Patent Application
20180013429
The present disclosure generally relates to user input mechanisms, and more particularly, to any type of device, apparatus and/or system having at least one capacitive touch button with a guard feature that provides, among other things, the ability to detect and reject false touches.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to the present embodiments that are described below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light.
Home and mobile user devices often include one more buttons as part of a user interface. These interfaces may often rely on using one or more capacitive touch type buttons in place of more conventional tactile or positive pressure type buttons. With a capacitive touch button there may be no mechanical feedback to indicate that a button press has occurred. This can result in user confusion and/or frustration. For example, with certain conventional electronic devices (e.g., set-top boxes, etc.), it may be relatively easy for a user to accidentally turn the device off while simply repositioning the device if, for instance, the user puts his or her palm over a capacitive power button of the device. One approach for attempting to reject false positives is to simply change the sensitivity of a capacitive sensor associated with the capacitive touch button. However, such an approach alone is deemed less than optimal.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to address the foregoing issues and thereby provide an improved design for a capacitive touch button. The present embodiments described herein address these and/or other issues.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus is disclosed. According to an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a first conductive element that is capacitively isolated from ground, and a second conductive element that is capacitively isolated from ground and located adjacent to edges of the first conductive element. A first sensor is coupled to the first conductive element and measures a change in capacitance between the first conductive element and ground due to a change in physical environment. A second sensor is coupled to the second conductive element and measures a change in capacitance between the second conductive element and ground due to the change in physical environment. A controller is coupled to the first sensor and the second sensor and determines a difference between the measured changes in capacitance of the first sensor and the second sensor.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is disclosed. According to an exemplary embodiment, the method includes measuring a change in capacitance between a first conductive element and ground due to a change in physical environment; measuring a change in capacitance between a second conductive element and ground due to the change in physical environment, wherein the second conductive element is located adjacent to substantially all surface edges of the first conductive element; and determining a difference between the measured changes in capacitance.
The aforementioned summary of preferred and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is merely illustrative of the inventive concepts presented herein, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any manner.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this disclosure, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the disclosure will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the disclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The exemplifications set out herein illustrate preferred embodiments of the disclosure, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner.
It should be understood that the elements shown in the figures may be implemented in various forms of hardware, software or combinations thereof. Preferably, these elements are implemented in a combination of hardware and software on one or more appropriately programmed general-purpose devices, which may include a processor, memory and input/output interfaces. Herein, the phrase “coupled” is defined to mean directly connected to or indirectly connected with through one or more intermediate components. Such intermediate components may include both hardware and software based components.
The present description illustrates the principles of the present disclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are included within its scope.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for educational purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.
Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the block diagrams presented herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudocode, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable media and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
The functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and nonvolatile storage.
Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the implementer as more specifically understood from the context.
In the claims hereof, any element expressed as a means for performing a specified function is intended to encompass any way of performing that function including, for example, a) a combination of circuit elements that performs that function or b) software in any form, including, therefore, firmware, microcode or the like, combined with appropriate circuitry for executing that software to perform the function. The disclosure as defined by such claims resides in the fact that the functionalities provided by the various recited means are combined and brought together in the manner which the claims call for. It is thus regarded that any means that can provide those functionalities are equivalent to those shown herein.
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method that controls the operation of a capacitor touch button or capacitive touch panel. The apparatus and method address problems associated with unintentional touches to the button or touch panel by providing discrimination between contact, or touching, intended for a button and contact, or touching, that covers the button along with an area around the button. Although the embodiments described below primarily focus on use in a set top box receiver device setting, aspects of the present disclosure may equally apply to other consumer and commercial devices that utilize touch buttons or touch panels including, but not limited to, computers, tablets, cellular phones, televisions, internet or product kiosks, and the like.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
According to exemplary embodiments, receiving apparatus 20 is operative to receive and process signals in analog and/or digital modulation formats provided via signal source 10, and provide output signals suitable for display via display device 30. According to principles of the present disclosure, receiving apparatus 20 comprises a user input portion 40 that utilizes capacitive touch sensor technology, and includes at least one capacitive touch button with a guard feature. As will be described later herein, the aforementioned type of capacitive touch button with guard feature advantageously provides, among other things, the ability to detect and reject false button touches.
Referring now to
In
Touch panel interface 222 may include an interface for a touch screen device. Touch panel interface 222 may also be adapted to interface to a cellular phone, a tablet, a mouse, a high end remote or the like. According to exemplary embodiments, touch panel interface 222 may also employ capacitive touch sensor technology, and include at least one capacitive touch button with a guard feature, as referenced above in conjunction with
The decoded output signal of input signal receiver 202 is provided to an input stream processor 204. Input stream processor 204 performs the final signal selection and processing, and includes separation of video content from audio content for the content stream. The audio content is provided to an audio processor 206 for conversion from the received format, such as compressed digital signal, to an analog waveform signal. The analog waveform signal is provided to an audio interface 208 and further to the display device or audio amplifier. Alternatively, audio interface 208 may provide a digital signal to an audio output device or display device using a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cable or alternate audio interface such as via a Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format (SPDIF). Audio interface 208 may also include amplifiers for driving one more sets of speakers. Audio processor 206 also performs any necessary conversion for the storage of the audio signals.
The video output signal from input stream processor 204 is provided to a video processor 210. The video signal may be one of several formats. Video processor 210 provides, as necessary, a conversion of the video content, based on the input signal format. Video processor 210 also performs any necessary conversion for the storage of the video signals.
A storage device 212 stores audio and video content received at the input. Storage device 212 allows later retrieval and playback of the content under the control of a controller 214 and also based on commands (e.g., navigation instructions such as fast-forward (FF) and rewind (Rew)) received from a user interface 216 and/or touch panel interface 222. Storage device 212 may be a hard disk drive, one or more large capacity integrated electronic memories, such as static RAM (SRAM), or dynamic RAM (DRAM), or may be an interchangeable optical disk storage system such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digital video disk (DVD) drive.
The converted video signal provided from video processor 210, either originating from the input or from storage device 212, is provided to display interface 218 which further provides the display signal to a display device of the type described above. Display interface 218 may be an analog signal interface, such as red-green-blue (RGB), or may be a digital interface such as HDMI.
Controller 214 is interconnected via a bus to several of the components of receiving apparatus 200, including input stream processor 202, audio processor 206, video processor 210, storage device 212, and user interface 216. Controller 214 manages the conversion process for converting the input stream signal into a signal for storage on the storage device or for display, and also manages the retrieval and playback of stored content. Controller 214 also provides control outputs in response to user inputs via user interface 216 and touch panel interface 222.
Controller 214 is further coupled to control memory 220 (e.g., volatile or non-volatile memory, including RAM, SRAM, DRAM, ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), flash memory, electronically programmable ROM (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), etc.) for storing information and instruction code for controller 214. Control memory 220 may store instructions for controller 214, and may also store a database of elements, such as text and/or graphic elements containing content.
User interface 216 ideally includes a front panel assembly containing one or more buttons. According to exemplary embodiments, at least one of these buttons employs capacitive touch sensor technology and is embodied as a capacitive touch button with a guard feature, as referenced above in conjunction with
Referring to
According to exemplary embodiments, first conductive element 310 is capacitively isolated from ground and represents a main portion of a capacitive touch button, and second conductive element 320 is capacitively isolated from ground and represents a guard portion of the capacitive touch button. First and second conductive elements 310 and 320 may be embodied, for example, as conductive pads. The capacitive touch button may represent, for example, a main, or power, button of the applicable apparatus, device and/or system.
Also according to exemplary embodiments, second conductive element 320 is located adjacent to substantially all surface edges of first conductive element 310. Furthermore, the second conductive element 320 may be concentric with the first conductive element 310. A gap 315 exists between first and second conductive elements 310 and 320. Such gap 315 may be uniform along the respective surface edges of first and second conductive elements 310 and 320, or may vary as a matter of design choice. The gap 315 may include only an air gap, or alternatively may include another dielectric and nonconductive material. Additionally, a conductive ground surface (not shown) may be present either outside the conductive element 320 or, alternatively, below the first conductive element 310 and/or the second conductive element 320. The gap between the conductive ground surface and the conductive elements 310 and 320 may include an air gap or may include a dielectric material.
In the exemplary embodiment of
Accordingly, the configuration of
According to another exemplary embodiment, second conductive element 320 may be located adjacent to, and extend around, only half or more of the surface edges of first conductive element 310. According to yet another exemplary embodiment, second conductive element 320 may be located adjacent to, and extend around, less than half of the surface edges of first conductive element 310. Second conductive element 320 may also be arranged as a plurality of individual segments, instead of one unitary segment as shown in
First sensor 330 is coupled to first conductive element 310 and is operative to measure a change in capacitance between first conductive element 310 and ground due to a change in the associated physical environment. Second sensor 340 is coupled to second conductive element 320 and is operative to measure a change in capacitance between second conductive element 320 and ground due to the change in the associated physical environment. Although shown as separate elements in
According to an exemplary embodiment, the change in the physical environment associated with first and second conductive elements 310 and 320 occurs in response to a user's tactile interaction with the applicable apparatus, device and/or system. Such tactile interaction may be intended by the user as a valid user input/button press (e.g., to activate or de-activate the main power button, etc.), or may represent an invalid user input/button press (e.g., stray touching of a button while moving device, etc.).
Controller 350 is coupled to first sensor 330 and second sensor 340, and is operative to determine a difference between the changes in capacitance measured by first sensor 330 and second sensor 340 as a result of user input. According to exemplary embodiments, controller 350 determines that a given change in the physical environment associated with first and second conductive elements 310 and 320 represents a valid user input to the applicable apparatus, device and/or system if the determined difference is equal to or exceeds a predefined threshold. For example, if a user presses directly in the center of the button (i.e., the center of first conductive element 310), a relatively high capacitance will be measured by first sensor 330 and a relatively low capacitance will be measured by second sensor 340.
Conversely, controller 350 determines that a given change in physical environment associated with first and second conductive elements 310 and 320 does not represent a valid user input to the applicable apparatus, device and/or system if the determined difference is less than the predefined threshold. For example, the relative capacitance measured by first sensor 330 and second sensor 340 will be the same or similar if a user's palm or other body part is pressed up against first and second conductive elements 310 and 320. The relative capacitance may also be similar if someone presses their finger against both pads of first and second conductive elements 310 and 320.
Turning now to
In operation, an object, such as the user's finger, on the conductive element increases the capacitance which lowers the frequency of the oscillator 420. This lowered frequency effectively decreases the count measured in the pulse width modulator 440 and counter 450. Other embodiments for capacitive sense circuits are possible and are well known to those skilled in the art. Further, portions of sensor circuit 400 described in this embodiment may be shared between the operation of more than capacitive sensor device in order to reduce space, cost, and/or complexity.
As defined earlier, the present embodiments are intended to identify false contact or button pushes by determining a difference between the changes in capacitance occurring in a first sensor (e.g., sensor 330 in
Referring now to
Referring now to
In a further perspective,
Referring to
At step 810, a change in the physical environment related to first and second conductive elements 310 and 320 in configuration 300 occurs. According to an exemplary embodiment, the change in physical environment occurs at step 810 in response to a user's tactile interaction with the applicable apparatus, device and/or system. Such tactile interaction may be intended by the user as a valid button press (e.g., to activate or de-activate the main power button, etc.), or may represent an invalid button press (e.g., stray touching of a button while moving device, etc.).
At step 820, first sensor 330 detects and measures a change in capacitance between first conductive element 310 and ground due to the change in physical environment that occurred at step 810.
At step 830, second sensor 340 detects and measures a change in capacitance between second conductive element 320 (i.e., the guard element) and ground due to the change in physical environment that occurred at step 810.
At step 840, controller 350 determines a difference between the measured changes in capacitance of first sensor 330 and second sensor 340. As indicated earlier herein, first and second sensors 330 and 340 may be combined as a single sensor.
At step 850, controller 350 determines if the difference determined at step 840 is equal to or greater than a predefined threshold (e.g., a value that is 20 percent of the value for second sensor 340). Such threshold may be initially set as a matter of design choice and/or be adjustable by a user of the applicable apparatus, device and/or system. According to exemplary embodiments, at step 850, controller 350 determines that a valid user input to the applicable apparatus, device and/or system has occurred if the determined difference at step 840 is equal to or exceeds a predefined threshold. For example, if a user presses directly in the center of the button (i.e., the center of first conductive element 310), a relatively high capacitance will be measured by first sensor 330 and a relatively low capacitance will be measured by second sensor 340
If the determination at step 850 is positive, process flow advances to step 860 where controller 350 determines that a valid button press has occurred as a result of the change in physical environment at step 510. That is, if it is determined at step 850 that the difference determined at step 840 equals or exceeds an established threshold, controller 350 determines at step 860 that the change in physical environment that occurred at step 810 represents a valid user input to the applicable apparatus, device and/or system. As a result of this determination, controller 350 may output a control signal to enable or disable the performance of a particular control function associated with the applicable apparatus, device and/or system.
Alternatively, if the determination at step 850 is negative, process flow advances to step 870 where controller 350 determines that a valid button press has not occurred as a result of the change in physical environment at step 810. That is, if it is determined at step 850 that the difference determined at step 840 is less than the threshold, controller 350 determines at step 870 that the change in physical environment that occurred at step 810 does not represent a valid user input to the applicable apparatus, device and/or system. As a result of this determination, controller 350 may ignore the change in physical environment that occurred at step 810.
The steps of
As described above, the present disclosure provides an improved design for a capacitive touch button which includes a guard feature that provides, among other things, the ability to detect and reject false touches. Such an inventive capacitive touch button may be utilized with any type of device, apparatus and/or system that includes one or more capacitive touch buttons.
While this disclosure has been described as having a preferred design, the present embodiments can be further modified within the scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the embodiments using their general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this disclosure pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14400073 | Nov 2014 | US |
| Child | 15712439 | US |
