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US 7,889,171 B2Granted
Chirped grating finger navigation
AssigneeAvago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
InventorRussell W. Gruhlke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
One embodiment of the invention is a user input system for a hand held computing device that comprises a movable piece with a reflective side, an optical cavity adjacent to said movable piece, a light emitting source positioned within the cavity such that emitted light is incident on to the reflective side of the movable piece, and a sensor positioned within the cavity to receive light reflected from the reflective side.
Claims20
A hand held computing device comprising:
- a cover slip with a reflective side;
- an optical cavity adjacent to said cover slip;
- a light emitting source positioned within the cavity such that emitted light is incident on to the reflective side of the cover slip;
- and
- a sensor positioned within the cavity to receive light reflected from the reflective side of the cover slip;
- wherein the cover slip is movable by a finger of a user of the hand held device relative to the sensor in at least one dimension;
- and
- wherein the sensor is positioned and the reflective side has ridges forming a grating with varying periodicity and arranged such that the reflected light is incident upon the sensor at a different location on the sensor for each unique position of the cover slip as the cover slip moves relative to the sensor in the at least one direction.
5 more elements
A method of using a hand held computing device comprising:
- moving a movable piece with a reflective side to a desired location by a finger of a user, wherein the movable piece is moved relative to a sensor in at least one dimension and wherein the movable piece has ridges forming a grating with varying periodicity and arranged such that the reflected light is incident upon the sensor at a different location on the sensor for each unique position of the movable piece as the movable piece moves relative to the sensor in the at least one direction;
- impinging light onto the reflective side of the movable piece;
- detecting, via the sensor, light reflected from the reflective side of the movable piece;
- producing a signal based on the detected light;
- and
- processing the signal as user input for the hand held computing device.
3 more elements
A hand held computing device comprising:
- means for interfacing with a finger of a user of the hand held computing device that comprises a reflective surface and is moveable by the finger of the user in at least one dimension;
- means for providing light to the reflective surface;
- and
- means for sensing light reflected from the reflective surface;
- wherein the means for interfacing with a user is movable by the finger of the user relative to the means for sensing in at least one dimension;
- and
- wherein the means for sensing is positioned and the reflective surface has ridges forming a grating with varying periodicity and arranged such that the reflected light is incident upon the means for sensing at a different location on the means for sensing for each unique position of the means for interfacing as the means for interfacing moves relative to the means for sensing in the at least one direction.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.