Force-sensitive user input interface for an electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10514797-B2
Application number	US-201715490760-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2017
Priority date	Apr 18, 2017
Publication date	Dec 24, 2019
Grant date	Dec 24, 2019

Abstract

A method includes one or more processors of an electronic device receiving signals from multiple sensors located along an edge of the device. The signals are received in response to external contact being provided to the edge of the device. At least one processor determines a distribution of forces applied to the sensors based on the input signals. Based on the determined distribution of forces, the processor determines: i) a location of the external contact that is offset from a location of each of the multiple sensors, and ii) a magnitude of the force of the external contact. The processor detects whether sensing criteria has been satisfied based on an analysis of: i) the location of the external contact and ii) the magnitude of the force of the external contact. Responsive to detecting that sensing criteria has been satisfied, the processor executes a user input action.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors of an electronic device, input signals from multiple sensors located along an edge of the electronic device, the input signals being generated in response to external contact detected by the multiple sensors;
determining, by the one or more processors and based on the input signals, a distribution of forces that were detected by the multiple sensors;
determining, by the one or more processors and based on the determined distribution of forces, a location of the external contact, wherein the location of the external contact is:
i) intermediate at least two adjacent sensors of the multiple sensors, and
ii) offset from a location of each of the at least two adjacent sensors;

determining, by the one or more processors and based on the determined distribution of forces, a magnitude of a force of the external contact, wherein the electronic device includes a first substrate layer and a second substrate layer that are each disposed between an exterior surface of the electronic device and the multiple sensors, and determining the magnitude of the force of the external contact comprises:
i) normalizing parameter values of the received input signals based on a first deflection property of the first substrate layer, and a second deflection property of the second substrate layer that is different than the first deflection property, and
ii) determining, based on the normalized parameter values, the magnitude of the force of the external contact;

detecting, by the one or more processors, whether sensing criteria have been satisfied based on an analysis of:
i) the determined location of the external contact, and
ii) the determined magnitude of the force of the external contact; and

executing, by the one or more processors, responsive to detecting that the sensing criteria have been satisfied, a user input action.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the distribution forces includes generating a distribution profile by:
i) executing Gaussian distribution logic to generate a data structure comprising parameter values for input signals generated by the multiple sensors in response to the external contact, and
ii) determining, based on at least a subset of the parameter values, the location of the external contact.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
i) the location of the external contact is a central location of the external contact;
ii) the central location of the external contact is intermediate the at least two adjacent sensors of the multiple sensors; and
iii) the central location of the external contact is offset from the location of each of the at least two adjacent sensors.

4. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors of an electronic device, input signals from multiple sensors located along an edge of the electronic device, the input signals being generated in response to external contact detected by the multiple sensors;
determining, by the one or more processors and based on the input signals, a distribution of forces that were detected by the multiple sensors;
determining, by the one or more processors and based on the determined distribution of forces, a location of the external contact, wherein the location of the external contact is:
i) intermediate at least two adjacent sensors of the multiple sensors, and
ii) offset from a location of each of the at least two adjacent sensors;

determining, by the one or more processors and based on the determined distribution of forces, a magnitude of a force of the external contact, wherein determining the magnitude of the force of the external contact comprises:
i) identifying, based on a signal received from a sensor of the electronic device, a property of a protective housing in which the electronic device is encased,
ii) normalizing parameter values of the received input signals based on the property of the protective housing, and
iii) determining, based on the normalized parameter values, the magnitude of the force of the external contact;

detecting, by the one or more processors, whether sensing criteria have been satisfied based on an analysis of:
i) the determined location of the external contact, and
ii) the determined magnitude of the force of the external contact, and

executing, by the one or more processors, responsive to detecting that the sensing criteria have been satisfied, a user input action.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein identifying the property of the protective housing comprises:
i) detecting that the electronic device has been received by the protective housing,
ii) in response to detecting that the electronic device has been received by the protective housing, identifying machine-readable data that is affixed to the protective housing, and
iii) identifying, based on the machine-readable data, the property of the protective housing.

6. An electronic system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage devices storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to cause performance of operations that comprise:
receiving, by one or more processors of an electronic device, input signals from multiple sensors located along an edge of the electronic device, the input signals being generated in response to external contact detected by the multiple sensors;
determining, by the one or more processors and based on the input signals, a distribution of forces that were detected by the multiple sensors;
determining, by the one or more processors and based on the determined distribution of forces, a location of the external contact, wherein the location of the external contact is:
i) intermediate at least two adjacent sensors of the multiple sensors, and
ii) offset from a location of each of the at least two adjacent sensors;

determining, by the one or more processors and based on the determined distribution of forces, a magnitude of a force of the external contact, wherein the electronic device includes a first substrate layer and a second substrate layer that are each disposed between an exterior surface of the electronic device and the multiple sensors, and determining the magnitude of the force of the external contact comprises:
i) normalizing parameter values of the received input signals based on a first deflection property of the first substrate layer, and a second deflection property of the second substrate layer that is different than the first deflection property, and
ii) determining, based on the normalized parameter values, the magnitude of the force of the external contact;

detecting, by the one or more processors, whether sensing criteria have been satisfied based on an analysis of:
i) the determined location of the external contact, and
ii) the determined magnitude of the force of the external contact; and

executing, by the one or more processors, responsive to detecting that the sensing criteria have been satisfied, a user input action.

7. The electronic system of claim 6 , wherein determining the distribution forces includes generating a distribution profile by:
i) executing Gaussian distribution logic to generate a data structure comprising parameter values for input signals generated by the multiple sensors in response to the external contact, and
ii) determining, based on at least a subset of the parameter values, the location of the external contact.

8. An electronic system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage devices storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to cause performance of operations that comprise:
receiv

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Kugler Tyler Reed
• Scott Stuart Murray
• Polyudov Alexey
• Lee Seungyon
• Quinn Philip
• Sundara-Rajan Kishore
• Zhai Shumin
• Mukherjee Debanjan
• Miller James B

Classifications

• G06F2203/0339

  Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys · CPC title

• G06F3/03547

  Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface · CPC title

• H04M2250/22

  including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• G01L5/161

  using variations in ohmic resistance · CPC title