Two element slider with guard sensor
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- measuring a capacitance value associated with each of a plurality of conductive traces, each of the plurality of conductive traces having a first end and a second end, wherein at least one of the plurality of conductive traces has a greater surface area near the first end than near the second end;
measuring a capacitance value associated with a guard sensor trace;
determining whether to process a detected user action as user input based on a comparison between the capacitance value associated with the guard sensor trace and a capacitance value associated with at least one of the plurality of conductive traces;
processing the user action as the user input, the processing including;
determining that a ratio from the capacitance values associated with each of the plurality of conductive traces is within one of a plurality of ratio ranges stored in a memory; and
identifying a location of the user input on the plurality of conductive traces, wherein the location corresponds to the one ratio range of the plurality of ratio ranges that the ratio is determined to be within.
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Abstract
A method for using a slider-based capacitive sensor to implement a user interface having discrete buttons. Button locations are designated on a slider-based capacitive sensor having at least two conductive traces such that a user input at any button location results in a capacitance change in the conductive traces. Locations of inputs are distinguishable by ratios between the capacitance changes of the conductive traces, which can be correlated to a particular button location. Ratio ranges corresponding to areas covered by each button are used to identify which button has received an input.
26 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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measuring a capacitance value associated with each of a plurality of conductive traces, each of the plurality of conductive traces having a first end and a second end, wherein at least one of the plurality of conductive traces has a greater surface area near the first end than near the second end; measuring a capacitance value associated with a guard sensor trace; determining whether to process a detected user action as user input based on a comparison between the capacitance value associated with the guard sensor trace and a capacitance value associated with at least one of the plurality of conductive traces; processing the user action as the user input, the processing including; determining that a ratio from the capacitance values associated with each of the plurality of conductive traces is within one of a plurality of ratio ranges stored in a memory; and identifying a location of the user input on the plurality of conductive traces, wherein the location corresponds to the one ratio range of the plurality of ratio ranges that the ratio is determined to be within. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to receive capacitance values measured from each of a plurality of conductive traces and a guard sensor trace, each of the plurality of conductive traces having a first end and a second end, wherein at least one of the plurality of conductive traces has a greater surface area near the first end than near the second end, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to process a detected user action as user input based on a comparison between the capacitance value associated with the guard sensor trace and a capacitance value associated with at least one of the plurality of conductive traces, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether a ratio from the received capacitance values from each of the plurality of conductive traces is within one of a plurality of ratio ranges stored in a memory, the processor further configured to use the one of the plurality of ratio ranges to identify the user input location on the plurality of conductive traces, wherein the user input location corresponds with the one ratio range of the plurality of ratio ranges that the ratio from the received capacitance values is determined to be within. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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determining that a detected action is capacitive sensor array input; detecting a presence of an input on one of a plurality of input locations on a capacitive sensor array comprising a plurality of slider sensor elements and a guard sensor element, wherein determining that the detected action is capacitive sensor array input is based on a comparison between a capacitance value associated with the guard sensor element and a capacitance value associated with at least one of the plurality of slider sensor elements; and discriminating among the plurality of input locations on the capacitive sensor array, wherein each of the plurality of input locations corresponds to a different capacitance ratio range stored in a memory. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification