31. A rotary motion detector comprising:
-
a rotating member, said rotating member including spaced apart conductive regions disposed along a locus of points defined by a radius from the center of the rotating member;
at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces capacitively coupled to said spaced apart regions of said rotating member;
a capacitance measuring circuit operatively coupled to said at least two spaced apart conductive surfaces, wherein said rotating member and said capacitance measuring circuit are connected to electrical ground; and
a processor operatively coupled to said capacitance measuring circuit.
-
Specification