Apparatus and method for detecting a touch-sensor pad gesture
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- detecting an initial presence of a conductive object on a sensing device; and
distinguishing a particular gesture from among at least three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, wherein said distinguishing comprises;
in response to said detecting the initial presence, starting a first timer and a second timer;
at an expiration of the first timer, determining whether the initial presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent;
determining whether a subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the expiration of the first timer; and
at an expiration of the second timer, determining whether the subsequent presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent, wherein said distinguishing the particular gesture comprises distinguishing the particular gesture using the results of said determinations regardless of a time between when the initial presence becomes absent and any subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for distinguishing a particular gesture from among multiple gestures, performed by a conductive object on the sensing device, using fewer than three time intervals. The apparatus may include a sensing device to detect a presence of a conductive object, and a processing device, coupled to the sensing device, to distinguish the multiple gestures. The method may include distinguishing between a tap gesture, a double tap gesture, a drag gesture, and a motion gesture.
262 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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detecting an initial presence of a conductive object on a sensing device; and distinguishing a particular gesture from among at least three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, wherein said distinguishing comprises; in response to said detecting the initial presence, starting a first timer and a second timer; at an expiration of the first timer, determining whether the initial presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent; determining whether a subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the expiration of the first timer; and at an expiration of the second timer, determining whether the subsequent presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent, wherein said distinguishing the particular gesture comprises distinguishing the particular gesture using the results of said determinations regardless of a time between when the initial presence becomes absent and any subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method, comprising:
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starting a time interval when a presence of a conductive object is detected on a sensing device at a first instance; and at an end of the time interval, distinguishing a particular gesture from among at least three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, wherein distinguishing the particular gesture comprises; determining a number of times an absence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the first instance and before the end of the time interval; and determining a number of times a presence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the first instance and before the end of the time interval, wherein said distinguishing the particular gesture comprises distinguishing the particular gesture using the results of said determinations regardless of a time between when the first instance becomes absent and any subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus, comprising:
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a sensing device to detect an initial presence of a conductive object; and a processing device coupled to the sensing device, the processing device to distinguish a particular gesture, from among at least three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, wherein the processing device is configured to distinguish the particular gesture by; in response to said detecting the initial presence, starting a first timer and a second timer; at an expiration of the first timer, determining whether the initial presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent; determining whether a subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the expiration of the first timer; and at an expiration of the second timer, determining whether the subsequent presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent, wherein the processing device is configured to distinguishing the particular gesture using the results of said determinations regardless of a time between when the initial presence becomes absent and any subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus, comprising:
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a sensing device to detect an initial presence of a conductive object; and a processing device coupled to the sensing device, the processing device to distinguish a particular gesture from among at least three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, wherein the processing device is configured to distinguish the particular gesture by; in response to said detecting the initial presence, starting a single timer; at a first timeout of the single timer, determining whether the initial presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent; determining whether a subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the first timeout of the single timer; and at a second timeout of the single timer, determining whether the subsequent presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent, wherein the processing device is configured to distinguishing the particular gesture using the results of said determinations regardless of a time between when the initial presence becomes absent and any subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method, comprising:
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detecting an initial presence of a conductive object on a sensing device, wherein said detecting the presence of the conductive object comprises determining that the presence of the conductive object is a legitimate presence; distinguishing a particular gesture from among three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, using first and second timeout periods, wherein the three gestures are a tap gesture, a double tap gesture, and a drag gesture; detecting whether the presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent on the sensing device during the first and second timeout periods; in response to said detecting the initial presence, starting the first timeout period; and starting the second timeout period at an end of the first timeout period or at the start of the first time out period, wherein an end of the second timeout period is later in time than an end of the first timeout period, wherein distinguishing comprises; determining that the particular gesture is the tap gesture if the initial presence of the conductive object is absent before the end of the first timeout period, and a subsequent presence is absent by the end of the second timeout period; determining that the particular gesture is the double tap gesture if the initial presence of the conductive object is absent before the end of the first timeout period, and a subsequent presence is detected after the end of the first timeout period, but is absent by the end of the second timeout period; and determining that the particular gesture is the drag gesture if the initial presence of the conductive object is absent before the end of the first timeout period, and a subsequent presence is detected after the end of the first timeout period and remains detected by the end of the second timeout period. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A method, comprising:
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detecting an initial presence of a conductive object on a sensing device; and distinguishing a particular gesture from among at least three gestures, performed by the conductive object on the sensing device, wherein said distinguishing comprises; in response to said detecting the initial presence, starting a single timer; at a first timeout of the single timer, determining whether the initial presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent; determining whether a subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected on the sensing device after the first timeout of the single timer; and at a second timeout of the single timer, determining whether the subsequent presence of the conductive object is still detected or absent, wherein said distinguishing the particular gesture comprises distinguishing the particular gesture using the results of said determinations regardless of a time between when the initial presence becomes absent and any subsequent presence of the conductive object is detected. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification