Rotatable crown for an electronic device

• US 10,551,798 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2017
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Bushnell, Tyler S., Clavelle, Adam T., Werner, Christopher M., Ely, Colin M., Sweet, Stephen N., Moorthy, Sriram, Peng, Huan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kayes, Sean P
• Application Number:
  US15/597,145
• Time in Patent Office: 994 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/1655 more than one point of contact or actuation on one or more tracks
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/2412 by varying overlap
• CPC Class Codes: G04B 3/04 Rigidly-mounted keys, knobs or crowns jointed winding-stem G04B37/06
• CPC Class Codes: G04C 3/002 Position, e.g. inclination dependent switches
• CPC Class Codes: G04C 3/008 Mounting, assembling of components
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/00 Input or output devices integrated in time-pieces

Abstract

A compact crown for an electronic device such as an electronic watch, including a set of wipers capable of determining a rotation angle, rotation direction, or rotation speed, is disclosed. The set of wipers is in contact with at least one resistance member at different angular positions around a rotation axis. The crown may have a group of ground taps disposed along the resistance member and a measured signal may vary based on the position of each wiper as it contacts the at least one resistance member. A compact crown may also include capacitive members and capacitive sensors in order to similarly determine rotation angle, rotation direction, or rotation speed.

Claims

1. An electronic watch, comprising:

a housing;

a crown at least partially positioned within the housing and configured to receive rotational and translational input, and comprising;

a shaft;

a resistance member; and

a set of wipers affixed to the shaft and operative to travel along the resistance member during rotation of the shaft, the set of wipers providing an output based on multiple contact points between the set of wipers and the resistance member;

a display positioned at least partially within the housing and configured to depict a graphic in response to at least one of the rotational input or the translational input;

an analog-to-digital converter electrically connected to the set of wipers, the analog-to-digital converter configured to provide a digital output corresponding to the output; and

a processor configured to determine an angular position, a direction of rotation, or a speed of rotation of the shaft using the digital output, and to manipulate the graphic in response to the determined angular position, the direction of rotation, or the speed of rotation;

wherein

each wiper divides a resistance of the resistance member at each contact point, and a voltage at each contact point of the multiple contact points varies in response to rotation of the shaft.

2. The electronic watch of claim 1, wherein:

the resistance member is circular;

the resistance member has a constant resistance along its circumference; and

the set of wipers maintains constant contact with the resistance member.

3. The electronic watch of claim 1, wherein:

the resistance member comprises a first segment and a second segment separated by a ground tap;

the set of wipers comprises a first wiper and a second wiper; and

during rotation of the shaft, the first wiper divides the first segment at a first contact point of the multiple contact points while the second wiper divides the second segment at a second contact point.

4. The electronic watch of claim 3, wherein a first resistance of the first segment is equal to a second resistance of the second segment.

5. The electronic watch of claim 3, wherein:

the first segment has a constant resistance; and

the first contact point defines, in the first segment, two portions having a cumulative resistance equal to the constant resistance of the first segment.

6. The electronic watch of claim 5, wherein a resistance of each of the two portions varies in response to rotation of the shaft while maintaining the cumulative resistance equal to the constant resistance of the first segment.

7. The electronic watch of claim 5, wherein the first wiper and the second wiper maintain electrical contact with the resistance member during rotation of the shaft.

8. The electronic watch of claim 1, wherein:

the resistance member comprises a first resistive track and a second resistive track;

the electronic watch further comprises a switch configured to electrically activate the first resistive track while electrically floating the second resistive track, and to electrically activate the second resistive track while electrically floating the first resistive track;

the set of wipers comprises a first wiper that travels along the first resistive track and a second wiper that travels along the second resistive track;

the first wiper is electrically connected to the second wiper; and

the output comprises a first output associated with the first wiper and a second output associated with the second wiper.

9. The electronic watch of claim 1, wherein:

the resistance member comprises a resistive track;

the set of wipers comprises a first wiper that travels along the resistive track and a second wiper that travels along the resistive track;

the first wiper is electrically isolated from the second wiper; and

the output comprises a first output associated with the first wiper and a second output associated with the second wiper.

10. The electronic watch of claim 9, further comprising:

a first conductive output track;

a second conductive output track;

a third wiper affixed to the shaft and electrically connected to the first wiper, and operative to travel along the first conductive output track during rotation of the shaft; and

a fourth wiper affixed to the shaft and electrically connected to the second wiper, and operative to travel along the second conductive output track during rotation of the shaft.

11. The electronic watch of claim 1, wherein:

the resistance member comprises a resistive track;

the set of wipers comprises a first wiper that travels along the resistive track and a second wiper that travels along the resistive track;

the first wiper is electrically connected to the second wiper; and

the output comprises an output associated with both the first wiper and the second wiper.

12. The electronic watch of claim 11, further comprising:

a voltage input;

a resistor;

a constant current regulation circuit; and

a reference voltage output, wherein

the resistive track is coupled between the reference voltage output and the constant current regulation circuit; and

the voltage input is coupled to the reference voltage output via the resistor.

13. A crown for an electronic watch, comprising:

a resistance member on a contact surface;

a rotatable shaft;

an array of ground taps separating the resistance member into segments of uniform resistivity;

a first wiper and a second wiper affixed to the rotatable shaft, the first wiper configured to generate a first output based on a relative position of the first wiper with respect to the resistance member and the second wiper configured to generate a second output based on a relative position of the second wiper with respect to the resistance member; and

a processor configured to determine at least one of an angular position, a direction of rotation, or a speed of rotation of the rotatable shaft based on the first output and the second output, wherein;

the crown is configured to receive a rotational input and a translational input; and

the first wiper and the second wiper are affixed to the rotatable shaft such that the first wiper contacts the resistance member at a first segment that is distinct from a second segment contacted by the second wiper.

14. The crown of claim 13, wherein:

a display is configured to depict a graphic in response to at least one of the rotational or translational input; and

the processor is configured to manipulate the graphic in response to the determined angular position, direction of rotation, or speed of rotation.

15. The crown of claim 13, wherein the array of ground taps is positioned on the resistance member such that the segments have a substantially similar size.

16. The crown of claim 13, wherein the resistance member comprises a first resistive track and a second resistive track, the crown further comprising:

an array of voltage inputs connected to the resistance member, the array of voltage inputs including a voltage input positioned between each set of adjacent ground taps along the resistance member; and

a switch connected to at least the array of voltage inputs and configured to electrically activate the first resistive track while electrically floating the second resistive track, and to electrically activate the second resistive track while electrically floating the first resistive track, wherein

the first wiper is electrically connected to the second wiper.

17. The crown of claim 13, further comprising:

a dome switch, wherein

the rotatable shaft is translatable and has a first end configured to depress and activate the dome switch in response to translation of the rotatable shaft.