US-12625573-B2 - Systems and apparatus for object detection using optical sensing

US12625573B2US 12625573 B2US12625573 B2US 12625573B2US-12625573-B2

Abstract

An electronic device comprises: a housing; a cover material; a crown; a processor; and an optical proximity sensor comprising: a first light emitter; a second light emitter; and one or more light detectors. The one or more light detectors comprises a first light detector aligned with the first light emitter and the second light emitter in a first direction, the first light detector configured to receive a first amount of light from the first light emitter and configured to receive a second amount of light from the second light emitter. The processor is configured to determine a distance of an object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in a second direction, different than the first direction, based on the first amount of light and the second amount of light.

Inventors

Yuta Kuboyama
Christopher M. Dodson
Prashanth Holenarsipur
Serhan O. Isikman
Brian R. Land
Anant Rai

Assignees

APPLE INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241001

Claims (20)

1 . An electronic device comprising: a housing; a cover material coupled to the housing, the cover material comprising a glass cover substrate of the electronic device; a crown at least partially external to the housing; a processor; and an optical proximity sensor positioned within the housing of the electronic device and comprising: a first light emitter; a second light emitter; and one or more light detectors; wherein: the optical proximity sensor is configured with a field of view including the crown at least partially external to the housing or an area above the crown; the one or more light detectors comprises a first light detector aligned with the first light emitter and the second light emitter in a first direction, the first light detector configured to receive a first amount of light from the first light emitter and configured to receive a second amount of light from the second light emitter; the first light emitter of the optical proximity sensor is configured to emit a first light path beginning within a threshold angle of a first angle and the cover material is configured to refract the first light path to a second angle, different from the first angle; the second light emitter is configured to emit a second light path beginning within a threshold angle of a third angle and the cover material is configured to refract the second light path to a fourth angle, different from the third angle; and the processor is configured to determine a distance of an object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in a second direction, different than the first direction, based on the first amount of light and the second amount of light.
2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein a distance of the first light emitter to the first light detector is less than a distance of the second light emitter to the first light detector in the first direction, and wherein the distance of the first light emitter to the first light detector is less than a distance of the first light emitter to the second light emitter.
3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first amount of light from the first light emitter and the second amount of light from the second light emitter are received sequentially.
4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein: the first amount of light has a first wavelength and the second amount of light has a second wavelength different from the first wavelength of light or the first amount of light has a first pulsing scheme and the second amount of light has a second pulsing scheme different from the first pulsing scheme; and the first amount of light and the second amount of light are received simultaneously.
5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the optical proximity sensor further comprises: an optical filter disposed in or over one or more apertures for the first light emitter, the second light emitter, or the first light detector, wherein the optical filter is configured to pass light with one or more common wavelengths as one or more wavelengths of light emitted by the first light emitter and the second light emitter and block light with a wavelength different from the one or more wavelengths of light emitted by the first light emitter and the second light emitter.
6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light detectors comprises a plurality of light detectors arranged in a one-dimensional array or in a two-dimensional array aligned with the first light emitter in a first direction.
7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , further comprising: a processor configured to: determine a centroid location using respective amplitudes detected by one or more of the plurality of light detectors; and determine a distance of an object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in a second direction using the centroid location, wherein the second direction is orthogonal to the one-dimensional array or the two-dimensional array.
8 . The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the centroid location is determined based on a particular light detector of the plurality of light detectors with a maximum amplitude among the plurality of light detectors or determined by interpolating the respective amplitudes detected by the plurality of light detectors.
9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the optical proximity sensor further comprises: an emitter lens; and a detector lens.
10 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover material includes a curved portion and a flat portion, wherein the field of view excludes an area normal to the flat portion of the cover material, wherein the field of view passes through the curved portion, and wherein the optical proximity sensor is mounted normal to the first angle with respect to a plane of the flat portion of the cover material.
11 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein a difference between the first angle and the second angle is between 10 degrees and 60 degrees.
12 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising: an opaque mask having one or more apertures disposed on an inner surface of the cover material; and an optical filter disposed at least partially in the apertures of the opaque mask; wherein the field of view of the optical proximity sensor passes through the one or more apertures and wherein the optical filter is configured to pass a first range of wavelengths of light and to block a second range of wavelengths of light different from the first range of wavelengths of light.
13 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction.
14 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein determining the distance of an object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in the second direction is based on a ratio of the first amount of light and the second amount of light.
15 . The electronic device of claim 1 , the processor further configured to: in accordance with a determination that an object is present within the field of view of the optical proximity sensor, perform a first operation; and in accordance with a determination that an object is not present within the field of view of the optical proximity sensor, forgo performing the first operation.
16 . The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the first operation is waking up the electronic device from a sleep state.
