Two-dimensional position sensor
First Claim
1. A two dimensional position sensor comprising:
- a touch-sensitive area defined by a single-layer electrode pattern arranged on one side of a substrate, the electrode pattern having a lateral extent in a first direction and a longitudinal extent in a second direction transverse thereto, the electrode pattern comprising;
at least three electrode units extending row-wise over the touch-sensitive area longitudinally offset from one another, each electrode unit comprising;
a drive electrode laterally extending across the touch-sensitive area; and
at least three sense electrodes which collectively laterally extend across the touch-sensitive area and individually each occupy a non-overlapping range of the lateral extent, the sense electrodes of each particular electrode unit being longitudinally offset from the drive electrode of the particular electrode unit so that an edge of each sense electrode lies adjacent to an edge of the drive electrode, the edges of the sense and drive electrodes being separated by a gap dimensioned so that in use each pair of drive and sense electrodes capacitively couple across the gap, wherein;
the sense electrodes comprise one or more rectangular shapes; and
at least one sense electrode occupies a different lateral width from one or more other sense electrodes of the same electrode unit, the different lateral width of the at least one sense electrode being non-overlapping in the lateral extent with lateral widths of the one or more other sense electrodes of the same electrode unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A two dimensional position sensor having a touch-sensitive panel defined by a single-layer electrode pattern arranged on one side of a substrate. The electrode pattern is made up of ‘n’ electrode units extending row-wise over the panel. Each electrode unit is made up of a single drive electrode extending across the touch-sensitive area of the panel and a plurality of ‘m’ sense electrodes, which collectively laterally extend across the touch-sensitive area and individually each occupy only a portion of the lateral extent. The sense electrodes are longitudinally offset from their associated drive electrode so that one edge of each sense electrode lies adjacent to one edge of the drive electrode, these coupling edges being separated by a gap dimensioned so that in use each pair of drive and sense electrodes have efficient capacitively coupling across the gap. This electrode pattern allows the longitudinal extent of each electrode unit to be made relatively small, which in turn is better for sensing multiple simultaneous touches, since this benefits from having more electrode units in any given panel.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A two dimensional position sensor comprising:
a touch-sensitive area defined by a single-layer electrode pattern arranged on one side of a substrate, the electrode pattern having a lateral extent in a first direction and a longitudinal extent in a second direction transverse thereto, the electrode pattern comprising; at least three electrode units extending row-wise over the touch-sensitive area longitudinally offset from one another, each electrode unit comprising; a drive electrode laterally extending across the touch-sensitive area; and at least three sense electrodes which collectively laterally extend across the touch-sensitive area and individually each occupy a non-overlapping range of the lateral extent, the sense electrodes of each particular electrode unit being longitudinally offset from the drive electrode of the particular electrode unit so that an edge of each sense electrode lies adjacent to an edge of the drive electrode, the edges of the sense and drive electrodes being separated by a gap dimensioned so that in use each pair of drive and sense electrodes capacitively couple across the gap, wherein; the sense electrodes comprise one or more rectangular shapes; and at least one sense electrode occupies a different lateral width from one or more other sense electrodes of the same electrode unit, the different lateral width of the at least one sense electrode being non-overlapping in the lateral extent with lateral widths of the one or more other sense electrodes of the same electrode unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A two dimensional position sensor comprising:
a touch-sensitive area defined by a single-layer electrode pattern arranged on one side of a substrate, the electrode pattern having a lateral extent in a first direction and a longitudinal extent in a second direction transverse thereto, the electrode pattern comprising; at least three electrode units extending column-wise over the touch-sensitive area laterally offset from one another, each electrode unit comprising; a sense electrode longitudinally extending down the touch-sensitive area; and at least three drive electrodes which collectively longitudinally extend down the touch-sensitive area and individually each occupy a non-overlapping range of the longitudinal extent, the drive electrodes of each particular electrode unit being laterally offset from the sense electrode of the particular electrode unit so that an edge of each drive electrode lies adjacent to an edge of the sense electrode, the edges of the sense and drive electrodes being separated by a gap dimensioned so that in use each pair of drive and sense electrodes capacitively couple across the gap, wherein; the drive electrodes comprise one or more rectangular shapes; and at least one drive electrode occupies a different longitudinal height from one or more other drive electrodes of the same electrode unit, the different longitudinal height of the at least one drive electrode being non-overlapping in the longitudinal extent with longitudinal heights of the one or more other drive electrodes of the same electrode unit. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method comprising:
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identifying, by a processor coupled to a capacitance measurement circuit, a sensing element having a largest capacitance signal value, the sensing element identified from a plurality of sensing elements, each sensing element comprising a drive and a sense electrode from a particular electrode unit of a plurality of electrode units, each electrode unit comprising; a drive electrode laterally extending across a touch-sensitive area of a two-dimensional touch-sensitive capacitive position sensor, the touch-sensitive area defined by a single-layer electrode pattern arranged on one side of a substrate, the electrode pattern having a lateral extent in a first direction and a longitudinal extent in a second direction transverse thereto; and at least three sense electrodes which collectively laterally extend across the touch-sensitive area and individually each occupy a non-overlapping range of the lateral extent, the sense electrodes of each particular electrode unit being longitudinally offset from the drive electrode of the particular electrode unit so that an edge of each sense electrode lies adjacent to an edge of the drive electrode, the edges of the sense and drive electrodes being separated by a gap dimensioned so that in use each pair of drive and sense electrodes capacitively couple across the gap, wherein; the sense electrodes comprise one or more rectangular shapes; and at least one sense electrode occupies a different lateral width from one or more other sense electrodes of the same electrode unit, the different lateral width of the at least one sense electrode being non-overlapping in the lateral extent with lateral widths of the one or more other sense electrodes of the same electrode unit; defining, by the processor, a region of the touch-sensitive area including the sensing element having the largest capacitance signal value and one or more neighboring sensing elements; identifying and defining, by the processor, one or more further sensing elements and regions respectively, wherein each iteration excludes capacitance signal values from consideration if they lie in previously defined regions of the touch-sensitive area; and outputting, by the processor, data indicating coordinates of single or multiple touch locations on the touch-sensitive area in each region identified.
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22. A method comprising:
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identifying, by a processor coupled to a capacitance measurement circuit, a sensing element having a largest capacitance signal value, the sensing element identified from a plurality of sensing elements, each sensing element comprising a drive and a sense electrode from a particular electrode unit of a plurality of electrode units, each electrode unit comprising; a sense electrode longitudinally extending down a touch-sensitive area of a two-dimensional touch-sensitive capacitive position sensor, the touch-sensitive area defined by a single-layer electrode pattern arranged on one side of a substrate, the electrode pattern having a lateral extent in a first direction and a longitudinal extent in a second direction transverse thereto; and at least three drive electrodes which collectively longitudinally extend down the touch-sensitive area and individually each occupy a non-overlapping range of the longitudinal extent, the drive electrodes of each particular electrode unit being laterally offset from the sense electrode of the particular electrode unit so that an edge of each drive electrode lies adjacent to an edge of the sense electrode, the edges of the sense and drive electrodes being separated by a gap dimensioned so that in use each pair of drive and sense electrodes capacitively couple across the gap, wherein; the drive electrodes comprise one or more rectangular shapes; and at least one drive electrode occupies a different longitudinal height from one or more other drive electrodes of the same electrode unit, the different longitudinal height of the at least one drive electrode being non-overlapping in the longitudinal extent with longitudinal heights of the one or more other drive electrodes of the same electrode unit; defining, by the processor, a region of the touch-sensitive area including the sensing element having the largest capacitance signal value and one or more neighboring sensing elements; identifying and defining, by the processor, one or more further sensing elements and regions respectively, wherein each iteration excludes capacitance signal values from consideration if they lie in previously defined regions of the touch-sensitive area; and outputting, by the processor, data indicating coordinates of single or multiple touch locations on the touch-sensitive area in each region identified.
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Specification