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| 20090128374 | DETERMINING ACTUATION OF MULTI-SENSOR-ELECTRODE CAPACITIVE BUTTONS - Methods for determining actuation of a capacitive button are described. In some embodiments, indicia from the at least three distinct sensor electrodes associated with at least three sensor electrode elements comprising the capacitive button are received, the indicia indicative of interaction of an input object with the at least three distinct sensor electrodes. The actuation of the capacitive button is then determined, based at least in part on satisfying a set of criteria comprising: a location condition concerning a location of the input object relative to a center of the capacitive button, and a coupling condition concerning a change in capacitive coupling of the at least three distinct sensor electrodes associated with the at least three sensor electrode elements comprising the capacitive button. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20100238134 | CAPACITIVE SENSING USING A SEGMENTED COMMON VOLTAGE ELECTRODE OF A DISPLAY - An integrated display and touch sensor device comprises a plurality of display pixels and a processing system communicatively coupled with a plurality of common voltage electrode segments and with a plurality of receiver sensor electrodes. The plurality of display pixels is configured for displaying information on the display. The processing system is configured for driving a voltage transition onto a common voltage electrode segment of the plurality of common voltage electrode segments. The voltage transition provides a common voltage for refreshing at least one display pixel of the plurality of display pixels, and generates a first electrical signal on at least one receiver sensor electrode of the plurality of receiver sensor electrodes. The processing system is also configured for acquiring a first measurement of a capacitive coupling between the driven common voltage electrode segment and the at least one receiver sensor electrode by measuring the first electrical signal. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100289503 | EXTENDED PROXIMITY SENSOR DEVICE WITH ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE PROTECTION - An input device is provided with improved electrostatic discharge protection. Specifically, the input device includes a plurality of capacitive sensing electrodes configured for object detection. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) shunt is disposed near the capacitive sensing electrodes and configured to provide ESD protection to the capacitive sensing electrodes. The input device also includes an extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode configured to for object detection of relatively distant objects. The ESD shunt has an associated first resistance, and the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode has an associated second resistance. The second resistance is greater than the first resistance such that an electrostatic discharge at a first exposed location would be attracted to the ESD shunt via a first potential discharge path instead of being attracted to the extended-proximity capacitive sensing electrode via a second potential discharge path, where the first discharge path is longer than the second discharge path. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100292945 | CAPACITIVE SENSOR DEVICE - A capacitive sensor device comprises a first sensor electrode, a second sensor electrode, and a processing system coupled to the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode. The processing system is configured to acquire a first capacitive measurement by emitting and receiving a first electrical signal with the first sensor electrode. The processing system is configured to acquire a second capacitive measurement by emitting and receiving a second electrical signal, wherein one of the first and second sensor electrodes performs the emitting and the other of the first and second sensor electrodes performs the receiving, and wherein the first and second capacitive measurements are non-degenerate. The processing system is configured to determine positional information using the first and second capacitive measurements. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100315384 | UNTETHERED ACTIVE PEN AND A METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING WITH A CAPACITIVE SENSING DEVICE USING THE UNTETHERED ACTIVE PEN - A method for communicating with a capacitive sensing device using an untethered active pen. The method includes capacitively receiving a capacitive sensing signal at a capacitive receiving unit of the untethered active pen. The capacitive sensing signal is output from the capacitive sensing device. In addition, the method includes determining a first frequency and a first phase associated with the capacitive sensing signal. Moreover, the method includes transmitting at a second frequency and a second phase an amplified active pen signal at the capacitive sensing device from the untethered active pen. The amplified active pen signal has a second frequency and a second phase that correspond to the first frequency and the first phase. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20110001494 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SIGMA DELTA CAPACITANCE MEASURING USING SHARED COMPONENTS - Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta charge transfer techniques that can be implemented with many standard microcontrollers, and can share components to reduce device complexity and improve performance. In the various implementations of this embodiment, the passive network used to accumulate charge can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. A switch or IO controlling the charge sharing and/or charge changing can also be shared Likewise, in various implementations a voltage conditioning circuit configured to provide a variable reference voltage can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. Finally, in various implementations a guarding electrode configured to guard the measurable capacitances can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. In each of these cases, sharing components can reduce device complexity and improve performance. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110148435 | TRANSCAPACITIVE SENSOR DEVICES WITH OHMIC SEAMS - A transcapacitive sensing device has and ohmic seam which sections a plurality of transmitter electrodes and also sections a plurality of receiver electrodes. A processing system is communicatively coupled with the transmitter electrodes and the receiver electrodes and configured to: transmit a first transmitter signal with a first transmitter electrode disposed on a first side of the ohmic seam; transmit a second transmitter signal with a second transmitter electrode disposed on a second side of the ohmic seam; receive a first response corresponding to said first transmitter signal with a first receiver electrode disposed on the first side of the ohmic seam; and receive a second response corresponding to said second transmitter signal with a second receiver electrode disposed on the second side of the ohmic seam. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110175671 | INPUT DEVICE WITH FLOATING ELECTRODES HAVING AT LEAST ONE APERTURE - Devices and methods are provided that facilitate improved input device performance. The devices and methods utilize a transmitter sensor electrode and a receiver sensor electrode that are capacitively coupled to form a transcapacitance for capacitively sensing input objects in a sensing region. A measure of the transcapacitance may be used to determine positional information for the input objects in the sensing region. In accordance with the various embodiments, the devices and methods include a floating electrode that is ohmically insulated from other electrical elements during operation. A first portion of the floating electrode overlaps a portion of the transmitter sensor electrode and a second portion of the floating electrode overlaps a portion of the receiver sensor electrode. The floating electrode additionally includes at least one aperture within the first portion of the floating electrode, where the at least one aperture at least in part overlaps the transmitter sensor electrode. | 07-21-2011 |
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| 20090002339 | TOUCH PAD WITH FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE - A touch sensor device is provided that uses a flexible circuit substrate to provide an improved input device. Specifically, the present invention uses a touch sensor controller affixed to the flexible circuit substrate, which is coupled to a sensor component to provide a flexible, reliable and cost effective touch sensor suitable for a wide variety of applications. In one embodiment the touch sensor uses a flexible circuit substrate that provides relatively high temperature resistance. This allows the touch sensor controller to be affixed using reliable techniques, such as various types of soldering. The sensor component can comprise a relatively low-temperature-resistant substrate that can provide a cost effective solution. Taken together, this embodiment of the touch sensor provides reliability and flexibility at relatively low cost. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090039902 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING A CAPACITANCE USING SIGMA-DELTA MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES - Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques. According to various embodiments, a voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance using a first switch. The measurable capacitance is allowed to share charge with a passive network. If the charge on the passive network is past a threshold value, then the charge on the passive network is changed by a known amount for a sufficient number of repetitions until the measurable capacitance can be detected. Such a detection scheme may be readily implemented using conventional components, and can be particularly useful in sensing the position of a finger, stylus or other object with respect to a button, slider, touchpad or other input sensor. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090174416 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING A CAPACITANCE USING SWITCHED CHARGE TRANSFER TECHNIQUES - Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using charge transfer techniques. According to various embodiments, a charge transfer process is performed for two or more times. During the charge transfer process, a pre-determined voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance, and the measurable capacitance is then allowed to share charge with a filter capacitance through a passive impedance that remains coupled to both the measurable capacitance and to the filter capacitance throughout the charge transfer process. The value of the measurable capacitance can then be determined as a function of a representation of a charge on the filter capacitance and the number of times that the charge transfer process was performed. Such a detection scheme may be readily implemented using conventional components, and can be particularly useful in sensing the position of a finger, stylus or other object with respect to an input sensor. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090206852 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GUARDING A CHARGE TRANSFER CAPACITANCE SENSOR FOR PROXIMITY DETECTION - Methods, systems and devices are described for determining a measurable capacitance for proximity detection in a sensor having a plurality of sensing electrodes and at least one guarding electrode. A charge transfer process is executed for at least two executions. The charge transfer process includes applying a pre-determined voltage to at least one of the plurality of sensing electrodes using a first switch, applying a first guard voltage to the at least one guarding electrode using a second switch, sharing charge between the at least one of the plurality of sensing electrodes and a filter capacitance, and applying a second guard voltage different from the first guard voltage to the at least one guarding electrode. A voltage is measured on the filter capacitance for a number of measurements equal to at least one to produce at least one result to determine the measurable capacitance for proximity detection. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20100148806 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING A CAPACITANCE USING SIGMA-DELTA MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES - Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques. According to various embodiments, a voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance using a first switch. The measurable capacitance is allowed to share charge with a passive network. If the charge on the passive network is past a threshold value, then the charge on the passive network is changed by a known amount for a sufficient number of repetitions until the measurable capacitance can be detected. Such a detection scheme may be readily implemented using conventional components, and can be particularly useful in sensing the position of a finger, stylus or other object with respect to a button, slider, touchpad or other input sensor. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100308847 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GUARDING A CHARGE TRANSFER CAPACITANCE SENSOR FOR PROXIMITY DETECTION - Methods, systems and devices are described for determining a measurable capacitance for proximity detection in a sensor having a plurality of sensing electrodes and at least one guarding electrode. A charge transfer process is executed for at least two executions. The charge transfer process includes applying a pre-determined voltage to at least one of the plurality of sensing electrodes using a first switch, applying a first guard voltage to the at least one guarding electrode using a second switch, sharing charge between the at least one of the plurality of sensing electrodes and a filter capacitance, and applying a second guard voltage different from the first guard voltage to the at least one guarding electrode. A voltage is measured on the filter capacitance for a number of measurements equal to at least one to produce at least one result to determine the measurable capacitance for proximity detection. | 12-09-2010 |
