Body position sensing for equipment
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device, comprising:
- a receiving surface for positioning at least one human body part on a first side of the receiving surface;
a plurality of capacitive sensor elements disposed on a second side of the receiving surface, corresponding to at least one location on the first side;
a sense circuit coupled to the capacitive sensor elements, the sense circuit configured to generate digital values representative of the capacitance sensed by the capacitive sensor elements;
a process circuit configured to compare the digital values to threshold values, wherein the threshold values indicate proximity of at least a portion of the at least one human body part to the capacitive sensor elements, the process circuit further configured to generate an indication signal when the digital values exceed the threshold values; and
an indicator configured to receive the indication signal from the sense circuit and generate a notification when the position of the at least one human body part relative to the receiving surface corresponds with the at least one location on the receiving surface.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device that includes a receiving surface for positioning at least one human body part, multiple capacitive sensor elements disposed within multiple positioning areas on the receiving surface, a sense circuit configured to compare the capacitance measurements of the sensor elements with threshold capacitance values and generate a signal when the capacitance measurements indicate proximity of a human body part on a positioning area, and an indicator configured to generate a notification when the position of the human body part corresponds with at least one location on the receiving surface.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A device, comprising:
-
a receiving surface for positioning at least one human body part on a first side of the receiving surface; a plurality of capacitive sensor elements disposed on a second side of the receiving surface, corresponding to at least one location on the first side; a sense circuit coupled to the capacitive sensor elements, the sense circuit configured to generate digital values representative of the capacitance sensed by the capacitive sensor elements; a process circuit configured to compare the digital values to threshold values, wherein the threshold values indicate proximity of at least a portion of the at least one human body part to the capacitive sensor elements, the process circuit further configured to generate an indication signal when the digital values exceed the threshold values; and an indicator configured to receive the indication signal from the sense circuit and generate a notification when the position of the at least one human body part relative to the receiving surface corresponds with the at least one location on the receiving surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A circuit, comprising:
-
a capacitance sense section coupled to a plurality of capacitive sensor elements disposed on a second side of a receiving surface corresponding to at least one location on a first side of the receiving surface, the location configured for positioning at least one conductive element thereon, wherein the capacitance sense section is configured to generate digital values representative of the capacitance sensed by the capacitive sensor elements; a memory circuit; a process circuit configured to compare the digital values to threshold values stored in the memory circuit, wherein the threshold values indicate proximity of at least a portion of the at least one conductive element to the capacitive sensor elements, the process circuit is further configured to generate an indication signal when at least one digital value exceeds the corresponding threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method, comprising:
-
disposing a plurality of capacitance sensors on a second side of a receiving surface corresponding to at least one location on a first side of the receiving surface, the location configured for positioning at least one human body part element thereon; defining at least one threshold value, wherein the threshold values indicate proximity of at least a portion of the at least one human body part to the capacitive sensor elements; generating digital values representative of the capacitance sensed by the capacitive sensor elements; comparing the digital values with the corresponding threshold values for each capacitance sensor; generating an indication signal if the digital values exceed the threshold values; transmitting the indication signal to an indicator; and transmitting an indication by the indicator when the position of the at least one human body part relative to the receiving surface corresponds with the at least one location on the receiving surface. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
Specification