U.S. patent application number 15/942018 was filed with the patent office on 2018-08-09 for method for position detection and sensing device applying the same method.
The applicant listed for this patent is IMAGINATION BROADWAY LTD., SALT INTERNATIONAL CORP.. Invention is credited to Shang-Li LEE, Zong-Bin LIAO.
Application Number | 20180224971 15/942018 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 56111147 |
Filed Date | 2018-08-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180224971 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LEE; Shang-Li ; et
al. |
August 9, 2018 |
METHOD FOR POSITION DETECTION AND SENSING DEVICE APPLYING THE SAME
METHOD
Abstract
A method for position detection is adapted to a sensing device.
The sensing device includes a plurality of sensing blocks arranged
in a 2D array, with each block having a plurality of sensing points
arranged in a 2D array. The method includes conducting a block-scan
to determine if a touched block exists, and conducting a point-scan
to obtain a touched point if the touched block exists. In order to
obtain a touched point, the sensing device applying the method
conducts a block-scan within the sensing area and then a point-scan
within the touched block instead of point-scanning the whole
sensing area. Accordingly, the sensing device could obtain the
touched point faster than before.
Inventors: |
LEE; Shang-Li; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; LIAO; Zong-Bin; (New Taipei City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SALT INTERNATIONAL CORP.
IMAGINATION BROADWAY LTD. |
New Taipei City
New Taipei City |
|
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
56111147 |
Appl. No.: |
15/942018 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14747270 |
Jun 23, 2015 |
9965114 |
|
|
15942018 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0446 20190501;
G06F 3/0445 20190501; G06F 3/0416 20130101; G06F 3/044 20130101;
G06F 3/04166 20190501 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/044 20060101
G06F003/044; G06F 3/041 20060101 G06F003/041 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 15, 2014 |
TW |
103143747 |
Claims
1. A method for position detection adapted to a sensing device
having a plurality of sensing blocks arranged in a 2-D array, with
each sensing block having a plurality of sensing points arranged in
a 2-D array, comprising: conducting a block-scan to determine
whether a touched block exists; conducting a point-scan within the
touched block to obtain a plurality of first touched points;
defining a plurality of extended areas by extending horizontally
and vertically in the positive and negative directions from each
first touched point as a center point by a preset distance, wherein
the preset distance is calculated by dividing a predetermined
movement speed by a measurement sampling rate; obtaining an
expansion area with borders of the expansion area are respectively
defined by extending a right border of a right-most extended area
of the overlapped extended areas, extending a left border of a
left-most extended area of the overlapped extended areas, extending
a top border of a top-most extended area of the overlapped extended
areas and extending a bottom border of a bottom-most extended area
of the overlapped extended areas; designating the expansion area
and any non-overlapping extended area as the first area; and
activating and detecting the sensing points within the first area
to obtain a second touched point which occurs after the plurality
of first touched points.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined movement ranges
from 50 cm/s to 90 cm/s.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the block-scan to
determine whether the touched block exists comprises: activating
and detecting each of the sensing blocks in sequence such that all
of the sensing points within the scanned sensing block are
activated simultaneously and then detected simultaneously to obtain
a block capacitance; and designating the sensing block as a touched
block when the corresponding block capacitance is greater than a
first threshold value.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the block-scan to
determine whether the touched block exists comprises: activating
all of the sensing blocks simultaneously to activate all of the
sensing points within each sensing block; detecting all of the
sensing points within the activated sensing blocks simultaneously
to obtain a block capacitance; and designating the sensing block as
the touched block when the corresponding block capacitance is
greater than a first threshold value.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein if any touched sensing block is
identified, the touched sensing block is point-scanned to obtain
the plurality of first touched points by: activating and detecting
each of the sensing points in sequence within the touched sensing
block to obtain a corresponding point capacitance; and designating
that the sensing point as the first touched point when the
corresponding point capacitance is greater than a second threshold
value.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first threshold value is
defined by adding a block capacitance differential to a block
background signal value, while the second threshold value is
defined by adding a point capacitance differential to a point
background signal value.
7. A sensing device, comprising: a first sensing layer and a second
sensing layer arranged in a stacked manner to define a sensing
area, which including a plurality of sensing blocks arranged in a
2-D array, with each sensing block having a plurality of sensing
points arranged in a 2-D array; and a controller for: conducting a
block-scan to determine whether a touched block exists; conducting
a point-scan within the touched block to obtain a plurality of
first touched points; defining a plurality of extended areas by
extending horizontally and vertically in the positive and negative
directions from each first touched point as a center point by a
preset distance, wherein the preset distance is calculated by
dividing a predetermined movement speed by a measurement sampling
rate; obtaining an expansion area with borders of the expansion
area are respectively defined by extending a right border of a
right-most extended area of the overlapped extended areas,
extending a left border of a left-most extended area of the
overlapped extended areas, extending a top border of a top-most
extended area of the overlapped extended areas and extending a
bottom border of a bottom-most extended area of the overlapped
extended areas; designating the expansion area and any
non-overlapping extended area as the first area; and activating and
detecting the sensing points within the first area to obtain a
second touched point which occurs after the plurality of first
touched points.
8. The sensing device of claim 7, wherein the predetermined
movement ranges from 50 cm/s to 90 cm/s.
9. The sensing device of claim 7, wherein the controller comprises:
a plurality of activators with each activator corresponding to at
least one sensing block for activating the sensing points
therewithin; a plurality of detectors with each detector
corresponding to at least one sensing block for detecting the
capacitance of each activated sensing point within the sensing
block; and a processor for activating the activators and detectors
for the block-scan, wherein the processor: activating and detecting
each of the sensing blocks in sequence so that the sensing points
are activated simultaneously and then detected simultaneously to
obtain a block capacitance; and designating the sensing block as
the touched block if the corresponding block capacitance is greater
than a first threshold value.
10. The sensing device of claim 7, wherein the controller
comprises: a plurality of activators with each activator
corresponding to at least one sensing block for activating the
sensing points therewithin; a plurality of detectors with each
detector corresponding to at least one sensing block for detecting
the capacitance of each activated sensing point within the sensing
block; and a processor for activating the activators and detectors
for the block-scan, wherein the processor: activating the
activators simultaneously to activate the sensing points within
each of the sensing blocks; activating the detectors simultaneously
to detect the sensing points simultaneously within activated
sensing blocks to obtain corresponding block capacitances; and
designating the sensing block as the touched block if the
corresponding block capacitance is greater than a first threshold
value.
11. The sensing device of claim 10, wherein when the touched block
has been identified, the touched block is point-scanned to obtain a
touched point, and wherein the point-scan includes: activating and
detecting each of the sensing points in sequence within the touched
block to obtain a corresponding point capacitance; and designating
that the sensing point as the first touched point when the
corresponding point capacitance is greater than a second threshold
value.
12. The sensing device of claim 10, wherein the first threshold
value is defined by adding a block capacitance differential to a
block background signal value, while the second threshold value is
defined by adding a point capacitance differential to a point
background signal value.
13. The sensing device of claim 10, wherein the activator and
detector both corresponding to the same sensing block are grouped
within a single integrated circuit.
14. The sensing device of claim 10, wherein the sensing points
within each of the sensing blocks are not adjacent to one another
along the detection direction.
15. A method for position detection adapted to a sensing device
having a plurality of sensing blocks arranged in a 2-D array, with
each sensing block having a plurality of sensing points arranged in
a 2-D array, comprising: conducting a block-scan to determine
whether a touched block exists; conducting a point-scan within the
touched block to obtain a first touched point; obtaining a first
area surrounding the first touched point and at least one other
sensing point of the plurality of sensing points, the first area
being defined based on a preset distance away from the touched
point independent of a boundary of the touched block including the
first touched point, wherein the preset distance is calculated by
dividing a predetermined movement speed by a measurement sampling
rate; and activating and detecting the sensing points within the
first area to obtain a second touched point which occurs after the
first touched point.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the predetermined movement
ranges from 50 cm/s to 90 cm/s.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein conducting the block-scan to
determine whether the touched block exists comprises: activating
and detecting each of the sensing blocks in sequence such that all
of the sensing points within the scanned sensing block are
activated simultaneously and then detected simultaneously to obtain
a block capacitance; and designating the sensing block as a touched
block when the corresponding block capacitance is greater than a
first threshold value.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein conducting the block-scan to
determine whether the touched block exists comprises: activating
all of the sensing blocks simultaneously to activate all of the
sensing points within each sensing block; detecting all of the
sensing points within the activated sensing blocks simultaneously
to obtain a block capacitance; and designating the sensing block as
the touched block when the corresponding block capacitance is
greater than a first threshold value.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein if any touched sensing block is
identified, the touched sensing block is point-scanned to obtain
the first touched point by: activating and detecting each of the
sensing points in sequence within the touched sensing block to
obtain a corresponding point capacitance; and designating that the
sensing point as the first touched point when the corresponding
point capacitance is greater than a second threshold value.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first threshold value is
defined by adding a block capacitance differential to a block
background signal value, while the second threshold value is
defined by adding a point capacitance differential to a point
background signal value.
21. The method of claim 15, wherein after the second touched point
has been obtained, further comprising: obtaining a position vector
based on the first touched point and the second touched point;
obtaining a second area based on the second touched point and the
position vector, and wherein the second area includes a plurality
of sensing points, with a length of the second area and a width of
the second area being directly proportional to the magnitude of the
position vector, and wherein the second touched point being located
at the center of the second area; and activating and detecting the
sensing points within the second area.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S.
application Ser. No. 14/747,270 filed in United States on Jun. 23,
2015, which itself claims Taiwan, R.O.C. priorities under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn. 119(a) of Patent Applications TW No. 103143747 filed on Dec.
15, 2014.
BACKGROUND
Technical Field
[0002] The instant disclosure relates to a position detection
method and a sensing device using the same, in particular, to a
method for enhancing detection speed and a sensing device using the
same.
Related Art
[0003] In the history of touch screen technology, the advancement
of single point touch sensing to multi-point touch sensing and
touch point tracking have always been the focuses of technological
breakthroughs.
[0004] In recent periods, most of the touch screens for multi-point
touch sensing and tracking of multiple touch points utilize
capacitive touch sensing system. This type of system relies on
self-capacitance and/or mutual capacitance sensing methods to
determine if the touch screen has being touched by the user. During
the sensing period, when the controller of the sensing system has
detected a change in capacitance for a particular location, the
location is deemed to have been touched by the user. Therefore,
when the sensing system is in operation, in addition to detecting
the capacitance of each coordinate position, it will also compare
the detected values with a non-contact capacitance value. If any of
the differences after comparison is greater than a predetermined
threshold value, that particular coordinate position is determined
to have been touched by the user.
SUMMARY
[0005] Based on the above description, to determine if the touch
screen has been touched, the sensing system must first obtain the
capacitance value of the coordinate position of the touch screen.
Then, each of the obtained values must be compared with the
threshold value before the results can be analyzed, and each of
these steps takes up a certain amount of time. With that in mind,
along with the demanded features of multi-touch sensing and touch
tracking (drawing) for improved touch screens, fast response time
by the sensing system when a touch event has occurred is
continuously strived for by commercial manufacturers.
[0006] In view of the foregoing, the instant disclosure provides a
position detection method and a sensing device using the same, such
that the time needed to detect the touched (input) point or points
can be shortened. The sensing device comprises a plurality of
"sensing blocks" arranged in a two dimensional (2-D) array, with
each block having a plurality of sensing points arranged in a 2-D
array.
[0007] According to one embodiment, the position detection method
includes the steps of: conducting a block-scan to determine if a
sensing block has been touched; and conducting a point-scan to
obtain a touched point within the touched block.
[0008] In one embodiment, the block-scanning operation is
subdivided into an activation phase and a detection phase. When a
sensing block is activated, all of its sensing points are activated
simultaneously. Likewise, during the detection phase, all of its
sensing points are detected simultaneously to obtain a block
capacitance. When this capacitance value is greater than a first
threshold value, the detected block is determined to be a touched
block.
[0009] In one embodiment, after the touched block has been
determined, its sensing points are scanned to obtain the touched
point. The point-scanning operation includes the steps of:
activating and detecting each of the sensing points in sequence to
obtain its respective point capacitance; designating the sensing
point as the touched point (first touched point) if the
corresponding point capacitance is greater than a second threshold
value.
[0010] In one embodiment, after the touched point (first touched
point) has been obtained, the method continues with the steps of:
obtaining a first area based on the touched point, with the first
area having a plurality of sensing points and the touched
point;
[0011] and obtaining another touched point (second touched point)
by activating and detecting the sensing points within the first
area.
[0012] In one embodiment, after the second touched point has been
obtained, the method continues with the steps of: obtaining a
position vector based on the first and second touched points;
obtaining a second area based on the second touched point and the
position vector, with the second area having a plurality of sensing
points and the second touched point, which deviates from the center
of the second area toward a direction opposite of the position
vector by a distance directly proportional to the magnitude of the
position vector; and activating and detecting the sensing points
within the second area.
[0013] In one embodiment, the size of the second area is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the position vector. The first
threshold value is obtained by adding a block background signal
value to a block differential capacitance. The second threshold
value is obtained by adding a point background signal value to a
point differential capacitance.
[0014] In one embodiment, after the second touched point has been
obtained, the method continues with the steps of: obtaining a
position vector based on the first and second touched points;
obtaining a second area based on the second touched point and
position vector, with the second area having a plurality of sensing
points and the second touched point, which is located at the center
of the second area, and the size of the second area is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the position vector; and
activating and detecting the sensing points within the second
area.
[0015] In one embodiment, the sensing device of the instant
disclosure comprises: a first sensing layer and a second sensing
layer arranged in a stacked configuration to define a sensing area,
which is defined with a plurality of sensing blocks arranged in a
2-D array, and each of the sensing blocks is disposed with a
plurality of sensing points arranged in a 2-D array; and a
controller for scanning a sensing block to determine if it has been
touched and to obtain at least one touched point by scanning the
sensing points within a touched block.
[0016] In one embodiment, the controller includes: a plurality of
activators with each of the activators corresponding to at least
one sensing block for activating its sensing points; a plurality of
detectors with each of the detectors corresponding to at least one
sensing block, such that the capacitance of each activated sensing
point may be detected; and a processor for activating the
activators and detectors to scan the sensing blocks. The processor
performs by: activating and detecting the sensing blocks in
sequence in a manner that for each sensing block, all of its
sensing points are activated simultaneously, followed by
simultaneous detection thereof to obtain a block capacitance; and
designating the detected sensing block as the touched block when
the corresponding block capacitance value is greater than a first
threshold value.
[0017] After the touched block has been determined, the processor
scans the sensing points within the touched block to obtain at
least one touched point. The point-scanning operation includes the
steps of: activating and detecting the sensing points within the
touched block to obtain respective point capacitances; and
designating the sensing point as the touched point when the
corresponding point capacitance is greater than a second threshold
value.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 shows a circuit block diagram for a touch screen of a
sensing device of the instant disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a circuit block diagram of the sensing device
of the instant disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a partial circuit block diagram of another
embodiment for the sensing device of the instant disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a flow chart for a first embodiment of a position
detection method of the instant disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 5 is a flow chart for a second embodiment of the
position detection method of the instant disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 6 is a schematic view for a first embodiment of a first
area obtained in step S50 of the position detection method of the
instant disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 7A is a schematic view for a first embodiment of an
extended area of a first touched point group of the instant
disclosure;
[0025] FIG. 7B is a schematic view for a second embodiment of the
extended area of the first touched point group of the instant
disclosure;
[0026] FIG. 8 is a schematic view for an extended area and an
expanded area of the first touched point group for a first
embodiment of the instant disclosure;
[0027] FIG. 9 is a partial flow chart for a third embodiment of the
position detection method of the instant disclosure;
[0028] FIG. 10 shows a position vector and a second area defined
for the third embodiment of the position detection method of the
instant disclosure; and
[0029] FIG. 11 shows another position vector and another second
area defined for the third embodiment of the position detection
method of the instant disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0030] To begin with, it should be understood that a position
detection method of the instant disclosure is adaptable to a
sensing device capable of receiving position (sensing point)
information. The sensing device may be, but not limited to, touch
screen, digital drawing board, and digital writing board. The
embodiments provided hereinafter are in reference to a touch
sensing device for explanatory purpose, but the scope of the
instant disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, when the
provided embodiments mention touch sensing, if the sensing device
is a touch screen, then touch sensing is achieved by a user's hand
or a stylus. In the case of a digital drawing board, touch sensing
is performed by a touch element, such as a touch pen. If the
sensing device is a digital writing board, touch sensing would be
accomplished via an input device, such as the hand of a user or the
touch pen.
[0031] The position detection method of the instant disclosure is
applicable to touch events generated by hand, stylus, or some other
input device. For the embodiments provided hereinafter and appended
claims, terms such as "touch", "touched", and "touched point" are
used, which are meant for "input", "inputted", and "input point",
respectively, and applicable to above mentioned sensing devices. It
should be understood that the use of the terms "touch", "touched",
and "touched point" do not limit the scope of the instant
disclosure.
[0032] In the following descriptions, a semi-transparent sensing
device 10 is used for exemplary purpose, but the instant disclosure
is not limited thereto. For example, if the position detection
method is applied to digital drawing or writing boards, the sensing
device 10 may be non-transparent.
[0033] Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a circuit block diagram
for the sensing device 10 of a touch screen of the instant
disclosure. As can be seen, the touch screen comprises the sensing
device 10 (also called touch device herein), a host 30, and a
display 32. The sensing device 10 includes a controller 12 (also
called a touch controller herein), a first sensing layer 20, and a
second sensing layer 22.
[0034] The first sensing layer 20 is stacked over the second
sensing layer 22. An insulating layer (not shown) may be sandwiched
between the first and second sensing layers 20 and 22. For the
instant embodiment, the first sensing layer 20 includes a plurality
of first electrically conductive elements, such as 21a and 21b,
arranged parallelly. Similarly, the second sensing layer 22
includes a plurality of second electrically conductive elements,
such as 23a and 23b, arranged parallelly. As can be seen form a top
view, the first electrically conductive elements 21a and 21b and
second electrically conductive elements 23a and 23b define a plane
coordinate system. For the instant embodiment, a Cartesian
coordinate system is provided but is not limited thereto.
Alternatively, an absolute coordinate system, non-right-angled
coordinate system, or some other plane coordinate system may also
be used.
[0035] The conductive elements 21a, 21b, 23a, and 23b mentioned
above have bar-type geometry, but are not restricted thereto.
Meanwhile, the overlapping of the conductive elements 21a and 21b
with 23a and 23b can form a diamond shaped pattern, if seen from a
top view. Optionally, the conductive elements 21a, 21b, 23a, and
23b may be arranged coplanarly on a single sensing layer.
[0036] The display 32 is disposed underneath the second sensing
layer 22. With the first and second sensing layers 20 and 22 being
transparent or semi-transparent, when the display 32 is showing
visual information, the user may see through the first and second
sensing layers 20 and 22 to view the content shown by the display
32. That is to say the light emitted from the display 32 can be
projected through the first and second sensing layers 20 and 22 in
reaching the eyes of a viewer.
[0037] When the touch screen is in operation, the host 30 utilizes
the display 32 to present the content intended for the user. When
the user makes a touch to the sensing device 10, the touched
(inputted) coordinates are transmitted by the sensing device 10
back to the host 30, for further processing by a central processing
unit (CPU) 34 embedded in the host 30. The processing is dependent
of the software application that corresponds to the display
position identified by the touched coordinates on the display 32.
For example, the CPU 34 may initialize a particular software
application, display a mark of touch pen, etc. The area of the
display 32 for showing the content is typically referred to as an
active area (AA) 36, which corresponds to the sensing area 24
jointly defined by the first and second sensing layers 20 and 22.
The sensing area 24 is capable of detecting whether the user has
made a touch to the sensing device 10.
[0038] Next, the controller 12 includes an activating/detecting
unit 14, a memory unit 16, and a processor 18. The
activating/detecting unit 14 includes an activating element 140 and
a detecting element 145, both of which can be integrated into a
single element or kept separate depending on design preference.
[0039] To detect a user's touch, the controller 12 may utilize
self-capacitance or mutual capacitance method. For the
self-capacitance method, the processor 18 controls the
activating/detecting unit 14 to activate the first electrically
conductive elements, 21a and 21b and then detects the same. Same
operations may be applied to the second electrically conductive
elements 23a and 23b. More specifically, the activating/detecting
unit 14 may activate one of the first electrically conductive
elements, like 21a, and then detects the self-capacitance of this
conductive element. In particular, self-capacitance may be
estimated by measuring the time-to-charge-to-set-voltage (TCSV) or
the voltage-after-charging-for-a-set-time (VACST). It should be
understood that the measurement of self-capacitance is referring
to: the act of activating and detecting one of the first
electrically conductive elements, such as 21a or 21b, or one of the
second electrically conductive elements, such as 23a or 23b, in a
given time period by the activating/detecting unit 14. Thus, when a
change in capacitance is detected, the detection is indicating the
capacitance value for one of the first electrically conductive
elements, such as 21a or 21b, or one of the second electrically
conductive elements, such as 23a or 23b, has changed. This change
in capacitance of a single electrically conductive element is only
suggesting that a particular horizontal or vertical position has
been touched, rather than a coordinate pair of a specific
point.
[0040] On the other hand, for measuring mutual capacitance, one of
the first electrically conductive elements, such as 21a, and one of
the second electrically conductive elements, such as 23a, are
selected by the activating/detecting unit 14 for activation and
detection. In this manner, the measured mutual capacitance is of
the intersecting point defined by the selected first and second
electrically conductive elements 21a and 23a. Thus, the detected
mutual capacitance corresponds to a specific point within the
coordinate system. That is to say if a mutual capacitance value has
changed, it can be said that a specific point within the coordinate
system has been touched. This measurement method normally, but is
not limited thereto, first measures the mutual capacitance at the
intersection points between one particular first electrically
conductive element, such as 21a, and each of the second
electrically conductive elements, like 23a and 23b, in sequence.
Like measurements are performed for another first electrically
conductive element, such as 21b, in an identical fashion until all
of the intersection points within the coordinate system have been
measured. The above procedures belong to activating and detecting
the touch screen in a single pass. When in use, the activating and
detecting operations are to be repeated continuously. The following
descriptions are all based on the mutual capacitance method.
However, the scope of the instant disclosure is not restricted to
this method.
[0041] Notably, the activation and detection of the conductive
elements may be carried out by way of number counting. That is, the
first conductive elements can be individually indexed 1, 2, 3, 4,
and so forth, starting from one side of the sensing device 10 and
progressing toward the opposite side thereof. Based on the assigned
index value, the conductive elements for activation/detection can
be count by ones, such as 1, 2, 3, and so forth. Another approach
is to count by twos such as 1, 3, 5, and so forth. In such
scenario, after the odd-indexed conductive elements have been
activated and detected, the even-indexed conductive elements such
as 2, 4, 6, and so forth can undergo activation and detection,
until all of the conductive elements within a sensing layer have
been activated and detected in a single pass.
[0042] For the above-described activating/detecting operation, only
one conductive element is activated and then detected at a time.
However, in practice, the activating/detecting operation is not
restricted thereto. For example, in a single pass, all or some of
the electrically conductive elements (first and second electrically
conductive elements) may be activated simultaneously. The
activation is followed by simultaneous detection of activated
conductive elements. In the case of activating the first
electrically conductive elements, such as 21a and 21b, the odd
indexed electrically conductive elements, as represented by 21a,
can first be activated and detected. Then, the even indexed
electrically conductive elements, as represented by 21b, can be
activated and detected. The utilization of simultaneous activation
of conductive elements followed by simultaneous detection of
activated conductive elements reduces the time of
activating/detecting operations in a single pass significantly.
[0043] Please refer to FIG. 2, which shows a block diagram of a
circuit within the sensing device 10. For explanatory purpose, the
figure shows nine first electrically conductive elements and 32
second electrically conductive element. However, the instant
disclosure is not restricted thereto.
[0044] As can be seen from FIG. 2, the controller 12 comprises the
activating/detecting unit 14, the memory unit 16, and the processor
18. The activating/detecting unit 14 includes the activation and
detection elements 140 and 145. The activation element 140 may
include a first activator 141, a second activator 142, and a third
activator 143. The detection element 145 may include a first
detector 146, a second detector 147, a third detector 148, and a
fourth detector 149. The activation and detection elements 140 and
145 may be grouped into a single integrated circuit (IC) or kept as
two separate integrated circuits. Another approach is to integrate
the first activator 141 and the first detector 146 into a single
integrated circuit, the second activator 142 and the second
detector 147 into another integrated circuit, and so forth.
Although for the description provided hereinbelow is based on
keeping the activation element 140 and detection element 145 as
separate elements, but the instant disclosure is not restricted
thereto.
[0045] As shown in FIG. 2, each of the activators 141, 142, and 143
corresponds to three first electrically conductive elements, as
represented by 21a and 21b. Each of the detectors 146, 147, 148,
and 149 corresponds to eight second electrically conductive
elements, as represented by 23a and 23b. However, the instant
disclosure is not restricted to the above configuration. In
particular, each of the intersecting locations between the first
and second electrically conductive elements is recognized as a
sensing point, such as 240 and 241 (detection of mutual
capacitance). A closer look of the figure shows all of the sensing
points, like 240 and 241, are grouped into 12 sensing blocks
denoted by B11, B21, B31, B12, B22, B32, B13, B23, B33, B14, B24,
and B34. The groups are arranged in a 2-D array, and the grouping
is based on the positional relationship between the sensing points
and the activators and the detectors. Within each of the sensing
blocks, a total of 24 sensing points are arranged in a 2-D as well.
For the instant embodiment, each of the activators 141, 142 and 143
corresponds to four sensing blocks. As an example, the first
activator 141 corresponds to the sensing blocks B11, B12, B13, and
B14. Meanwhile, each of the detectors 146, 147, 148, and 149
corresponds to three sensing blocks. An example may be the first
detector 146 corresponding to the sensing blocks B11, B21, and B31.
Although the relationship of correspondence is described as above,
the instant disclosure is not restricted thereto. An alternative
configuration is for each activator 141, 142, and 143 corresponding
to one sensing block only, and the same can be applied to the
detectors 146, 147, 148, and 149.
[0046] Each of the activators 141, 142, and 143 is to activate the
sensing points within the corresponding sensing blocks. The sensing
points may be activated either simultaneously or successively. Both
activation methods are utilized for the instant disclosure. Using
the first activator 141 as an example, for simultaneous activation,
the first activator 141 is put under the control of the processor
18 (or CPU 34), and all of the sensing points disposed within the
corresponding sensing blocks B11, B12, B13, and B14 are activated
simultaneously. The activation is achieved by the activator 141,
which supplies voltage signals to and electrically charges all of
the sensing points within the sensing blocks B11, B12, B13, and
B14. On the other hand, for successive activation method, the first
activator 141 begins by activating the first electrically
conductive element 21a arranged across the sensing blocks B11, B12,
B13, and B14. After the first electrically conductive element 21a
has been activated, the first activator 141 proceeds to activate
the next first electrically conductive element in sequence, such as
21b.
[0047] Once the corresponding sensing blocks have been activated,
the detectors 146, 147, 148, and 149 are to detect the capacitances
of all of the sensing points within these sensing blocks. Likewise,
the sensing points may be detected either simultaneously or
successively. Using the first detector 146 as an example, for
simultaneous detection, the first detector 146 is put under the
control of the processor 18 (or CPU 34), and the capacitances of
all of the sensing points within the sensing block B11 (assuming
activated) are detected simultaneously. The detected capacitances
may be viewed as the block capacitance of the sensing block. On the
other hand, for successive detection, the first detector 146 is
again under the control of the processor (or CPU 34), and the
capacitance of each second electrically conductive element, such as
23a and 23b, is detected successively. The detected capacitances
are of respective sensing points. The detector may further convert
the capacitances of all the sensing points within the same sensing
block into the block capacitance, by any of the appropriate
conversion relationships, empirical values, or tables, etc.
[0048] It should be understood that "scanning of the sensing block"
may be defined by the following scenarios, but not limited to: 1)
simultaneous activation of the sensing points followed by
simultaneous detection of the same; and 2) simultaneous activation
of the sensing points followed by successive detection of the same.
That is to say, when a specific sensing block is activated, all of
its sensing points are activated simultaneously. These sensing
points are then detected simultaneously or successively to obtain
the block capacitance. As an example, for simultaneous activation
and simultaneous detection of activated sensing points, the sensing
blocks B11, B12, B13, and B14 may be activated simultaneously.
Then, all of the activated sensing points within the sensing block
B11 are detected simultaneously. Thus, the block capacitance of all
the sensing points, such as 240 and 241, for the sensing block B11
can be obtained. Next, proceeding in the column direction of the
array, all of the activated sensing points within the sensing block
B12 are detected simultaneously, in order to obtain its block
capacitance. Same procedures may be repeated for other sensing
blocks in a top-to-bottom direction for each column within the 2-D
array.
[0049] Besides the above detection sequence, an alternate approach
may be proceeding in a left-to-right direction for each row within
the 2-D array, that is: B11, B21, B31, B12, B22, B32, B13, B23,
B33, B14, B24, and B34. Still yet, another option is to activate
and detect each sensing block randomly. Therefore, the concept of
"simultaneous" is referring to activating all of the sensing points
within a given sensing block at the same time, followed by
detecting all of the activated sensing points at the same time. For
simultaneous activation, a charge pump may be employed to ensure
the activators 141, 142, and 143 have enough energy to perform its
function.
[0050] Another topic for simultaneous detection is to avoid
generating parasitic capacitance between conductive elements in
close proximity, such as between the second electrically conductive
elements 23a and 23b along the axis-H. Parasitic capacitance could
adversely affect the accuracy of detected capacitances. To minimize
this adverse effect, the closely spaced conductive elements 23a and
23b may be detected by different detectors, such as 146 and 147.
For example, the capacitance of the conductive element 23a may be
detected by the first detector 146, and the capacitance of the
conductive element 23b may be detected by the second detector 147.
More specifically, as best illustrated in FIG. 3, the second
electrically conductive elements may be indexed from 1-32 in a
top-to-bottom direction. In other words, for even distribution, the
conductive elements indexed 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, and 25-32 correspond
to the sensing blocks B31, B32, B33, and B34, respectively. For
detection and to mitigate the effect of parasitic capacitance, one
applicable arrangement (not shown) would be as follows: the first
half of the odd indexed conductive elements (i.e., 1, 3, 5 . . .
15) are detected by the first detector 146; the first half of the
even indexed conductive elements (i.e., 2, 4, 6, . . . 16) are
detected by the second detector 147; the second half of the odd
indexed conductive elements (i.e., 17, 19, 21 . . . 31) are
detected by the third detector 148; and the second half of the even
indexed conductive elements (i.e., 18, 20, 22, . . . 32) are
detected by the fourth detector 149. As shown in FIG. 3, another
option is to count the number by fours, such that the conductive
elements indexed 1, 5, 9, 13 . . . are detected by the first
detector 146, and so forth for other detectors. For measuring the
block capacitance based on the above implementations, the effect of
parasitic capacitance can be reduced when the conductive elements
measured by the same detector are non-adjacent to one another.
[0051] Instead of activating the activators 141, 142, and 143 one
after the other, they may be activated by the processor 18
simultaneously (or called total activation). In this manner, the
activators 141, 142, and 143 would start activate all of the
sensing points within the corresponding sensing blocks all at the
same time. However, please be aware the present scenario only means
the activators 141, 142, and 143 simultaneously start the step of
activating the sensing points within corresponding sensing blocks,
with the sensing points being activatable simultaneously or
successively. Using FIG. 2 as an example, assuming the activators
141, 142, and 143 start to operate simultaneously, which means
activating the corresponding sensing blocks simultaneously (i.e.,
all of the sensing blocks). Yet, based on the processor 18, each of
the activators 141, 142, 143 may opt to either activate all of the
sensing points within the corresponding sensing blocks
simultaneously or successively. Put another way, the statement
"activating the sensing blocks simultaneously so as to activate the
sensing points within each sensing block" implies two
possibilities: 1) all of the sensing points within each of the
sensing blocks are activated simultaneously; and 2) all of the
sensing points within each of the sensing blocks are activated
successively beginning at the same time.
[0052] Next, the processor 18 may activate the detectors 146, 147,
148, and 149 simultaneously, so that all of the activated sensing
points within each of the sensing blocks may be detected
simultaneously or successively to obtain a corresponding block
capacitance. Again, using FIG. 2 as an example, assuming the
detectors 146, 147, 148, and 149 are activated simultaneously for
detecting capacitances of the sensing blocks. Then, all of the
sensing points within each of the sensing blocks may be detected
either simultaneously or successively. Nevertheless, regardless of
simultaneous or successive detection, the result is a capacitance
value representing a sensing block.
[0053] Now please refer back to FIG. 3. As briefly mentioned
previously, the indexed conductive elements are matched to
respective detectors in a certain way to mitigate the effect of
parasitic capacitance. That is, the interaction between the
detectors 146, 147, 148, and 149 and the sensing blocks B31, B32,
B33, and B34 (i.e., partial block diagram of a circuit for the
sensing device 10) is described by the following relationship: the
second conductive elements indexed 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, and 29
correspond to the first detector 146; the second conductive
elements indexed 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, and 30 correspond to the
second detector 147; the second conductive elements indexed 3, 7,
11, 15, 19, 23, 27, and 31 correspond to the third detector 148;
and the second conductive elements indexed 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24,
28, and 32 correspond to the fourth detector 149. Therefore, during
the detection stage, all four detectors 146, 147, 148, and 149 may
operate simultaneously, and within the corresponding sensing
blocks, each of the second conductive elements may be detected
successively. Hence, the detection time and the effect of parasitic
capacitance may be reduced.
[0054] After the capacitance of each sensing block has been
obtained, the processor 18 proceeds to compare if each obtained
value is greater than a first threshold value to determine whether
any detected sensing block has been touched or not (to be discussed
in detail later).
[0055] The following description is provided to discuss the
position detection method and the sensing device using the same of
the instant disclosure. The description is provided in conjunction
with FIGS. 2 and 4, with FIG. 4 showing a flow chart of a first
embodiment of the position detection method. The position detection
method includes the steps of:
[0056] S40: scanning a sensing block to determine if it has been
touched; and
[0057] S45: scanning the sensing points within a touched block to
obtain a touched point.
[0058] As described before, the scanning operation in step S40 is
implemented as follows. The processor 18 (or CPU 34) activates each
of the activators 141, 142, and 143 either simultaneously or
successively, so that the sensing blocks corresponding to each of
the activators 141, 142, and 143 can be activated. Next, the
processor 18 proceeds to activate each of the detectors 146, 147,
148, and 149 simultaneously or successively to detect the activated
sensing blocks for obtaining the block capacitances. Based on FIG.
2, for a total of 12 sensing blocks, each corresponding block
capacitance can be obtained after the sensing blocks have been
scanned.
[0059] Then, the processor (or the CPU 34) determines if the
capacitance of each sensing block is greater than the first
threshold value. If it is true, the sensing block is determined to
be touched. The first threshold value may be a pre-determined value
selected by the manufacturer based on testing or dependent of the
ambient temperature and humidity. Put another way, the first
threshold value may vary according to the ambient temperature and
humidity of the sensing device 10. Further yet, the first threshold
value may be obtained by adding a block capacitance differential to
a block background signal value. With respect to each sensing
block, the block background signal value may be a pre-determined
block capacitance for untouched state, and the block capacitance
differential may be the block capacitance when one or more sensing
points are touched. For example, the block capacitance differential
may be the sum of capacitance of each sensing point within the
sensing block (to be discussed in detail later). The above
configuration allows greater sensitivity for touch sensing.
[0060] For step S45, the touched block is point-scanned for touched
point. The point-scanning involves activating and detecting each of
the sensing points successively within the touched block. As an
example, for the sensing block B11, the first activator 141 first
activates the left-most first conductive element 21a, followed by
the first detector 146 detecting each of the second conductive
elements 23a and 23b successively within the touched block. Thus,
the point capacitance of each sensing point formed by the
intersection of the left-most first conductive element 21a and
eight second conductive elements 23a and 23b can be obtained. Then,
the first activator 141 proceeds to activate the next first
conductive element, namely 21b, followed by the first detector 146
detecting each of the second conductive elements 23a and 23b
successively within the area. Thus, the point capacitance of each
sensing point formed by the intersection of the second first
conductive element 21a from the left and eight second conductive
elements 23a and 23b can be obtained. Based on such manner, the
point capacitances for all of the sensing points such as 240 and
241 within the sensing block B11 can be obtained.
[0061] Next, based on the obtained point capacitances, the
processor (or the CPU 34) determines if any is greater than a
second threshold value. If it is true, the corresponding sensing
point is determined to have been touched with embedded coordination
information. After one of the sensing blocks has been
point-scanned, one or more touched point can be identified based on
the operating condition.
[0062] The second threshold value may be pre-determined by the
manufacturer as the point capacitance when at least one sensing
point is touched. Other choice could be the average capacitance or
the mode of the point capacitances when all of the sensing points
within a sensing block are touched. Further yet, the second
threshold value could even be three times (+/-) of the average
capacitance. Thus, when the detected capacitance falls within the
above range, the corresponding sensing point is deemed to be
touched and is referred to as touched point. Nevertheless, an
alternative approach is to relate the second threshold value to the
ambient temperature and humidity when the sensing device 10 is in
use. Still another option is to let the second threshold value be
obtained by adding a point capacitance differential value to a
point background signal value. The point background signal value
being the point capacitance of the untouched state and is
pre-selected by the manufacturer based on testing. This capacitance
may also be related to ambient temperature and humidity.
Afterwards, the point capacitance for touched state is obtained by
testing, and the resulting difference in comparing to the untouched
state gives the point capacitance differential.
[0063] If no touched block is detected after point-scanning, step
S40 is repeated.
[0064] Hence, by executing steps S40 and S45, the sensing area 24
can be quickly detected for any touched point. In addition, when
only one single sensing point is touched, in the case of the
sensing area 24 as illustrated in FIG. 2, the conventional method
requires the area to be detected 288 times (i.e., 9 sensing
blocks*32 sensing points). However, for the present detection
method, the number of required detection is 36 times (3*4 block
capacitances+3*8 point capacitance). It is evident the number of
required detection is sharply reduced, which results in higher
detection efficiency. Furthermore, the detection method of the
instant disclosure employs block-scanning, therefore the detection
sensitivity is higher.
