Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.

Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Capital One Services, LLC

Alps Alpineco., Ltd.

Tomoki Yamada

Takashi Sasaki

Naoyuki Hatano

Tatsumi Fujiyoshi

Jared Bytheway

Toru Takahashi

Shinichi Sagawai

Suguru Wada

The position detection device includes a detector that detects degrees of contact or degrees of proximity of an object to an operation surface at a plurality of detection positions on the operation surface and outputs a plurality of detection data representing the degrees at the plurality of detection positions, a coordinate calculator for calculating a spatial coordinate of the object in a spatial coordinate system having a first axis and a second axis included in a plane parallel to the operation surface and a third axis, based on the plurality of detection data detected by the detector, and a coordinate corrector that corrects a coordinate value of the first axis or a coordinate value of the second axis in the spatial coordinate based on a coordinate value of the third axis in the spatial coordinate calculated by the coordinate calculator.

Position detection device, input device, and position detection method

A human body detecting sensor system includes a first electrode, a second electrode, a drive circuit, a detection circuit, and a comparison circuit. The second electrode is connected to the first electrode via a capacitor. The drive circuit generates a first signal having a prescribed frequency for driving the first electrode. The detection circuit detects a second signal generated at the second electrode in response to the first signal being supplied to the first electrode. The comparison circuit compares the first signal with the second signal. The comparison circuit detects a touch and/or an approach of an object, which has an impedance in a certain range corresponding to a human body, with respect to at least one of the first and second electrodes when a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal is within a prescribed range.

Human body sensor system using signal phase shift

A self-capacitance-system electrostatic-capacitance detection sensor includes a first electrode and a second electrode, one of the first and second electrodes being set as a sense electrode, and the other of the first and second electrodes being set as a drive electrode; a sense-signal generating unit that generates a sense signal to be applied to the sense electrode; a detecting unit that detects, as a detection value, an amount of charge movement corresponding to an electrostatic capacitance of the sense electrode; and a determining unit that determines whether or not a detection target is in close proximity to both the first and second electrodes, based on a subtraction difference between detection values detected by the detecting unit when a first drive signal is applied to the drive electrode and when a second drive signal having the same frequency and a different phase is applied to the drive electrode.

Electrostatic-capacitance detection sensor

A capacitive sensor includes a sensor unit including a detection electrode, a capacitance detection unit configured to detect a capacitance value of the detection electrode of the sensor unit, a difference value calculation unit configured to calculate a difference value between the capacitance value and a reference value, a filter calculation unit configured to perform a time-directional filtering process using a filter parameter on the difference value and calculate a filter calculation value, a determination unit configured to determine a condition around the sensor unit on the basis of the filter calculation value calculated by the filter calculation unit, and a filter parameter calculation unit configured to calculate the filter parameter on the basis of the difference value calculated by the difference value calculation unit.

Capacitive sensor, capacitance detection method, and capacitance detection program

An input apparatus includes a detection unit that repeatedly generates a detection signal according to a degree of proximity of the object, a drift simulation unit that generates a drift simulated signal that undergoes a change having correlation with a drift in the detection signal due to repeated generation of the detection signal in the detection unit, and a correction unit that corrects the detection signal according to the change in the drift simulated signal at least one of when repeated generation of the detection signal in the detection unit is started and when an interval for repeatedly generating the detection signal in the detection unit is changed.

Input apparatus, method for controlling the same, and program

A sensor device has: a sensor unit that outputs a sinusoidal detection signal having an amplitude matching a physical quantity to be detected; a reference signal creator that creates a first sinusoidal reference signal having the same frequency and phase as the detection signal; and a demodulator that multiplies the detection signal by the first reference signal and creates, as a first demodulation signal matching the physical quantity, a signal matching a direct-current component included in a signal resulting from the multiplication. The reference signal creator creates a sinusoidal second reference signal having the same frequency as the detection signal but being out of phase with the detection signal. The demodulator multiplies the detection signal by the second reference signal and creates, as a second demodulation signal matching a noise component superimposed on the detection signal, a signal matching a direct-current component included in a signal resulting from the multiplication.

Sensor device, method of controlling sensor device, and program therefor

A handwriting input device, in response to a handwriting operation that moves an object on an input surface with the object contacting the input surface, inputs information corresponding to the path of the contact position of the object on the input surface. The handwriting input device includes a sensor part and a determining part. The sensor part detects the contact position of the object on the input surface and the presence or absence of the object within a predetermined operation space adjacent to the input surface. The determining part determines the start and the end of the handwriting operation based on the detection result of the sensor part. The determining part determines the continuance of the handwriting operation in response to detecting the presence of the object within the operation space by the sensor part after determining the start of the handwriting operation.

