Input device with deflectable electrode
First Claim
1. An input device for capacitively sensing input objects in a sensing region, comprising:
- a set of sensor electrodes comprising;
a transmitter sensor electrode, anda receiver sensor electrode, wherein the transmitter sensor electrode is capacitively coupled to the receiver sensor electrode to form a transcapacitance;
a first deflectable electrode and a second deflectable electrode overlapping at least a portion of the set of sensor electrodes,wherein the first deflectable electrode is separated by an insulator from the second deflectable electrode,wherein the first deflectable electrode is configured, when capacitively coupled with an input object, to produce an electrical ground in the input device,wherein the insulator is configured to prevent a grounding effect at the second deflectable electrode when the second deflectable electrode is not capacitively coupled with the input object, andwherein deflection of the first deflectable electrode and the second deflectable electrode toward the set of sensor electrodes is configured to cause a change in the transcapacitance; and
a deformable layer overlapping the set of sensor electrodes and configured to facilitate the change in the transcapacitance in response to a pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode, andwherein the change in the transcapacitance corresponds to an amount of pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Devices and methods are provided that facilitate improved input device performance. The devices and methods utilize a set of sensor electrodes comprising at least one transmitter sensor electrode and at least one receiver sensor electrode that are capacitively coupled to form a transcapacitance for capacitively sensing input objects in a sensing region. A measure of the transcapacitance may be used to determine positional information for the input objects in the sensing region. In accordance with the various embodiments, the devices and methods additionally utilize at least one deflectable electrode, where the deflectable electrode is electrically floating. The deflectable electrode is configured to be deflectable toward the set of sensor electrodes, where the deflection causes a change in the transcapacitance.
65 Citations
34 Claims
-
1. An input device for capacitively sensing input objects in a sensing region, comprising:
-
a set of sensor electrodes comprising; a transmitter sensor electrode, and a receiver sensor electrode, wherein the transmitter sensor electrode is capacitively coupled to the receiver sensor electrode to form a transcapacitance; a first deflectable electrode and a second deflectable electrode overlapping at least a portion of the set of sensor electrodes, wherein the first deflectable electrode is separated by an insulator from the second deflectable electrode, wherein the first deflectable electrode is configured, when capacitively coupled with an input object, to produce an electrical ground in the input device, wherein the insulator is configured to prevent a grounding effect at the second deflectable electrode when the second deflectable electrode is not capacitively coupled with the input object, and wherein deflection of the first deflectable electrode and the second deflectable electrode toward the set of sensor electrodes is configured to cause a change in the transcapacitance; and a deformable layer overlapping the set of sensor electrodes and configured to facilitate the change in the transcapacitance in response to a pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode, and wherein the change in the transcapacitance corresponds to an amount of pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. An input device for capacitively sensing input objects in a sensing region, comprising:
-
a set of sensor electrodes comprising; a transmitter sensor electrode, and a receiver sensor electrode, wherein the transmitter sensor electrode is capacitively coupled to the receiver sensor electrode to form a transcapacitance; a substrate; and a first deflectable electrode and a second deflectable electrode disposed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the first deflectable electrode is separated by an insulator from the second deflectable electrode, wherein the first deflectable electrode is configured, when capacitively coupled with an input object, to produce an electrical ground in the input device, wherein the insulator is configured to prevent a grounding effect at the second deflectable electrode when the second deflectable electrode is not capacitively coupled with the input object, wherein deflection of the first deflectable electrode and the second deflectable electrode toward the set of sensor electrodes is configured to cause a change in the transcapacitance, wherein the first substrate comprises a deformable layer overlapping the set of sensor electrodes, the deformable layer being configured to facilitate the change in the transcapacitance in response to a pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode, and wherein the change in the transcapacitance corresponds to an amount of pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. An input device for capacitively sensing input objects in a sensing region, comprising:
-
a set of sensor electrodes comprising; a set of transmitter sensor electrodes; and a set of receiver sensor electrodes, wherein each transmitter sensor electrode in the set of transmitter sensor electrodes is capacitively coupled to at least one receiver sensor electrode in the set of receiver sensor electrodes to form a set of transcapacitances; and a first deflectable electrode and a second deflectable electrode that overlaps at least a portion of the set of sensor electrodes, wherein the first deflectable electrode is separated by an insulator from the second deflectable electrode, wherein the first deflectable electrode is configured, when capacitively coupled with an input object, to produce an electrical ground in the input device, wherein the insulator is configured to prevent a grounding effect at the second deflectable electrode when the second deflectable electrode is not capacitively coupled with the input object, and wherein deflection of the first deflectable electrode and the second deflectable electrode toward the set of sensor electrodes is configured to cause a change in at least one of the set of transcapacitances; a deformable layer overlapping the set of sensor electrodes and configured to facilitate the change in the at least one of the set of transcapacitances in response to a pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode; and a processing system coupled to the set of sensor electrodes and configured to determine measures of the set of transcapacitances, the processing system further configured to determine positional information for the input object in the sensing region based on the measures of the set of transcapacitances, and determine pressure information for the input object applying pressure to the first deflectable electrode, the pressure information based upon a magnitude of the change in at least one of the measures of the set of transcapacitances. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A method for determining user input on a device, comprising:
-
driving signals onto a set of transmitter sensor electrodes in the device; receiving, while an input object capacitively couples with a first deflectable electrode, signals on a set of receiver sensor electrodes in the device, wherein the first deflectable electrode is separated by an insulator from a second deflectable electrode, wherein the first deflectable electrode produces an electrical ground in the device, wherein the insulator prevents a ground effect at the second deflectable electrode when the second deflectable electrode is not capacitively coupled with the input object, wherein deflection of the first deflectable electrode toward the set of transmitter sensor electrodes causes a change in at least one of a set of transcapacitances, and further wherein a deformable layer overlaps the sets of transmitter and receiver sensor electrodes, the deformable layer being configured to facilitate the change in the at least one of the set of transcapacitances in response to a pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode; determining a measure of the set of transcapacitances from the received signals, wherein the measure of the set of transcapacitances corresponds to the pressure applied to the first deflectable electrode; determining, from the measure of the set of transcapacitances, a magnitude of change in the set of transcapacitances, wherein the magnitude of change satisfies a predetermined threshold level; and determining an amount of pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode based on the magnitude of change. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A processing system configured to:
-
drive signals onto a set of transmitter sensor electrodes in an input device; receive, while an input object capacitively couples with a first deflectable electrode, signals on a set of receiver sensor electrodes in the input device, wherein the first deflectable electrode is separated by an insulator from a second deflectable electrode, wherein the first deflectable electrode produces an electrical ground in the input device, wherein the insulator prevents a ground effect at the second deflectable electrode when the second deflectable electrode is not capacitively coupled with the input object, wherein deflection of the first deflectable electrode toward the set of transmitter sensor electrodes causes a change in at least one of a set of transcapacitances, and further wherein a deformable layer overlaps the sets of transmitter and receiver sensor electrodes, the deformable layer being configured to facilitate the change in the at least one of the set of transcapacitances in response to a pressure applied by the input object to the first deflectable electrode; determine a measure of the set of transcapacitances from the received signals, wherein the measure of the set of transcapacitances corresponds to the pressure applied to the at least one deflectable electrode; determine, from the measure of the set of transcapacitances, a magnitude of change in the set of transcapacitances, wherein the magnitude of change satisfies a predetermined threshold level; and determine an amount of pressure applied by the input object to the at least one deflectable electrode based on the magnitude of change. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
-
Specification