[0065] Please refer to FIG. 5, which illustrates the detection
method of a second embodiment. As can be seen from the figure, the
detection method comprises the steps of:
[0066] S40: block-scanning a sensing block and determining if the
block has been touched;
[0067] S45: point-scanning the sensing points within the touched
block to obtain a touched point;
[0068] S50: obtaining a first area based on the touched point, with
the first area having a multiplicity of sensing points and the
touched point; and
[0069] S55: activating and detecting the sensing points within the
first area to obtain another touched point.
[0070] For the ease of explanation, the touched point or points in
step S45 is universally referred to as the first touched point.
Based on the same concept, the other touched point or points in
step S50 is referred to as the second touched point. The location
of the first touched point may be the same as that of the second
touched point.
[0071] Since steps S40 and S45 are similar to the ones in the first
embodiment, no further elaboration will be given herein.
[0072] Referring to FIG. 6, which is a schematic view showing a
first embodiment of obtaining the first area in step S50. The
figure is based on the assumption that only one single touched
point is detected in step S45 and having a coordinate pair of (X1,
Y1).
[0073] In step S50, a first area 246 is obtained based on the
touched point and a measuring breadth M (also referred to as
"tracking breadth"). The center of the first area 246 is defined by
the coordinate pair of the touched point, and the area is obtained
by extending horizontally and vertically in both positive and
negative directions by the measuring breadth M from the center to
define an extended area. In other words, the center coordinates of
the first area 246 are (X1, Y1), which is an extended area based on
the measuring breadth M. The measuring breadth M is obtained by
dividing a predetermined movement speed V by a sampling rate K
(i.e., M=V/K). The movement speed V may be the maximum speed of a
moving hand, with the movement speed V ranging from, but is not
limited to, 50 to 90 cm/s. In practice, if the sensing device 10
has a relatively high surface friction, the predetermined movement
speed V may be set to a smaller value. Conversely, for smaller
surface friction, the predetermined movement speed V should be set
to a higher value. Study reports have suggested the maximum speed
of a moving hand is 76 cm/s, but is not limited thereto and will
vary depending on the type of the sensing device. The unit of the
measuring sampling rate K is Hertz (Hz), which indicates the number
of activation/detection operations completed by the sensing device
in a time period of one second (i.e., frequency). The measuring
sampling rate K is related to the software, firmware, and hardware
of the sensing device.
[0074] Meanwhile, the measuring breadth M can be set to different
values for horizontal and vertical directions. For example, the
measuring breadths M for the horizontal direction and vertical
direction may be half of the width and height, respectively, of the
previously mentioned sensing block. This way, the size of the first
area 246 will be the same as the previously mentioned sensing
block.
[0075] In the above discussion, the multi-directional extension is
based on a right-angled coordinate system. That is to say the
positive and negative horizontal directions refer to the positive
and negative directions of the x-axis, and the positive and
negative vertical directions are referring to the positive and
negative directions of the y-axis. Therefore, the extended area is
represented by the rectangular illustration having coordinate pairs
of (X1-M, Y1-M), (X1-M, Y1+M), (X1+M, Y1+M), and (X1+M, Y1-M). For
example, if (X1, Y1) corresponds to (380, 160) and the measuring
breadth M is equal to 40 grid points, then the extended area is
defined by a rectangle having coordinate pairs (340, 120), (340,
200), (420, 200), and (420, 120).
[0076] After the extended area has been obtained, it acts as the
first area 246, with the first touched point (X1, Y1) being the
center of the first area 246. The size of the first area 246 may be
the same or different from the previously mentioned sensing
block.
[0077] Next, for step S45, an assumption of multiple touched points
(i.e., first touched points) is discussed hereinbelow. In
particular, a single group comprising adjacent first touched points
is referred to as first touched point group. The term "adjacent"
herein may be defined as first touched points next to each other
spaced by a minimum grid resolution in a grid system. An
alternative definition may be the distance between adjacent first
touched points being less than or equal to the measuring breadth M,
or further still being less than or equal to twice the measuring
breadth M. Further details regarding the above definitions are
provided hereinbelow.
[0078] Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 7A. FIG. 7A shows a first
embodiment of the extended area of the first touched points.
[0079] Based on FIG. 5, when multiple first touched points are
obtained, the processor 18 executes the following steps:
[0080] S500: defining a plurality of extended areas based on each
first touched point as center point and extending therefrom by a
distance of measuring breadth in both positive and negative
directions horizontally and vertically;
[0081] S502: designating an expansion area that includes
overlapping extended areas; and
[0082] S504: designating the expansion area and any non-overlapped
extended area as the first area.
[0083] From FIG. 7A, it can be seen the touched coordinates include
eight first touched points, with the right-most, left-most,
top-most, and bottom-most points being named PR, PL, PT, and PB,
respectively. These first touched points exhibit the "adjacent"
relationship separated by the minimum grid resolution therebetween.
After step S500 has been implemented, eight extended areas are
defined with overlapping characteristic. The right-most, left-most,
top-most, and bottom-most extended areas are labeled as ZR, ZL, ZT,
and ZB, respectively. When executing step S504, the processor 18
designates an expansion area 248 based on the overlapped extended
areas. The extent of the expansion area 248 is defined by the right
border of the extended area ZR, the left border of the extended
area ZL, the top border of the extended area ZT, and the bottom
border of the extended area ZB.
[0084] It should be noted that for the embodiment shown in FIG. 7A,
there is no non-overlapping extended area. Thus, for step S504, the
abovementioned expansion area 248 is taken as the first area. That
is to say the processor 18 will activate and detect the sensing
points of the first area only. Hence, the sensing device 10 does
not have to activate/detect the entire sensing area 24, thus the
detection time can be reduced with increased efficiency.
[0085] Next, please refer to FIG. 7B, which is a schematic view
showing a second embodiment of the extended areas of the first
touched points. It can be seen from the left side of the figure,
two first touched points P1 and P2 are separated by a distance of
less than the measuring breadth M. While on the right side of the
figure, the two first touched points P3 and P4 are separated by a
distance of less than two times the measuring breadth M. After the
processor 18 has carried out step S500, the resulting four extended
areas Z1, Z2, Z3, and Z4 are obtained, with Z1 and Z2 being
overlapped, and Z3 and Z4 being overlapped. Thus, after the
processor 18 has performed step S502, two expansion areas E1 and E2
are obtained. Next, the processor 18 executes step S504 to
designate the expansion areas E1 and E2 as the first area 246. The
processor 18 then activates/detects the first area in step S55.