Handwriting input device and information input method

An electrostatic sensor includes a detection electrode, a shield electrode provided in a periphery of the detection electrode, a first power supply coupled to the detection electrode and configured to generate an AC voltage having a first amplitude, a second power supply coupled to the shield electrode and configured to generate an AC voltage having a second amplitude, a measuring device configured to measure a quantity of charge flowing from the first power supply to the detection electrode, and a control device coupled to the measuring device. The AC voltages generated by the first and second power supplies have the same frequency and the same phase. The second amplitude is larger than the first amplitude. A detection target on a side of a detection surface is detected based on a change in an electrostatic capacitance between the detection electrode and the detection target.

Electrostatic sensor and door handle

A capacitive sensor has first electrodes, a second electrode, and a third electrode, which are disposed at places where a manipulating body that is part of a human body such as a finger is detected. The capacitive sensor also has a capacitance detecting means and a deciding means. The deciding means identifies the number of manipulating bodies and directions (positions) according to the capacitances of the first electrodes, second electrode, and third electrode.

Capacitive sensor

A capacitance sensor includes N electrode groups arranged in a detection area, each of which includes at least one electrode, a capacitance detection unit configured to detect capacitance of capacitors formed between an object and the electrode for individual electrodes, a sum calculation unit configured to add detection values of the capacitance obtained for individual electrodes based on a result of the detection performed by the capacitance detection unit for individual electrode groups so as to calculate sum totals of the detection values for individual N electrode groups, and a determination unit configured to determine whether a detection result of the capacitance detection unit is affected by noise based on the N sum totals calculated for the N electrode groups.

Capacitance sensor, method for controlling the same, and program

An input device includes at least one electrode including multiple detection terminals. The detection terminals are connected to an image data calculation unit. The image data calculation unit detects detection values that vary in accordance with an amount of electric charge detected through the detection terminals. Based on coefficient information values, the image data calculation unit calculates image data values each corresponding to capacitance of each of multiple sections. The coefficient information corresponds to different combinations of one of the multiple sections and one of the multiple detection terminals. The coefficient information represents a ratio of electric charge detected by the one of the detection terminals to an amount of electric charge charged in one of the sections.

Input device and image data calculation method

An input device has: a detecting unit that generates a detection signal that changes according to the degree of the proximity of an object; a deciding unit that decides, according to a series of detection signals, whether a change due to the proximity of the object has occurred in the detection signals; and a reference value updating unit that, if the deciding unit decides that a change due to the proximity of the object has not occurred in the detection signals, updates a reference value, according to the detection signals. The deciding unit changes a decision reference so that the higher the degree, indicated by the difference between the reference value and the value of the detection signal, of the proximity of the object, is, the more likely the deciding unit is to decide that a change due to the proximity of the object has occurred in the detection signals.

Input device, method of controlling input device, and program

Three or more detection electrodes intersect in each of sections that divide a region to which an object is approachable. The detection electrodes each include partial electrodes connected in cascade via wiring, and partial electrodes included in the detection electrodes that intersect in each section are disposed in the section. Three or more partial electrodes disposed in the section includes a single first partial electrode and at least two second partial electrodes. The first partial electrode is connected in cascade to the partial electrode on one side through a first-layer or second-layer wiring and to the partial electrode on the other side through the second-layer wiring. Each second partial electrode is connected in cascade to the partial electrode in one side through the first-layer wiring and to the partial electrode on the other side through the second-layer wiring.

Capacitive sensor and input device

A position outputting device that includes sensing electrodes disposed along an operational surface operated by an object, the operational surface having an operational area, the operational area having a boundary area and an inner area, a position detector configured to detect a position where the object touches the operational surface based on capacitances, the sections including first sections and second sections, the first sections being located in the inner area, the second sections being located in the boundary area, and a determiner configured to determine to output the position data in response to the peak value being detected in one of the first sections and if the difference between the peak value detected in the one of the first sections and the capacitance detected in one of the second sections neighboring the one of the first sections is not more than a predetermined value.

Position outputting device

An input device includes a sensor that detects a degree of proximity of an object in each of one or more detection regions on an operation surface, generates one or more sets of detection data corresponding to the detection result for each of the detection regions, and thereby generates N sets of the detection data in total; and an element data generator that generates, based on the N sets of the detection data, M (M is a natural number greater than N) sets of element data indicating degrees of proximity of the object in M sections that virtually divide the operation surface. The element data generator is configured to repeat a data generation process at least two times.

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Miyagi-ken, Japan

Tomoki Yamada