Optical proximity sensor and associated user interface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016154475-A1
Application number	US-201615000815-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 19, 2016
Priority date	Oct 14, 2012
Publication date	Jun 2, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A proximity sensor including a housing, light emitters mounted in the housing for projecting light out of the housing along a detection plane, light detectors mounted in the housing for detecting amounts of light entering the housing along the detection plane, whereby for each emitter-detector pair (E, D), when an object is located at a target position p(E, D) in the detection plane, corresponding to the pair (E, D), then the light emitted by emitter E is scattered by the object and is expected to be maximally detected by detector D, and a processor to synchronously activate emitter-detector pairs, to read the detected amounts of light from the detectors, and to calculate a location of the object in the detection plane from the detected amounts of light, in accordance with a detection-location relationship that relates detections from emitter-detector pairs to object locations between neighboring target positions in the detection plane.

First claim

1 . A proximity sensor for identifying a proximal object, comprising:
a housing; a plurality of light emitters mounted in said housing for projecting light out of said housing; a plurality of light detectors mounted in said housing, operable when activated to detect amounts of light arriving at the detectors; a plurality of lenses mounted in said housing, each lens, denoted L, being positioned in relation to two respective ones of said detectors, denoted D 1 and D 2 , such that light entering lens L is maximally detected at detector al when the light enters lens L at an acute angle of incidence θ1, and light entering lens L is maximally detected at detector D 2 when the light enters lens L at an obtuse angle of incidence θ2; and a processor connected to said emitters and to said detectors, operable to synchronously activate emitter-detector pairs, and configured to calculate a partial contour of an object outside said housing that reflects light, projected by the activated emitters, back towards said lenses, based on amounts of light detected by the activated detectors.

2 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 , wherein said processor further calculates a size of the partial contour.

3 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 situated adjacent to an edge of an exposed touch surface, operative to project light over and across the touch surface, and to detect objects interacting with the touch surface based on amounts of light detected by the activated detectors.

4 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 , further comprising baffles between said detectors to block light that enters lens L at an angle different than θ1 from arriving at light detector D 1 .

5 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 , further comprising baffles between said detectors to block light that enters lens L at an angle different than θ2 from arriving at light detector D 2 .

6 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 , further comprising baffles between said detectors to confine light that enters lens L to arrive at detectors D 1 and D 2 , and not arrive any others of said detectors.

7 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 , wherein each detector D is positioned such that D=D 1 for a first lens L 1 , and also D=D 2 for a second lens L 2 , neighboring lens L 1 .

8 . The proximity sensor of claim 1 , wherein said emitters, detectors and lenses are arranged such that for each emitter E, when the object is located at a target position p(E) corresponding to E, then the light emitted by emitter E is reflected by the object back towards the lenses and is maximally detected by two detectors.

9 . A method for sensing a proximal object, comprising:
providing a strip comprising a plurality of emitters E and detectors D wherein each emitter is situated between different detectors; synchronously co-activating emitter-detector pairs (E, D), wherein the emitters and detectors are arranged such that for each emitter-detector pair (E, D), when an object is located at a target position p(E, D) corresponding to the pair (E, D), then the light emitted by emitter E is scattered by the object and is maximally detected by detector D; determining a reflection value R(E, D) for each emitter-detector pair (E, D), based on an amount of reflected light detected by detector D when the pair (E, D) is activated by said synchronously co-activating, and associating the reflection value R(E, D) with the target position p(E, D) in the common plane corresponding to the pair (E, D); generating a two-dimensional pixel image of reflection values R p at pixel positions p, corresponding to the derived reflection values R(E, D) and the target positions p(E, D), and estimating a partial circumference of the object based on the pixel image.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein each of one or more target positions p corresponds to a plurality of emitter-detector pairs (E, D) having a respective plurality of reflection values R(E, D), and wherein said determining comprises assigning to R p a maximum of those reflection values.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein each of one or more target positions p in the common plane corresponds to a plurality of emitter-detector pairs (E, D) having a respective plurality of reflection values R(E, D), and wherein said determining comprises assigning to R p an average of those reflection values.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein said estimating a partial circumference of the object comprises:
identifying the two pixel positions p 1 and p 2 that are outermost, relative to the direction of the strip, and for which their reflection values R p are above a designated threshold; further identifying a maximum reflection value R_max p * at a corresponding pixel position p*; and summing the distances from p 1 to p*, and from p 2 to p*.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein said estimating a partial circumference of the object further comprises, prior to said summing:
identifying additional reflection values that correspond to respective target positions in neighborhoods of p 1 , p 2 and p*; and calculating respective weighted averages, p_avg 1 , p_avg 2 and p_avg*, of target positions in the neighborhoods of p 1 , p 2 and p*, with weight of each target position based on the reflection value at that target position,
wherein said summing sums the distances from p_avg 1 to p_avg*, and from p_avg 2 to p_avg*.

14 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising, after said generating a two-dimensional pixel image and prior to said estimating a partial circumference, for each emitter E:
analyzing the reflection values, R p , along a line of pixel positions in the direction that that emitter E emits light; identifying a maximum reflection value, R_max, at a corresponding pixel position, p*, along that line; and setting R p =0 at pixel positions p further away from the strip than p* along the line of pixel positions.

15 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising, after said generating a two-dimensional pixel image and prior to said estimating a partial circumference, for each detector D:
analyzing the reflection values, R p , along a line of pixels in the direction that that detector D maximally detects reflected light; identifying a maximum reflection value, R_max at a position p* along that line, and setting R p =0 at pixel positions p further away from the strip than p* along the lines of pixels.

16 . A single straight bar comprising a linear array of interlaced light emitters and photodiode detectors mounted on a printed circuit board, wherein the bar is configured to be repeatedly attached to and detached from an exterior housing of a laptop computer comprising a processor, wherein the bar, when thus attached and coupled communicatively with the laptop processor, provides the processor with detection signals that enable the processor to recognize a plurality of different gestures performed by an object in an airspace of a projection plane coming out of one side of the bar, the detection signals being generated by light emitted by said light emitters that is reflected by the object back to the bar and detected by said photodiodes.

17 . A single straight bar comprising a linear array of interlaced light emitters and photodiode detectors mounted on a printed circuit board, wherein the bar is configured to be repeatedly attached to and detached from an exterior housing of a laptop computer comprising a processor, wherein the bar, when coupled communicatively with the laptop processor and positioned over one side of a flat rectangular surface of the laptop housing, provides the processor with detection si

Assignees

• Neonode Inc

Inventors

• Eriksson Thomas
• Jubner Alexander
• Teymourzadeh Rozita
• Andersson Håkan Sven Erik
• Rosengren Per
• Wang Xiatao
• Holmgren Stefan
• Fröjdh Gunnar Martin
• Fellin Simon
• Hartman Jan Tomas
• Sverud Oscar
• Kim Sangtaek
• Dahl-Örn Rasmus
• Berglind Richard
• Nordström Karl Erik Patrik
• Sparf Lars
• Rosengren Erik
• Karlsson John
• Behdasht Remo
• Åman Robin Kjell
• Shain Joseph
• Hagberg Oskar
• Rozada Joel

Classifications

• G06F3/0428

  by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual (sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421) · CPC title

• G06F3/017 Primary

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G06F3/0421

  by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen · CPC title

• G06F3/04883

  for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text · CPC title

• G06F1/169

  the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes (G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033) · CPC title