Object position detector with edge motion feature
First Claim
1. A method for providing an electrical signal for moving a cursor on a display screen associated with a computer in response to electrical signals representing of the position of an object in a two dimensional sensing plane, including the steps of:
- providing a sensing plane including a matrix of conductors arranged as a plurality of spaced apart row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said sensing plane characterized by an inherent capacitance on the various ones of said row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said capacitance varying with the proximity of an object to said row and column conductive lines, said sensing plane including an inner region bounded by an outer region, said outer region extending inward from outer edges of said sensing plane;
sensing the capacitance on at least selected ones of said row and column conductive lines;
generating present-position signals from the sensed capacitance representing the present position of said object in both X and Y directions on said sensing plane;
sensing whether said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane;
generating first relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between X and Y coordinates of said present position of said object and X and Y coordinates of a previous position of said object and sending said first relative position X and Y signals to said computer if said object is not in said outer region of said sensing plane;
generating second relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between said X and Y coordinates of said present position of said object and X and Y coordinates of a fixed position on said sensing plane if said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane, and sending said second relative position X and Y signals to said computer so long as said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A proximity sensor system includes a sensor matrix array having a characteristic capacitance on horizontal and vertical conductors connected to sensor pads. The capacitance changes as a function of the proximity of an object or objects to the sensor matrix. The change in capacitance of each node in both the X and Y directions of the matrix due to the approach of an object is converted to a set of voltages in the X and Y directions. These voltages are processed by circuitry to develop electrical signals representative of the centroid of the profile of the object, i.e, its position in the X and Y dimensions. Noise reduction and background level setting techniques inherently available in the architecture are employed.
540 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for providing an electrical signal for moving a cursor on a display screen associated with a computer in response to electrical signals representing of the position of an object in a two dimensional sensing plane, including the steps of:
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providing a sensing plane including a matrix of conductors arranged as a plurality of spaced apart row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said sensing plane characterized by an inherent capacitance on the various ones of said row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said capacitance varying with the proximity of an object to said row and column conductive lines, said sensing plane including an inner region bounded by an outer region, said outer region extending inward from outer edges of said sensing plane; sensing the capacitance on at least selected ones of said row and column conductive lines; generating present-position signals from the sensed capacitance representing the present position of said object in both X and Y directions on said sensing plane; sensing whether said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane; generating first relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between X and Y coordinates of said present position of said object and X and Y coordinates of a previous position of said object and sending said first relative position X and Y signals to said computer if said object is not in said outer region of said sensing plane; generating second relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between said X and Y coordinates of said present position of said object and X and Y coordinates of a fixed position on said sensing plane if said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane, and sending said second relative position X and Y signals to said computer so long as said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 11)
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3. A method for providing an electrical signal for moving a cursor on a display screen associated with a computer in response to electrical signals representing of the position of an object in a two dimensional sensing plane, including the steps of:
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providing a sensing plane including a matrix of conductors arranged as a plurality of spaced apart row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said sensing plane characterized by an inherent capacitance on the various ones of said row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said capacitance varying with the proximity of an object to said row and column conductive lines said sensing plane including an inner region bounded by an outer region said outer region extending inward from outer edges of said sensing plane; sensing the capacitance on at least selected ones of said row and column conductive lines; generating present-position signals from the sensed capacitance representing the present position of said object in both X and Y directions on said sensing plane; sensing whether said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane; generating first relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between said present position of said object in both X and Y directions and a previous position of said object in both X and Y directions, and sending said first relative position X and Y signals to said computer if said object is not in said outer region of said sensing plane; generating second relative position X and Y signals if said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane, said second relative position X signal comprising said first X signal incremented by an amount proportional to the difference in said X direction between said present position in said X direction of said object and a fixed X position on said sensing plane, said second relative position Y signal comprising said first Y signal incremented by an amount proportional to the difference in said Y direction between said present position in said Y direction of said object and a fixed Y position on said sensing plane, and sending said second relative position digital X and Y signals to said computer so long as said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 12)
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7. A method for providing an electrical signal for moving a cursor on a display screen associated with a computer in response to electrical signals representing of the position of an object in a two dimensional sensing plane, including the steps of:
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providing a sensing plane including a matrix of conductors arranged as a plurality of spaced apart row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said sensing plane characterized by an inherent capacitance on the various ones of said row conductive lines and column conductive lines, said capacitance varying with the proximity of an object to said row and column conductive lines, said sensing plane including an inner region bounded by an outer region, said outer region extending inward from outer edges of said sensing plane; simultaneously developing a first set of signals proportional to the value of said capacitance for each of said row conductive lines when no object is located proximate to said sensing plane; simultaneously developing a second set of signals proportional to the value of said capacitance for each of said column conductive lines when no object is located proximate to said sensing plane; simultaneously developing a third set of signals proportional to the value of said capacitance for each of said row conductive lines when an object is located proximate to said sensing plane; simultaneously developing a fourth set of signals proportional to the value of said capacitance for each of said column conductive lines when said object is located proximate to said sensing plane; computing a first weighted average of the difference between said first set of signals and said third set of signals to generate a present-position signal in the X direction of said sensing plane; and computing a second weighted average of the difference between said second set of signals and said fourth set of signals generate a present-position signal in the Y direction of said sensing plane; generating first relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between said present-position signals in both X and Y directions and a previous set of present-position signals in both X and Y directions, and sending said first relative position X and Y signals to said computer if said object is not in said outer region of said sensing plane and; generating second relative position X and Y signals representing the difference between said X and Y coordinates of said present position of said object and X and Y coordinates of a fixed position on said sensing plane if said object is in said outer region of said sensing plane, and sending said second relative position X and Y signals to said computer so long as said object is in said peripheral region of said sensing plane. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 13)
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Specification