A detector includes an elastic conductive blade having first and second ends and a central portion therebetween, with the blade being designed to be driven axially by a control rod to occupy three distinct positions between the pulled position and the end position of the rod: a pulled position, an end position, and an intermediate position. Two electrical contacts are designed to detect the end position and the pulled position of the rod, respectively. The blade is designed to pivot at its first end when the rod passes from the intermediate position to the pulled position, or vice versa. The blade is designed to undergo elastic deformation when the rod passes between the intermediate position and the end position so as to participate substantially in a restoring force of the rod toward the intermediate position when the axial activating force applied to the rod by a user is released.

An electronic apparatus includes a structure and an optical navigation circuit. A first end of the structure is located inside the electronic apparatus and its second end corresponds to a user's control. The structure can be moved forward/backward in a specific direction and/or rotated in another direction. The optical navigation circuit captures reflection of a light emitting to the structure to detect displacement of the image along a specific axis of the structure, and determines the user's operating behavior as a specific operation according to a change of the sensed displacement of the image.

Disclosed is a push button including: a module that has a fixed contact part which is able to contact and separate from a movable contact part; an elastically deformable dynamic contact member that is supported in a cantilever state with a base part fixed to the module, and that has the movable contact part electrically contactable with the fixed contact part; and an operation receiving member that makes the movable contact part contact the fixed contact part by having one end acting on an acting portion. The movable contact part is arranged out of (i) a line connecting the acting portion and the base part and (ii) an extended line thereof, the dynamic contact member has a first movable part and a second movable part, the acting portion is arranged in the first movable part, and the movable contact part is arranged in the second movable part.

An electronic device has a housing and a rotatable and translatable input mechanism. The housing has an aperture and the rotatable and translatable input mechanism has a shaft positioned at least partially within the aperture and a manipulation structure coupled to the shaft. The manipulation structure may be manipulated to rotationally and translationally move the shaft to provide rotational and translational input to the electronic device. A compressible seal is positioned in a gap between the housing and the rotatable and translatable input mechanism. The compressible seal may resist and/or prevent passage of contaminants into the aperture and/or obscure one or more internal components. The compressible seal may be configured to collapse or bend when the rotatable and translatable member translates.

A device for controlling at least two electronic and/or mechanical functions of a portable object of small dimensions includes a control stem that is axially movable between at least a first and a second position. The control stem is provided at a first end with an actuation member, and is provided towards a second end with a position indexing plate arranged to cooperate with an elastic member in order to match each of the first and second positions of the control stem with one of the mechanical or electronic functions.

An input mechanism for a portable electronic device includes a rotational manipulation mechanism, such as a cap or shaft. The input mechanism also includes a sensor having first capacitive elements coupled to the manipulation mechanism, second capacitive elements, and a dielectric positioned between the first and second capacitive elements. Movement of the manipulation mechanism alters the positions of the first and second capacitive elements with respect to each other and is determinable based on capacitance changes resulting therefrom. In some implementations, the second capacitive elements may be part of an inner ring or partial ring nested at least partially within an outer ring or partial ring.

To prevent an erroneous operation and improve operability, a button device and a timepiece including the button device are provided. The button device includes: a cylindrical first guide protector 11 protruding from the lateral face of a wristwatch case 1; and a first button 12 disposed in the first guide protector 11 to be slidable inward and outward of the wristwatch case 1. The first button 12 includes a first button head 13 disposed in the first guide protector 11, and a first button shaft 15 passing through a first through hole 14 of the wristwatch case 1. The first button head 13 is inclined obliquely upward relative to the lateral face of the wristwatch case 1. The first guide protector 11 protects the outer periphery of the first button head 13, and this prevents accidental and erroneous operation of the first button 12. The first button head 13 is inclined obliquely upward relative to the lateral face of the wristwatch case 1, and this allows the user to easily place a fingertip on the outer end face of the first button head 13, and so improves the operability of the first button 12.

A method of an optical sensor apparatus which is to be used with a controlling device arranged for controlling an object having a long shape and flexible form of a material, includes: using a light emitting circuit to generate and output a light ray to a surface of a portion of the object; sensing the light ray reflected from the surface for multiple times to generate multiple images; detecting at least one motion image in the generated multiple images; and, determining a motion, an offset, or a rotation angle of the object, which is controlled by the thread controlling device, according to the detected at least one motion image.

A dial including a projection piece projecting in a radial direction and a pin projecting from the projection piece. In addition, an electronic device including a case having a switch provided on an outer circumferential surface, and a dial arranged in the case, in which the dial includes a projection piece that projects from an outer circumferential surface opposing the switch and comes in contact with an inner circumferential surface of the case.

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a housing, a printed circuit board disposed inside the housing and including a first face and a second face that faces away from the first face, a connection member disposed on the first face and electrically connected to the printed circuit board, a switch member disposed on the first face and at least partially overlaps the connection member when viewed from above the first face, and a button member including an electrically conductive member, and disposed to be capable of operating the switch member. The electrically conductive member is electrically connected to the connection member.