Capacitive proximity sensor configuration including a speaker grille

• US 9,477,440 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Calatayud, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): McNally, Kerri
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dorsey, Renee
• Application Number:
  US14/806,922
• Publication Number:
  US 20150324167A1
• Time in Patent Office: 460 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1688 the I/O peripheral being integrated loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/182 with special features, e.g. for use in industrial environments; grounding or shielding against radio frequency interference [RFI] or electromagnetical interference [EMI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/02 manually operated with input through keyboard and computation using a built-in program, e.g. pocket calculators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03 Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/941 using an optical detector H03K17/968 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/955 using a capacitive detector
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2017/9602 characterised by the type or shape of the sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94036 Multiple detection, i.e. where different switching signals are generated after operation of the user is detected at different time instants at different locations during the actuation movement by two or more sensors of the same or different kinds
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/960755 Constructional details of capacitive touch and proximity switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8113 comprising music, e.g. song in MP3 format
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/023 : Screens for loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/003 : Digital PA systems using, e.g. LAN or internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/005 : Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 : Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/11 : by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/115 : by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 : Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An example embodiment includes a playback device that includes a capacitive proximity sensor; one or more speakers; a conductive speaker grille; and a control system that decouples a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor from the conductive speaker grille while the one or more speakers are rendering audio and couples the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to the conductive speaker grille while the one or more speakers are not rendering audio.

Claims

1. A playback device comprising:

a capacitive proximity sensor;

a conductive speaker grille;

one or more processors; and

a data storage having stored therein instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the playback device to perform operations comprising;

causing a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to the conductive speaker grille;

determining that the playback device will be rendering audio; and

responsively causing the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be decoupled from the conductive speaker grille while the playback device is rendering audio.

2. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the playback device has stopped rendering audio; and

responsively causing the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to the conductive speaker grille.

3. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the playback device has stopped rendering audio; and

responsively causing a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to an RF antenna and the conductive speaker grille.

4. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

causing a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to an RF antenna while the playback device is rendering audio.

5. The playback device of claim 4, wherein the RF antenna is mounted orthogonally to the speaker grille.

6. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive proximity sensor; and

responsively causing a control area of the playback device to be illuminated.

7. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive proximity sensor; and

responsively caching audio content in a data storage of the playback device.

8. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive proximity sensor; and

responsively enabling an audio stage of the playback device such that an amplifier component of the audio stage is configured to produce amplified audio signals.

9. The playback device of claim 1, wherein determining that the playback device will be rendering audio comprises anticipating that the playback device will be rendering content.

10. The playback device of claim 1, wherein anticipating that the playback device will be rendering content comprises detecting input data indicating a command to initiate playback on the playback device;

and wherein responsively causing the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be decoupled from the conductive speaker grille while the playback device is rendering audio comprises before initiating playback on the playback device, decoupling the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor from the conductive speaker grille.

11. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the conductive speaker grille comprises a metal speaker grille.

12. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the conductive speaker grille comprises a conductive fabric.

13. A method comprising:

causing, by a playback device, a grounding plane of a capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to a conductive speaker grille of the playback device;

determining that the playback device is rendering audio; and

responsively causing the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be decoupled from the conductive speaker grille while the playback device is rendering audio.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining that the playback device has stopped rendering audio; and

responsively causing the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to the conductive speaker grille.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining that the playback device has stopped rendering audio; and

responsively causing a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to an RF antenna and the conductive speaker grille.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

causing a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to be coupled to an RF antenna while the playback device is rendering audio.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive proximity sensor; and

responsively causing a control area of the playback device to be illuminated.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive proximity sensor; and

responsively caching audio content in a data storage of the playback device.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive proximity sensor; and

responsively enabling an audio stage of the playback device such that an amplifier component of the audio stage is configured to produce amplified audio signals.

20. A playback device comprising:

a capacitive proximity sensor;

one or more speakers;

a conductive speaker grille; and

a control system that decouples a grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor from the conductive speaker grille while the one or more speakers are rendering audio and couples the grounding plane of the capacitive proximity sensor to the conductive speaker grille while the one or more speakers are not rendering audio.