Texas Instruments Corporation

Evgeny Fomin

George Reitsma

Christopher Alan Oberhauser

Dongtai Liu

Paul R Smith

Daniele Miatton

Scott Douglas Kulchycki

Alfred Gomes

James R Catt

Domenico Granozio

Matthew Christopher Kessler

Charles Ho Yin Cheung

Andrew Wang

Dave Hermiller

George Reistsma

Athos Canclini

Riccardo Tarelli

An arrangement for securing a touch sensor assembly within a mobile communication or other device with at least one touch button defined within a touch button area. The touch sensor assembly includes a touch sensor (such as a sense inductor coil), and multiple back-side spring clips attached at the back-side of the sensor assembly. A touch sensor pocket integral with the device case is disposed at an interior-side of the touch button area, the sensor pocket to position the sensor assembly relative to the associated touch button. The touch sensor assembly can be secured within the touch sensor pocket by the back-side spring clips, spring-urged toward the front-side of the sensor pocket, and spaced from the device case by spacer elements (which can be attached to the sensor assembly, or integrated into the device case). The touch sensor pocket can include back-side alignment elements for aligning the spring clips.

Securing a touch sensor assembly within a device

A printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB comprises a non-conductive substrate and a plurality of conductive coil loops formed on the substrate, wherein the coil loops are asymmetric. The conductive coil loops are formed as a continuous metal trace on the substrate, the coil loops are symmetric with reference to a longitudinal axis of the PCB, the coil loops are asymmetric with reference to an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the PCB, wherein the distance between adjacent coil loops crossing the longitudinal axis on a first side of a center of an innermost coil loop are substantially equal, and the distance between adjacent coil loops crossing the longitudinal axis on a side of the center of the innermost coil loop opposite to the first side of the center of the innermost coil loop increase with each coil loop progressing outwards.

Position sensing using coil sensor

Touch slider-position sensing useable with a capacitive touch sensor that includes multiple capacitive electrodes arranged to define a slider track. The touch slider-position sensing methodology includes: (a) generating a set of calibration vectors for points of the slider track; (b) determining a touch slider-position based on (i) measuring a measurement/data vector associated with the touch-press slider-location, (ii) determining an angle between the measurement/data vector and a subset of the calibration vectors, and (iii) determining touch slider-position based on the angles between the measurement data vectors and the subset of calibration vectors. The method can include performing a quadratic or higher order interpolation of the angles between the measurement/data vector and the subset of the calibration vectors.

Touch slider-position sensing

A touch sensor mounting assembly includes a carrier with a front-side surface for attaching a touch sensor circuit (such as a flex circuit board), and a back-side spring structure. The touch sensor mounting assembly can be used for mounting at least one touch sensor in a device case with at least on touch button area defined on a surface of the device case. The touch sensor mounting assembly can include a carrier including a front-side sensor-attach surface, and a back-side spring structure including at least two spring arms integral with the carrier. Touch sensor circuitry can be mounted on the front-side sensor-attach surface of the carrier, such that when, the touch sensor mounting assembly is installed in the device case adjacent the at least one touch button area, the back-side spring arms are flexed to urge the carrier with front-side mounted touch sensor circuitry toward an interior side of the touch button area of the device case. In one implementation, the devices case includes first and second adjacent touch button areas (such as up/dn), and the carrier includes a front-side sensor-attach surface dimensioned for respective first and second touch sensor circuits, and can include a back-side spring structure with dual crossed spring arms for each of the first and second touch sensor circuits.

Assembly for mounting touch sensor within device case

A capacitive sensing system based on projected self-capacitance is suitable for use in printing systems/products to sense paper tray status. In example embodiments, a capacitive sensing system is adapted for sensing the condition/characteristics of paper in the paper tray, such as paper size, stack height and page count and paper dielectric. The capacitive sensing system can be configured with one or more shielded capacitive sensors incorporated into the paper tray, and oriented relative to the paper according to the paper condition/characteristic sensed.

Capacitive sensing for paper tray

A ground fault detection system based on capacitive sensing suitable for use in detecting a ground fault condition in electronic equipment (such as a PCBA) with a circuit ground electrically isolated from an isolation ground (such as chassis ground). The capacitive sensing system includes a capacitive sensor capacitively coupled to the system isolation ground, and a capacitance/data converter that captures sensor capacitance measurements for conversion to sensor data representative of a ground short. In one embodiment, the capacitive sensor includes a sensor electrode capacitively coupled to the system isolation ground by one of projected capacitance and a floating capacitor (such as 33 pf), and the CDC unit further includes sensor excitation circuitry configured to drive the sensor electrode, such that a sensor capacitance (projected or floating capacitance) is representative of an electrical condition of the system isolation ground. For sensing by projected capacitance, the capacitive sensor can include a driven shield.

Ground fault detection for PCB and isolation grounds

A rotational resolver system and method includes a rotational shaft to which at least one eccentric conductive coarse resolution disc is fixed and to which at least one conductive fine resolution disc is also fixed. The fine resolution disc defines a plurality of generally semicircular protruding edge segments. At least one conductive coarse-disc sensing coil is disposed adjacent an edge of the coarse resolution disc, and at least one conductive fine-disc sensing coil is disposed adjacent the edge of the fine resolution disc. These coils may be oriented for axial sensing of the respective disc.

Multi-level rotational resolvers using inductive sensors

A rotational sensing system is adaptable to sensing motor rotation based on eddy current sensing. An axial target surface is incorporated with the motor rotor, and includes one or more conductive target segment(s). An inductive sensor is mounted adjacent the axial target surface, and includes one or more inductive sense coil(s), such that rotor rotation rotates the target segment(s) laterally under the sense coil(s). An inductance-to-digital converter (IDC) drives sensor excitation current to project a magnetic sensing field toward the rotating axial target surface. Sensor response is characterized by successive sensor phase cycles that cycle between Lin which a sense coil is aligned with a target segment, and Lin which the sense coil is misaligned. The number of sensor phase cycles in a rotor rotation cycle corresponds to the number of target segments. The IDC converts sensor response measurements from successive sensor phase cycles into rotational data.

Rotational sensing based on inductive sensing

Inductive position sensing uses inductance multiplication with series connected sensor coils. In one embodiment, a first sensing domain area is established in a first target plane using first and second sensor coils disposed on a longitudinal axis, on opposite sides of the first target plane and connected in series, so that a series-combined inductance is a multiple of a sum of the respective first and second coil inductances. Target position within the first sensing domain area of the first target plane is detected based on the series-combined inductance of the first and second coils, which changes as the target moves within the first sensing domain area of the first target plane. Further sensitivity can be achieved by additional coils, series connected on the same longitudinal axis, each coil pair defining a sensing area on a respective target plane intermediate the coils.

Growing community of inventors

San Carlos, CA, United States of America

Evgeny Fomin