Trackball for touch sensor
AssigneeAdvanced Silicon SA
InventorsHussein Ballan, Kevin Fine, Marc Pastre
Life of this patent
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Abstract
System comprising a touch sensor, a trackball and a trackball detector, wherein the trackball comprises a support structure and a ball and is arranged on the touch sensor such that the ball is rotatably supported over the touch sensor surface, wherein a surface of the ball comprises a pattern of detection portions, wherein the touch sensor is configured to detect a position of a touch of an object on a touch sensor surface of the touch sensor, wherein the trackball detector is configured to detect the rotational movement and/or the rotational orientation of the ball on the basis of a movement and/or a position of at least one of the detection portions detected on the touch sensor surface.
Claims16
System comprising
- a touch screen, wherein the touch screen comprises
- a display and
- a touch sensor with a touch sensor surface,
- wherein the touch sensor surface is superposed onto a surface of the display,
- wherein the touch sensor is configured to detect a position of a touch of an object on the touch sensor surface,
- a trackball detector, and
- a trackball unit, a wherein the trackball unit comprises
- a ball and
- a support structure,
- wherein the support structure rotatably supports said ball,
- wherein the support structure is distinct from the touch sensor,
- wherein the trackball unit is arranged on the touch sensor such that the ball is rotatably supported over the touch sensor surface by the support structure,
- wherein a surface of the ball comprises a pattern of detection portions, and
- wherein the trackball detector is configured to detect the rotational movement and/or the rotational orientation of the ball on the basis of a movement and/or a position of at least one of the detection portions detected on the touch sensor surface.
Method for determining a user command on the basis of the rotation orientation of a ball of a trackball unit arranged over a touch sensor surface of a touch sensor of a touch screen, wherein the trackball unit comprises the ball with a pattern of detection portions and a support structure,
- wherein the support structure rotatably supports said ball,
- wherein the support structure is distinct from the touch sensor,
- the method comprising the following steps:
- receiving a measurement frame of a subfield of touch pixels of the touch sensor arranged under the ball;
- determining a rotational orientation of the pattern of detection portions on the basis of the measurement frame of the subfield;
- determining the user command on the basis of the rotation orientation of the ball.
Touch screen configured to detect a position of a touch of an object on a touch sensor surface of a touch sensor of the touch screen and comprising a track detector configured to perform the following steps:
- receiving a measurement frame of a subfield of touch pixels of the touch sensor arranged under a ball of a trackball unit, wherein the trackball unit comprises also a support structure, wherein the support structure rotatably supports said ball, wherein the support structure is distinct from the touch sensor;
- determining a rotational orientation of the pattern of detection portions on the basis of the measurement frame of the subfield;
- determining a user command on the basis of the rotation orientation of the ball.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.