SWITCHABLE SENSOR CONFIGURATIONS

• US 20090229892A1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Bhargava, Rishabh, Kocalar, Erturk, Fisher, Joseph, Rathnam, Lakshman
• Granted Patent: US 9,454,256 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 178/18.30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/325 Power saving in peripheral device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041661 using detection at multiple resolutions, e.g. coarse and fine scanning; using detection within a limited area, e.g. object tracking window
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0448 Details of the electrode shape, e.g. for enhancing the detection of touches, for generating specific electric field shapes, for enhancing display quality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

An input device with switchable sensor configurations. In one embodiment, the input device can switch between a sensor configuration in which each of its sensor elements is enabled to sense input and a sensor configuration in which only a subset of its sensor elements are enabled to sense input. In another embodiment, the input device can switch between a sensor configuration in which each of its sensor elements is enabled to sense input and a sensor configuration in which one or more groupings of its sensor elements are enabled to collectively sense input. In a further embodiment, the input device can operate in a detection mode that switches between sensor configurations to determine a position of an input.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing a portable electronic device with an input device,

the input device comprising a plurality of sensor elements, and

switching between a first detection mode and a second detection mode, wherein

in the first detection mode, each of the plurality of sensor elements is enabled, and

in the second detection mode, a subset of the plurality of sensor elements arranged according to an input pattern is enabled.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein

a first portion of the plurality of sensor elements is arranged in a first circumference relative to a first point, and

a second portion of the plurality of sensor elements is arranged in a second circumference relative to the first point.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabled sensor elements in the second detection mode are arranged according to a linear input pattern.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabled sensor elements in the second detection mode are arranged according to a rotational input pattern.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabled sensor elements in the second detection mode are arranged according to an input pattern associated with an alphanumeric character.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabled sensor elements in the second detection mode are arranged according to an input pattern associated with a symbol.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabled sensor elements in the second detection mode are arranged according to a single touch input pattern

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabled sensor elements in the second detection mode are arranged according to a multi-touch input pattern

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the switching between the first detection mode and the second detection mode is based on a context of an application running on the portable electronic device.

10. An input device comprising:

a plurality of sensor elements arranged relative to a surface of a device, and

a controller, wherein

the device is moveable between a first device orientation and a second device orientation,

when the device is oriented in the first device orientation, the controller enables a first subset of the plurality of sensor elements to sense input, the first subset being arranged according to an input pattern having a first relative orientation to a user of the device, and

when the device is oriented in the second device orientation, the controller enables a second subset of the plurality of sensor elements to sense input, the second subset being arranged according to the input pattern having the first relative orientation to the user of the device.

11. The input device of claim 10, wherein

a first portion of the plurality of sensor elements is arranged in a first circumference relative to a first point, and

a second portion of the plurality of sensor elements is arranged in a second circumference relative to the first point.

12. The input device of claim 10, wherein the enabled subsets of sensor elements are arranged according to a linear input pattern.

13. The input device of claim 10, wherein the enabled subsets of sensor elements are arranged according to an input pattern associated with an alphanumeric character.

14. The input device of claim 10, wherein the enabled subsets of sensor elements are arranged according to an input pattern associated with a symbol.

15. The input device of claim 10, wherein the enabled subsets of sensor elements are arranged according to a single touch input pattern.

16. The input device of claim 10, wherein the enabled subsets of sensor elements are arranged according to a multi-touch input pattern.

17. A method, comprising:

providing a portable electronic device with an input device,

the input device comprising a plurality of sensor elements arranged relative to a surface of the portable electronic device, and

switching between a first detection mode and a second detection mode to determine a position of an input applied to the input device, wherein

in the first detection mode, each of a first one or more groupings of the plurality of sensor elements is enabled to collectively sense input, and

in the second detection mode, each of a second one or more groupings of the plurality of sensor elements is enabled to collectively sense input.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein

a first portion of the plurality of sensor elements is arranged in a first circumference relative to a first point, and

a second portion of the plurality of sensor elements is arranged in a second circumference relative to the first point.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein

the first one or more groupings of sensor elements are arranged radially around a first point, and

the second one or more groupings of sensor elements are arranged in one or more angular sectors around the first point.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

in the first detection mode, determining a radial position based on an input sensed by a first sensor element in the first one or more groupings,

in the second detection mode, determining an angular position based on an input sensed by the first sensor element in the second one or more groupings, and

outputting a signal indicating a position based on the radial position and the angular position.

21. A method comprising:

providing a portable electronic device comprising an input device comprising multiple sensor elements,

enabling a first set of the multiple sensor elements in a first detection mode, and

enabling a second set of the multiple sensor elements in a second detection mode, the second set of the multiple sensors being arranged according to an input pattern.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein

a first portion of the multiple sensor elements is arranged in a first circumference relative to a first point, and

a second portion of the multiple sensor elements is arranged in a second circumference relative to the first point.

23. An input device comprising:

multiple sensor elements arranged relative to a surface of a device, the device being moveable between a first orientation and a second orientation,

a controller, the controller enabling a first set of the sensor elements to sense input when the device is in the first orientation and enabling a second set of the sensor elements to sense input when the device is in the second orientation,

the first set of sensor elements being arranged according to a first input pattern and the second set of sensor elements being arranged according to a second input pattern, the first input pattern and the second input pattern being similar,

whereby similar patterns of enabled sensors are presented to a user of the device when the device is in the first orientation and when the device is in the second orientation.