Touchless input method and apparatus

An electro-optical scanning mechanism, comprising:

• an elongated housing having a cover provided with longitudinally extending upper slots spaced therealong,
• cylinders rotatably mounted in the housing adjacent to the cover and having lower slots respectively adjacent to and in alignment with the upper slots during rotation of the cylinders,
• radiant energy means in the cylinders enabling radiant energy to be transmitted through the upper and lower slots, where they are aligned, between the radiant energy means and the outside of the housing and to be blocked from such transmission where the slots are not aligned,
• and means for rotating the cylinders so as to achieve such alignment at least once during each revolution whereupon the radiant energy means produces a signal, the time of which is an indication of the number of degrees of revolution of the cylinders from a predetermined start position to a position of alignment or misalignment of the slots and the radiant energy means.

An apparatus for activating an element on a display in response to the presence of an object in a predetermined area spaced from the element, comprising:

• means for cyclically generating a train of timing signals;
• means for counting the signals generated;
• means for cyclically scanning said area for the presence of an object and for producing a triggering signal in response to the reception of energy reflected from the object;
• means for synchronizing the scanning and generating cycles so that they both start at the same time;
• means responsive to the triggering signal for interrupting the counting of said timing signals so that the number of timing signals counted in a given cycle is a function of the time between the start of the scanning cycle and the receipt of the reflected energy from the object;
• and
• means for activating the element of the display as a function of the number of timing signals counted.

An apparatus for controlling a graphic element on a display in response to movement of a user's finger in free space along x, y and z dimensions of a first multi-dimensional coordinate system, wherein the graphic element is capable of being activated along x, y and z dimensions of a second multi-dimensional coordinate system of the display but which correspond to the x, y and z dimensions of the first system, comprising:

• means for generating a plurality of trains of angle pulses respectively associated with said dimensions and a fourth train of cycle pulses;
• means for counting the pulses in each of the trains and for respectively storing the counted pulses from each of said trains;
• first, second and third infrared sensor means respectively located at spaced reference points along a reference line and capable of respectively generating first, second and third triggering signals when exposed to infrared energy;
• infrared emitter means for generating a field of reflective energy in a predetermined plane that includes said reference line, whereby an object in the field is in a triangular relationship with any two of said sensors and whereby energy is reflected from such an object toward the sensors;
• scanning means respectively associated with the sensor means for cyclically scanning the field through an angle in said plane whose apex is at its respective sensor means and for exposing its respective sensor means to the energy reflected from the object at predetermined intervals during each scanning cycle, each of said sensor means being capable of generating a triggering signal at each of said intervals so that the time delay between the start of each cycle and said exposure of each sensor means is a function of the angle between the reference line and a line of sight between the respective sensor means and the object;
• means for transmitting said first, second and third triggering signals to the counting and storing means so as respectively to interrupt the counting of the first, second and third trains of pulses and to store the number of pulses counted during each cycle whereby the numbers of pulses stored are respectively functions of the number of degrees in said angles;
• means for calculating the lengths of the sides of a triangle from the angle values stored in the counting and storing means;
• means for generating an end count triggering signal responsive to the completion of each scanning cycle and for transmitting the end count signal to the counting and storing means in order to interrupt the counting of the pulses in the fourth train and for transmitting input signals to the calculating means representative of the scanning angles registered in each cycle;
• means for developing control signals for controlling the graphic element of a display in response to said pulses stored in the counting and storing means from the signals representative of said lengths.

A method of controlling a graphic element in a multi-dimensional coordinate system on a display, comprising:

• generating a train of timing pulses for each dimension in said coordinate system,
• counting the pulses in each of said trains,
• establishing a predetermined area of space separate from the display into which a controlling object may be placed and moved about,
• developing triggering signals in response to energy reflected from an object in the area and representative of movements of the object in a multi-dimensional coordinate system in the area which corresponds to the coordinate system of the display,
• interrupting the trains of timing pulses being counted in response to the triggering signals, the final count of pulses in each train being representative of the movement of the object in the area in corresponding dimensions of the coordinate system of the area, and
• creating control signals in response to the final count of each train of pulses for controlling the graphic element of a display in selected dimensions of the coordinate system of the display.

An electro-optical scanning mechanism, comprising:

• an elongated housing having a cover provided with longitudinally extending upper slots spaced therealong,
• cylinders rotatably mounted in the housing adjacent to the cover and having lower slots respectively adjacent to and in alignment with the upper slots during rotation of the cylinders,
• a radiant energy detector in each cylinder enabling radiant energy to be received through the upper and lower slots, where they are aligned, from the outside of the housing to the detector and to be blocked from such reception where the slots are not alignment,
• and a rotational driver adapted to rotate the cylinders so as to achieve such alignment at least once during each revolution whereupon the radiant energy detector produces a signal upon receipt of radiant energy, the time of which is an indication of the number of degrees of revolution of the cylinders from a predetermined start position to a position of alignment or misalignment of the slots and the radiant energy detector.

An apparatus for activating an element on a display in response to the presence of an object in a predetermined area spaced from the element, comprising:

• a generator adapted to cyclically generate a train of timing signals;
• a counter operable to count the signals generated;
• a scanner cyclically scanning said area for the presence of an object and produce a triggering signal in response to the reception of energy reflected from the object;
• a timer synchronizing the scanning and generating cycles so that they both start at a predetermined time;
• and
• a signal processor responsive to the triggering signal and interrupting the counting of said timing signals so that the number of timing signals counted in a given cycle is a function of the time between the start of the scanning cycle and the receipt of the reflected energy from the object and activating the element of the display as a function of the number of timing signals counted.

An apparatus for controlling a graphic element on a display in response to movement of a user's finger or other passive object in free space along x, y and z dimensions of a first multi-dimensional coordinate system, wherein the graphic element is capable of being activated along x, y and z dimensions of a second multi-dimensional coordinate system of the display but which correspond to the x, y and z dimensions of the first system, comprising:

• first generator generating a plurality of trains of angle pulses respectively associated with one of said dimensions and a fourth train of cycle pulses;
• a counter and storage device counting the pulses in each of the train and respectively storing the counted pulses from each of said trains;
• first, second and third infrared sensors respectively located at spaced reference points along a reference line and respectively generating first, second and third triggering signals when exposed to infrared energy;
• infrared emitters generating a field of reflective energy in a predetermined plane that includes said reference line, whereby an object in the field is in a triangular relationship with any two of said sensors and whereby energy is reflected from such an object toward the sensors;
• scanners respectively associated with each sensor cyclically scanning the field through an angle in said plane whose apex is at its respective sensor and exposing its respective sensor to the energy reflected from the object at predetermined intervals during each scanning cycle, each of said sensors generating a triggering signal at each of said intervals so that the time delay between the start of each cycle and said exposure of each sensor is a function of the angle between the reference line and a line of sight between the respective sensor means and the object;
• a transmitter transmitting said first, second and third triggering signals to the counter and storage device, respectively interrupting the counting of the first, second and third trains of pulses, and storing the number of pulses counted during each cycle whereby the numbers of pulses stored are respectively functions of the number of degrees in said angles;
• a calculator calculating the lengths of the sides of a triangle from the angle values stored in the counter and storage device;
• a second generator generating an end count triggering signal responsive to the completion of each scanning cycle and transmitting the end count signal to the counter and storage device thereby interrupting the counting of the pulses in the fourth train and transmitting input signals to the calculator representative of the scanning angles registered in each cycle;
• and
• a controller developing control signals that control the graphic element of a display in response to said pulses stored in the counter and storage device from the signals representative of said lengths.