17 . The electronic device of claim 1 , the processor further configured to: in accordance with a determination that the distance of the object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in the second direction is less than a first threshold distance and greater than a second threshold distance, perform a first operation; and in accordance with a determination that the distance of the object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in the second direction is less than the first threshold distance and less than the second threshold distance, perform a second operation, different from the first operation.
18 . A wearable device comprising: a housing; a cover material coupled to the housing, the cover material comprising a glass cover substrate of the wearable device; a crown at least partially external to the housing; an optical proximity sensor positioned within the housing of the wearable device, disposed under the cover material, and configured with a field of view including the crown at least partially external to the housing or an area above the crown, the optical proximity sensor comprising a first light emitter, a second light emitter, and one or more light detectors; and a processor coupled to the optical proximity sensor; wherein the one or more light detectors comprises a first light detector aligned with the first light emitter and the second light emitter in a first direction, the first light detector configured to receive a first amount of light from the first light emitter and configured to receive a second amount of light from the second light emitter; the first light emitter of the optical proximity sensor is configured to emit a first light path beginning within a threshold angle of a first angle and the cover material is configured to refract the first light path to a second angle, different from the first angle; the second light emitter is configured to emit a second light path beginning within a threshold angle of a third angle and the cover material is configured to refract the second light path to a fourth angle, different from the third angle; wherein the processor is configured to: estimate a presence of an object touching or within a threshold distance from the crown; or estimate a distance between the object touching or within the threshold distance from the crown; and wherein the processor is further configured to determine a distance of an object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in a second direction, different than the first direction, based on the first amount of light and the second amount of light.
19 . The wearable device of claim 18 , wherein determining the distance of an object to the optical proximity sensor or to the crown in the second direction is based on a ratio of the first amount of light and the second amount of light.
20 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein: the first amount of light received by the one or more light detectors comprises a first reflection received via the cover material, the second amount of light received by the one or more light detectors comprises a second reflection received via the cover material.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/347,000, filed Jun. 14, 2021 (now U.S. Publication No. 2021-0303081) which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/275,323, filed Sep. 23, 2016 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,036,318, issued Jun. 15, 2021), which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/235,465, filed Sep. 30, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/235,254, filed Sep. 30, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/235,473, filed Sep. 30, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/235,426, filed Sep. 30, 2015, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/297,780, filed Feb. 19, 2016, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/304,129, filed Mar. 4, 2016, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/304,135, filed Mar. 4, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This relates generally to user inputs, such as mechanical inputs, and more particularly, to providing touch and proximity sensing for such inputs. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Many types of input devices are presently available for performing operations in a computing system, such as buttons or keys, mice, trackballs, joysticks, touch sensor panels, touch screens and the like. Touch screens, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular because of their ease and versatility of operation as well as their declining price. Touch screens can include a touch sensor panel, which can be a clear panel with a touch-sensitive surface, and a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) that can be positioned partially or fully behind the panel so that the touch-sensitive surface can cover at least a portion of the viewable area of the display device. Touch screens can allow a user to perform various functions by touching the touch sensor panel using a finger, stylus or other object at a location often dictated by a user interface (UI) being displayed by the display device. In general, touch screens can recognize a touch and the position of the touch on the touch sensor panel, and the computing system can then interpret the touch in accordance with the display appearing at the time of the touch, and thereafter can perform one or more actions based on the touch. In the case of some touch sensing systems, a physical touch on the display is not needed to detect a touch. For example, in some capacitive-type touch sensing systems, fringing electrical fields used to detect touch can extend beyond the surface of the display, and objects approaching near the surface may be detected near the surface without actually touching the surface. However, devices that accept non-mechanical inputs, such as capacitive touch input, often do not provide tactile feedback to a user. Therefore, in addition to touch panels/touch screens, many electronic devices may also have mechanical inputs, such as buttons, switches, and/or knobs. These mechanical inputs can control power (i.e., on/off) and volume for the electronic devices, among other functions. The examples described herein refer to detection of an object (e.g., a finger of a user) touching a mechanical input (e.g., a crown) of a device (e.g., a wearable device such as a watch) having a touch screen. In some examples, the detection of an object touching (but not pressing or rotating) the crown can be useful to alert the device that the user is interacting (or is about to interact) with the crown or display. In some configurations, the crown can be touch-sensitive, for example, using capacitive touch technologies that can detect contact with the crown. In some cases, devices in these configurations can only detect objects that can modulate capacitance. It can be beneficial to detect the presence (and in some cases, characteristics of) objects touching the crown on a device. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE In addition to touch panels/touch screens, many electronic devices may also have mechanical inputs, such as buttons, switches, and/or knobs. These mechanical inputs can control power (i.e., on/off) and volume for the electronic devices, among other functions. The examples described herein refer to detection of an object (e.g., a finger of a user) touching a mechanical input (e.g., a crown) of a device (e.g., a wearable device such as a watch) having a touch screen. In some examples, the detection of an object touching (but not pressing or rotating) the crown can be useful to alert the device that the user is interacting (or is about to interact) with the crown or display. In some configurations, the crown can be touch-sensitive, for example, using capacitive touch technologies that can detect contact with the crown. However, in some cases, devices in these configurations can only detect objects that can modulate capacitance. Therefore, it can be beneficial to detect the presence (and in some cases, chara