Single layer capacitive imaging sensors
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A capacitive image sensor, comprising:
- a plurality of sensor electrodes that are disposed within a sensing region, wherein the sensing region includes a plurality of unit cells of a sensing pattern, and wherein a subset of the sensor electrodes comprises;
a first sensor electrode disposed on a first surface of a substrate and coupled to a first trace disposed outside the first sensor electrode;
a second sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate and coupled to a second trace disposed outside the second sensor electrode; and
a third sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate, wherein the third sensor electrode partially encloses the first sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the first sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the first sensor electrode is disposed and partially encloses the second sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the second sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the second sensor electrode is disposed, and at least a portion of the third sensor electrode is disposed between the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode,wherein, within the sensing region, no jumper is coupled to any of the plurality of sensor electrodes,wherein the first trace and the second trace travel through openings in the third sensor electrode, andwherein the first trace and the second trace do not cross the third sensor electrode.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention generally provide an input device that includes a plurality of sensing elements that are interconnected in desired way to acquire positional information of an input object, so that the acquired positional information can be used by other system components to control a display or other useful system components. One or more of the embodiments described herein, utilizes one or more of the techniques and sensor electrode array configuration disclosed herein to reduce or minimize the number of traces and/or electrodes required to sense the position of an input object within a sensing region of the input device.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A capacitive image sensor, comprising:
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a plurality of sensor electrodes that are disposed within a sensing region, wherein the sensing region includes a plurality of unit cells of a sensing pattern, and wherein a subset of the sensor electrodes comprises; a first sensor electrode disposed on a first surface of a substrate and coupled to a first trace disposed outside the first sensor electrode; a second sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate and coupled to a second trace disposed outside the second sensor electrode; and a third sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate, wherein the third sensor electrode partially encloses the first sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the first sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the first sensor electrode is disposed and partially encloses the second sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the second sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the second sensor electrode is disposed, and at least a portion of the third sensor electrode is disposed between the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, wherein, within the sensing region, no jumper is coupled to any of the plurality of sensor electrodes, wherein the first trace and the second trace travel through openings in the third sensor electrode, and wherein the first trace and the second trace do not cross the third sensor electrode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A capacitive image sensor, comprising:
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a plurality of sensor electrodes that are disposed within a sensing region, wherein the sensing region includes a plurality of unit cells of a sensing pattern, and wherein a subset of the sensor electrodes comprises; a first sensor electrode disposed on a first surface of a substrate and coupled to a first trace disposed outside the first sensor electrode; a second sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate and coupled to a second trace disposed outside the second sensor electrode; and a third sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate, wherein the third sensor electrode is disposed between the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, the third sensor electrode partially encloses the first sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the first sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the first sensor electrode is disposed and partially encloses the second sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the second sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the second sensor electrode is disposed, and the third sensor electrode is interdigitated with the first sensor electrode and interdigitated with the second sensor electrode, wherein, within the sensing region, no jumper is coupled to any of the plurality of sensor electrodes, wherein the first trace and the second trace travel through openings in the third sensor electrode, and wherein the first trace and the second trace do not cross the third sensor electrode. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A touch screen, comprising:
a plurality of sensor electrodes disposed on a substrate within a sensing region, wherein the sensing region includes a plurality of unit cells of a sensing pattern, and wherein a subset of the plurality of sensor electrodes comprises; a first sensor electrode disposed on a first surface of the substrate and coupled to a first trace disposed outside the first sensor electrode; a second sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate and coupled to a second trace disposed outside the second sensor electrode; and a third sensor electrode disposed on the first surface of the substrate, wherein the third sensor electrode partially encloses the first sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the first sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the first sensor electrode is disposed and partially encloses the second sensor electrode by being disposed around a periphery of the second sensor electrode and by having opposing portions between which a centroid of the second sensor electrode is disposed, and at least a portion of the third sensor electrode is disposed between the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode; and a sensor processor communicatively coupled to the first, second and third sensor electrodes, and configured to receive resulting signals received by the third sensor electrode when either the first or second sensor electrode is driven for capacitive sensing, wherein the sensor processor comprises a first receiver channel coupled to the third receiver electrode, wherein, within the sensing region, no jumper is coupled to any of the plurality of sensor electrodes, wherein the first trace and the second trace travel through openings in the third sensor electrode, and wherein the first trace and the second trace do not cross the third sensor electrode. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
Specification