CAPACITIVE HOVER SENSING MODULE AND METHOD

A capacitive hover sensing module includes: a capacitive touch panel for sensing a self-capacitive projective position of a conductor object on the capacitive touch panel; a touch driver chip drives the capacitive touch panel for measuring a sensing signal induced by the conductor object, and generates and outputs a sensing data accordingly; a processor receives the sensing data output and thereby generates the self-capacitive projective position of the conductor object on the capacitive touch panel when the conductor object hovers over the capacitive touch panel, the processor also generates a hover value related to a vertical distance between the conductor object and the capacitive touch panel, wherein the capacitive hover sensing module transmits the self-capacitive projective position and the hover value to a display device to display the self-capacitive projective position of the conductor object on the capacitive touch panel through a corresponding positioning feedback icon.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This non-provisional application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to patent application No. 111126308 filed in Taiwan on Jul. 13, 2022, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference into the present application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hover sensing module, especially to a capacitive hover sensing module and method.

2. Description of the Related Art

Under the global pandemic, demands have risen for software services and hardware equipment such as personal computers, tablets, and monitors. Since surfaces of objects are potentially subject to virus contamination, people tend to avoid touching the objects directly. Such scenario increases demands for non-contact touch products.FIG.4shows a capacitive hover sensing device40based on non-contact touch technology. A user's finger41is above the capacitive hover sensing device40and within a range of a predefined height dt to operate the capacitive hover sensing device40. When the user's finger41has not entered the sensing range, which means the user's finger41is above the capacitive hover sensing device40and above the height dt, conventionally the user's finger41cannot operate the capacitive hover sensing device40, because even though the user's finger41is already above the capacitive hover sensing device40, the user's finger41is too high from the capacitive hover sensing device40(i.e. higher than the predefined height dt), and the capacitive hover sensing device40has difficulties in processing the sensing signal induced by the user's finger41due to its relatively small signal magnitude. However, even if the user's finger is not within the sensing range of the height dt, the capacitive hover sensing device40is still capable of sensing the relatively small sensing signal induced by the user's finger41, and how to fully utilize the relatively small sensing signal induced by the user's finger41to further enhance the functionalities of the capacitive hover sensing device is in urgent demand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to fulfill the above demands, the present invention proposes a capacitive hover sensing module, comprising:

a capacitive touch panel for sensing a self-capacitive projective position of a conductor object on the capacitive touch panel, the conductor object located in a space facing the capacitive touch panel;

a touch driver chip, electrically connected with the capacitive touch panel and driving the capacitive touch panel, for measuring a sensing signal induced by the conductor object, and generating and outputting a sensing data accordingly;

a processor, electrically connected with the touch driver chip, for receiving the sensing data output by the touch driver chip;

according to the sensing data, in addition to generating the self-capacitive projective position of the conductor object on the capacitive touch panel when the conductor object is hovering over the capacitive touch panel, the processor also generating a hover value related to a vertical distance between the conductor object and the capacitive touch panel when the conductor object is hovering over the capacitive touch panel; wherein

the capacitive hover sensing module transmits the self-capacitive projective position and the hover value to a system end having a display device to display the self-capacitive projective position of the conductor object on the capacitive touch panel through a corresponding positioning feedback icon on the display device; wherein

a size of the positioning feedback icon is determined by the hover value of the conductor object.

Preferably, the capacitive hover sensing module measures a self-capacitive sensing value in the vertical direction of the surface of the capacitive touch panel;

when the self-capacitive sensing value is between a third threshold and a second threshold, the display device displays a third positioning feedback icon, and the size of the third positioning feedback icon is determined by a third hover value;

when the self-capacitive sensing value is between a second threshold and a first threshold, the display device displays a second positioning feedback icon, and the size of the second positioning feedback icon is determined by a second hover value;

when the self-capacitive sensing value is between the first threshold and a contact threshold, the display device displays a first positioning feedback icon, and the size of the first positioning feedback icon is determined by a first hover value; wherein

the third threshold is less than the second threshold, the second threshold is less than the first threshold, and the first threshold is less than the contact threshold; and

the third hover value is greater than the second hover value, and the second hover value is greater than the first hover value.

The present invention also proposes a capacitive hover sensing method, including the following steps:

measuring a self-capacitive sensing value induced by a conductive object hovering over a capacitive touch panel;

defining N threshold regions, connected by respective endpoints, and between a minimum threshold value and a maximum threshold value, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

when the self-capacitive sensing value is between the minimum threshold and the maximum threshold, the self-capacitive sensing value is determined to be within a kththreshold region among the N threshold regions, a hover value of the conductive object is set to a kthhover value, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N; wherein

according to the self-capacitive sensing value, a self-capacitive projection position is calculated and output, and thereby a display device displays the self-capacitive projection position through a kthpositioning feedback icon, wherein the size of the kthpositioning feedback icon is determined by the kthhover value of the conductive object.

As mentioned above, a capacitive hover sensing module of the present invention collaborates with a display device and a graphical user interface to generate a positioning feedback icon via the graphical user interface and display a positioning feedback icon on the display device, and use the positioning feedback icon to assist the user's vision. After the user sees the positioning feedback icon, in addition to allowing the user to confirm a projective position of his finger on a capacitive touch panel, the user can be further reminded about the height of his finger currently above the capacitive touch panel through the sizes of the positioning feedback icons, thereby enhancing functionalities of the capacitive hover sensing technology and providing a helpful user experience is provided. The present invention fully utilize signals sensed for the finger hovering over the capacitive hover sensing module of the present invention, and the purposes of the present invention to enhance the functionalities of capacitive hover sensing effect and provide a helpful user experience are thus achieved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and fully described with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of, not all of, the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Please refer toFIG.1. In addition to showing a capacitive hover sensing module1of the present invention,FIG.1also shows a system end2collaborating with the capacitive hover sensing module1of the present invention. The capacitive hover sensing module1of the present invention includes a capacitive touch panel11, a touch driver chip12and a processor10. The system end2includes a display device21and a graphical user interface22.

The capacitive touch panel11includes a two-dimensional (2D) electrode array composed of a plurality of transverse electrodes and a plurality of longitudinal electrodes insulated from each other. The main function of the capacitive touch panel11is to sense a conductor object, such as a finger, in a space facing the capacitive touch panel11, to determine a projective position of the conductor object on the 2D electrode array of the capacitive touch panel11, as a 2D coordinate point (X, Y) or a region, wherein the “projective position” may be either a sensed position (i.e. a contact sensed position) induced by the conductor object directly contacting the capacitive touch panel11, or a sensed position (i.e. a hover sensed position) induced by the conductor object hovering over the capacitive touch panel11. The touch driver chip12has a driver circuit, which can output an analog driving signal TX to drive the 2D electrode array on the capacitive touch panel11, and receive a sensing signal RX generated by a common response of the conductor object and the 2D electrode array in response to the analog signal TX, and thereby to generate and output a sensing data to the processor10. The processor10can calculate according to the sensing data to obtain a projective position of the conductor object on the capacitive touch on panel11, as a 2D coordinate point (X, Y) or an area. The processor10can be a controller chip such as a microcontroller unit (MCU), a microprocessor unit (MPU) or a central processor unit (CPU) having an embedded memory and/or an external memory.

The system end2refers to an application device utilizing the capacitive hover sensing module1, such as a tablet computer, a mobile phone or a personal computer. In the system end2, the display device21displays according to the instructions of the graphical user interface22, and the graphical user interface22can receive a projected position of the conductor object sent by the capacitive hover sensing module1, as a 2D coordinates point (X, Y) or an area, to generate an image corresponding to the projected position of the conductor object, and the projected position of the conductor object is displayed on the display device21through the corresponding image.

After receiving the sensing signal from the touch driver chip12, the processor10determines a sensing mode M and a hover value v of the conductor object relative to the capacitive touch panel11, wherein both the sensing mode M and the hover value v are related to distance ranges between the capacitive touch panel11and the conductor object. Please refer toFIG.2, which shows a height variable h in Z-axis direction, where h=h0 represents a surface of the capacitive touch panel11, h=h1 represents a horizontal plane corresponding to a first height h1 above the surface of the touch panel11, h=h2 represents a horizontal plane corresponding to a second height h2 above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, h=h3 represents a horizontal plane corresponding to a third height h3 above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, and h=h4 represents a horizontal plane corresponding to a fourth height h4 above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, where 0<h1<h2<h3<h4, for example: h1=15 mm, h2=35 mm, h3=50 mm, h4=100 mm.FIG.2also shows a vertical perimeter surface b formed by the extension of the perimeter of the sensing area of the capacitive touch panel11along the z-axis direction.

The horizontal plane corresponding to the first height h1, the surface of the capacitive touch panel11and the vertical perimeter surface b together form a first sensing space31; the horizontal plane corresponding to the second height h2, the horizontal plane corresponding to the first height h1 and the vertical perimeter surface b together form a second sensing space32; the horizontal plane corresponding to the third height h3, the horizontal plane corresponding to the second height h2 and the vertical perimeter surface b together form a third sensing space33; the horizontal plane corresponding to the fourth height h4, the horizontal plane corresponding to the third height h3 and the vertical perimeter surface b together form a fourth sensing space34.

When the conductor object is in contact with the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, the sensing mode M of the conductor object is set to 3, and the conductor object is in direct contact with the surface of the capacitive touch panel11. When the conductor object is located in the first sensing space31, the sensing mode M of the conductor object is set to 2 and the hover value v is set to a first hover value v1 (such as 5 mm), at this moment the conductor object is hovering over the surface of the capacitive touch panel11; when a conductor object is located in the second sensing space32, the sensing mode M of the conductor object is set to 2 and the hover value v is set to a second hover value v2 (such as 10 mm), at this moment the conductor object is also hovering over the surface of the capacitive touch panel11; when a conductor object is located in the third sensing space33, the sensing mode M of the conductor object is set to 2 and the hover value v is set to a third hover value v3 (such as 15 mm), at this moment the conductor object is also hovering over the surface of the capacitive touch panel11; when a conductor object is located in the fourth sensing space34, the sensing mode M of the conductor object is set to 1, at this moment the conductor object is in proximity to the surface of the capacitive touch panel11; when a conductor object is located above the fourth sensing space34, the sensing mode M of the conductor object is set to 0.

Please refer toFIG.3A-3C.FIG.3Ashows that a finger4is located between the horizontal plane corresponding to the third height h3 and the horizontal plane corresponding to the second height h2 (i.e. the third sensing space33), and the sensing mode sensing M of the finger4is set to 2 and its hover value v is the third hover value v3, at this moment the display device21displays a third positioning feedback icon37according to the instruction of the graphical user interface22, and the third positioning feedback icon37is a circle whose diameter is the third hover value v3 (i.e., 15 mm). Similarly,FIG.3Bshows that a finger4is located between the horizontal plane corresponding to the second height h2 and the horizontal plane corresponding to the first height h1 (i.e., the second sensing space32), and the sensing mode M of the finger4is set to 2 and its hover value v is the second hover value v2, at this moment the display device21displays a second positioning feedback icon36according to the instruction of the graphical user interface22, and the second positioning feedback icon36is a circle whose diameter is the second hover value v2 (i.e., 10 mm). Similarly,FIG.3Cshows that a finger4is located between the horizontal plane corresponding to the first height h1 and the surface of the capacitive touch panel11(i.e. the first sensing space31), and the sensing mode M of the finger4is set to 1 and its hover value v is the first hover value v1, at this moment the display device21displays a first positioning feedback icon35according to the instruction of the graphical user interface22, and the first positioning feedback icon35is a circle whose diameter is the first hover value v1 (i.e., 5 mm), wherein 0<h1<h2<h3, and v3>v2>v1. Therefore, the user can judge the distances in Z-axis direction between the finger4and the surface of the capacitive touch panel11according to the sizes of the positioning feedback icons.

Based on the above, to be more precise, when the finger4is farther away from the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, the greater is the deviation of the coordinates of the finger4sensed by the capacitive hover sensing module1, accordingly a corresponding positioning feedback icon will be larger. Therefore, when the user's finger is above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11and moves from far to near towards the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, the sizes of the corresponding positioning feedback icons will decrease in steps from large to small. When the user observes the positioning feedback icons changes from large to small as the finger4moves closer to the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, the user will know that the coordinates of the finger4sensed by the capacitive hover sensing module1are more precise as the finger4moves closer towards the capacitive touch panel11. And that enables the user to more accurately and conveniently know the positions of the finger4sensed by the capacitive floating sensing module1when his finger is hovering over the surface of the capacitive touch panel11. Hence, the size changes of the positioning feedback icons according to the variations of the distances between the finger4and the surface of the capacitive touch panel11can provide a brand new and helpful user experience.

Please refer toFIG.4.FIG.4shows the capacitive hover sensing method of the present invention, which is mainly used to determine a sensing mode M and a hover value v of a conductor object currently above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11.

