The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 18, 2008
Filed:
Oct. 30, 2007
Kirk Hargreaves, Mountain View, CA (US);
Joseph Kurth Reynolds, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
David Ely, Cambridge, GB;
Julian Haines, Dublin, IE;
Kirk Hargreaves, Mountain View, CA (US);
Joseph Kurth Reynolds, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
David Ely, Cambridge, GB;
Julian Haines, Dublin, IE;
Synaptics Incorporated, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta measurement techniques. According to various embodiments, a voltage is applied to the measurable capacitance using a first switch. The measurable capacitance is allowed to share charge with a passive network. If the charge on the passive network is past a threshold value, then the charge on the passive network is changed by a known amount for a sufficient number of repetitions until the measurable capacitance can be detected. Such a detection scheme may be readily implemented using conventional components, and can be particularly useful in sensing the position of a finger, stylus or other object with respect to a button, slider, touchpad or other input sensor.