[0086] It should be noted that for the two extended areas Z3 and Z4
(the distance between points P3 and P4 is greater than the
measuring breadth M but less than two times thereof), in practice,
may be defined as a single expansion area or otherwise depending on
the actual operation without restriction.
[0087] Next, please refer to FIG. 8 in conjunction with FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of the
expansion and extended areas of the first touched group.
[0088] Based on FIG. 8, the first touched group includes two
coordinate groups G1 and G2 and a single first touched point P5.
After step S502 has been implemented, two expansion areas E3 and E4
are obtained from the coordinate groups G1 and G2, while an
extended area Z5 is defined from the first touched point P5. Next,
when implementing step S504, the expansion areas E3 and E4 and the
extended area Z5 are designated as the first area 246, which is to
be activated/detected by the processor 18 to obtain another touched
point (i.e., second touched point).
[0089] For another embodiment of the instant disclosure, please
refer to FIGS. 5, 9, and 10. FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of a
third embodiment of the detection method of the instant disclosure.
The third embodiment is a continuation of the first embodiment
shown in FIG. 5. In other words, the detection method of the third
embodiment includes the steps of S40, S45, S50, and S55 of the
method in FIG. 5, along with the following steps:
[0090] Step S60: obtaining a position vector based on the touched
point (first touched point) and another touched point (second
touched point);
[0091] Step S62: obtaining a second area based on the other touched
point and position vector; and
[0092] Step S64: activating/detecting the sensing points within the
second area.
[0093] Based on the above, a first touched point P6 and a second
touched point P7 are obtained in steps S45 and S55, respectively.
Thus, in step S60, the first touched point P6 is selected as the
starting point of a vector VR, with the second touched point P7
being the end point. Hence, the position vector VR can be obtained,
which includes a direction (angle) and a scalar (length). The angle
represents the direction in which the user continuously touching
the sensing area 24, while the scalar indicates the distance that
the user has touched and moved continuously between the previous
(step S45) and current (step S55) detections. If the first and
second touched points P6 and P7 happen to have the same
coordinates, no vector will be obtained, and the processor 18 will
implement steps S50 and S55 in FIG. 5. The following description is
based on the condition when the first and second touched points P6
and P7 have different coordinates.
[0094] In step S62, a second area 247b is obtained based on the
other touched point P7 (second touched point) and the position
vector VR. The second area includes a multiplicity of sensing
points such as 240 and 241. The second touched point P7 deviates
from the center point of the second area 247b in a direction
opposite of the position vector VR. The deviation is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the position vector VR.
[0095] Please refer to FIG. 10, which is a schematic view showing
the position vector and the second area of the detection method for
the third embodiment of the instant disclosure. As can be seen, the
position vector VR is directed toward the upper right-hand corner
at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. In other words, based on
the first touched point P6, the user touches continuously toward
the upper right-hand corner at an angle of approximately 45
degrees. Based on the second embodiment of the instant disclosure,
the extended area obtained is defined by extending from the second
touched point P7 as the center point, in order to form the extended
area 247a. However, for the present embodiment, the direction of
continuous touching by the user is taken into consideration. As can
be seen from FIG. 10, the second area 247b has a center location
C1. The second touched point P7 deviates from the center location
C1 in a direction toward the lower left-hand corner by an angle of
approximately 45 degrees. In other words, within the second area
247b obtain in step S62, the second touched point P7 deviates from
the center point of the second area 247b in a direction opposite of
the position vector VR. The extent of deviation is directly
proportional to the magnitude (i.e., scalar) of the position
vector.
[0096] The deviation and position vector VR may be related to the
previously mentioned measuring breadth M. In other words, the
measuring breadth M corresponds to a built-in movement speed and a
predetermined distance (amount of movement). When the scalar of the
position vector VR matches the built-in movement speed, that means
the deviation is equivalent to the predetermined distance. If the
scalar is greater, the resulting deviation would be greater than
the predetermined distance. On the other hand, the deviation may be
determined by multiplying the position vector VR to the
predetermined distance and divided by the built-in movement speed.
Likewise, if the scalar is smaller, the resulting deviation would
be less than the predetermined distance.
[0097] Referring to FIG. 11, which illustrates another embodiment
for step S62. If the first touched point P6 is replaced by the
second touched point P7 in step S55, the extended area 247a can be
obtained. However, for another embodiment of obtaining the second
area, another second area 247c is defined with a multiplicity of
sensing points and is sized in proportion to the magnitude of the
position vector VR. In other words, the extent of the second area
247c is related to the measuring breadth M and the built-in
movement speed. When the scalar of the position vector VR matches
the built-in movement speed, the second area 247c is defined as a
rectangular region with each of the lengths and widths being twice
of the measuring breadth M. If the scalar does not match the
built-in movement speed, the lengths and widths (being 2x of the
measuring breadth M) of the second area 247c is multiplied by a
scaling factor. The scaling factor may be calculated as the scalar
of the position vector VR divided by the built-in movement speed.
The second area 247c shown in FIG. 11 is based on the scalar of the
position vector VR being greater than the built-in movement
speed.
[0098] For another second area 247d shown in FIG. 11, not only is
the scaling factor of the extended area being considered, but the
direction of the position vector VR is also taken into
consideration. From this figure, it can be seen the second area
247d deviated from the second touched position by a certain
distance directed toward the upper right-hand corner. Description
of the magnitude of deviation has already been provided
hereinbefore.
[0099] Next, based on step S64 shown in FIG. 9, the sensing points
disposed within the second areas 247b, 247c and 247d are
activated/detected to obtain another touched point (referred to as
a third touched point). Thereby, the processor 18 can monitor the
continuous touch motion of the user in a more precise manner, and
the activation/detection steps can be carried out more quickly.
After step S64 has been completed, the next step to follow could be
step S50 or S60. When the next touched point has the same location
as the previous touched point, step S50 may be used to obtain the
next area (first area) for activation/detection. Alternatively,
touched points having the same locations may be discarded, and the
second area obtained by step S62 may be used again for
activation/detection.
[0100] For the previously mentioned steps S60, S62, and S64, it
should be noted that the description is based on a single touched
point, but is not restricted thereto. If multiple second touched
points P7 are obtained by the processor 18, steps S60, S62, and S64
may adopt the approach used by steps S50 and S55 to determine the
second area. In addition, the center location of this second area
does not have to be the absolute center position. Instead, an
approximate center is allowable.
[0101] While the instant disclosure has been described by way of
example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be
understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed
embodiments. For anyone skilled in the art, various modifications
and improvements within the spirit of the instant disclosure are
covered under the scope of the instant disclosure. The covered
scope of the instant disclosure is based on the appended
claims.
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