The capacitive hover sensing method of the present invention includes the following steps:

step 1: The capacitive hover sensing module1updates a self-capacitive sensing base value;

step 2: Based on the self-capacitive sensing base value, the capacitive hover sensing module1measures the latest self-capacitive sensing value along a vertical direction of the surface of the capacitive touch panel11(referring to Z-axis direction as shown inFIG.2);

step 3: When the self-capacitive sensing value is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold (for example, 100), the flow jumps to step 5;

step 4: Set the sensing mode M of the conductor object to 0, and the flow jumps to step 1; note that, in this step, the self-capacitive sensing value is less than the fourth threshold, indicating that the conductor object is above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11and higher than the fourth height h4, which is out of the self-capacitance sensing range of the capacitive hover sensing module1;

step 5: When the self-capacitive sensing value is less than a third threshold (for example,900), the flow jumps to step 8;

step 6: When the self-capacitive sensing value is less than a contact threshold (for example, 26000), the flow jumps to step 9;

step 7: Set the sensing mode M of the conductor object to 3, and the flow jumps to step 1; note that, in this step, the conductor object directly contacts the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, and the conductor object is sensed by using multi-point mutual capacitance sensing scheme, and mutual capacitive multiple point coordinates of the conductor object can be determined and output.

Step 8: Set the sensing mode M of the conductor object to 1, and the flow jumps to step 1; note that, in this step, the self-capacitive sensing value is between the third threshold and the fourth threshold, that is, the conductor object is above the surface of the capacitive touch panel11and between the horizontal planes corresponding to the third height h3 and the fourth height h4 (referring toFIG.2, the conductor object is in the fourth sensing space34), at this moment the capacitive hover sensing module1has detected the conductor object via the self-capacitance sensing, hence the conductor object is considered to be in proximity to the surface of the capacitive touch panel11. However, the self-capacitance sensing of the capacitive hover sensing module1is still not precise enough about the projective position, only the existence of the conductor object is confirmed, and therefore the capacitive hover sensing module1sets the 2D coordinates of the conductor object to be at the center of the screen, such as (32768, 32768) to merely indicate the conductor object is in proximity to the capacitive touch panel11.

Step 9: Set the sensing mode M of the conductor object to2; note that, in this step, the self-capacitive sensing value is between the third threshold and the contact threshold, that is, the conductor object is above the capacitive touch panel11and between the horizontal plane corresponding to the third height h3 and the surface of the capacitive touch panel11(referring toFIG.2, the conductor object is in the third sensing space33, the second sensing space32or the first sensing space31), at this moment the conductor object is regarded as hovering over the surface of the capacitive touch panel11, and the self-capacitance sensing of the capacitive hover sensing module1can achieve a certain degree of accuracy for the projective position of the conductor object.

Step 10: When the self-capacitive sensing value is greater than or equal to a second threshold (for example, 8000), the flow jumps to step 12;

Step 11: Set the hover value v of the conductor object to the third hover value v3, the capacitive hover sensing module1calculates a self-capacitive projective position according to the self-capacitive sensing value and outputs the self-capacitive projective position to the graphical user interface22, and thereby the display device21displays the third positioning feedback icon37whose diameter is the third hover value v3 (such as 15 mm), and the flow jumps to step 1;

Step 12: When the self-capacitive sensing value is greater than or equal to a first threshold (for example, 16000), the flow jumps to step 14;

Step 13: Set the hover value v of the conductor object to the second hover value v2, the capacitive hover sensing module1calculates a self-capacitive projective position according to the self-capacitive sensing value and outputs the self-capacitive projective position to the graphical user interface22, and thereby the display device21displays the second positioning feedback icon36with a diameter of the second hover value v2 (such as 10 mm), and the flow jumps to step 1;

Step 14: Set the hover value v of the conductor object to the first hover value v1, the capacitive hover sensing module1calculates a self-capacitive projective position according to the self-capacitive sensing value and outputs the self-capacitive projective position to the graphical user interface22, and thereby the display device21displays the first positioning feedback icon35with a diameter of the first hover value v1 (such as 5 mm), and the flow jumps to step 1.

From the above steps and embodiments of the capacitive hover sensing module of the present invention, it can be known that the positioning feedback icons not only allow the user to confirm the projective position of his finger on a capacitive touch panel (such as a coordinate point or an area), but also reminds the user about the height of the finger currently above the capacitive touch panel by changing the sizes of the positioning feedback icons, hence the present invention has fully utilized the signal sensed when the finger is hovering over or in proximity to the capacitive touch panel, and that fulfills the purposes of the present invention of enhancing the functionalities of the capacitive hover sensing module and providing a brand new and helpful user experience.

The aforementioned are preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principles of the present invention, certain improvements and retouches of the present invention can still be made, which are nevertheless considered as within the protection scope of the present invention.