Optical proximity sensor and associated user interface

US9921661B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Neonode Inc. · SE

Inventors

• Thomas Eriksson · Stockholm, SE
• Alexander Jubner · Spånga, SE
• Rozita Teymourzadeh · San Jose, US
• Håkan Sven Erik Andersson · Stockholm, SE
• Per Rosengren · Solna, SE
• Xiatao Wang · Lidingö, SE
• Stefan Holmgren · Sollentuna, SE
• Gunnar Martin Fröjdh · Tyresö, SE
• Simon Fellin · Floda, SE
• Jan Tomas Hartman · Kumla, SE
• Oscar Sverud · Sundbyberg, SE
• Sangtaek Kim · Walnut Creek, US
• Rasmus Dahl-Örn · Gothenburg, SE
• Richard Berglind · Ayacucho, PE
• Karl Erik Patrik Nordström · Huddinge, SE
• Lars Sparf · Ljungby, SE
• Erik Anders Claes Rosengren · Stockholm, SE
• John Karlsson · Brooklyn, US
• Remo Behdasht · Chatswood, AU
• Robin Kjell Åman · Spånga, SE
• Joseph Shain · Rehovot, IL
• Oskar Bertil Hagberg · Mölndal, SE
• Joel Rozada · Handen, SE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 19, 2016
• Grant date: Mar 20, 2018
• Expiry date: Jan 19, 2036

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06F3/04883
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A proximity sensor including a housing, light emitters mounted in the housing for projecting light out of the housing along a detection plane, light detectors mounted in the housing for detecting amounts of light entering the housing along the detection plane, whereby for each emitter-detector pair (E, D), when an object is located at a target position p(E, D) in the detection plane, corresponding to the pair (E, D), then the light emitted by emitter E is scattered by the object and is expected to be maximally detected by detector D, and a processor to synchronously activate emitter-detector pairs, to read the detected amounts of light from the detectors, and to calculate a location of the object in the detection plane from the detected amounts of light, in accordance with a detection-location relationship that relates detections from emitter-detector pairs to object locations between neighboring target positions in the detection plane.