An operation device includes a housing, an operation member, and a detector. The housing includes an electrically conductive portion on a surface thereof. The operation member is supported by the housing such that the operation member is movable in response to an operation by an operation body, and is configured to be capacitively coupled to the operation body and to the electrically conductive portion. The detector is configured to detect whether the operation body is in proximity to the operation member based on a change in capacitance at the electrically conductive portion.

Apparatus and methods of providing power and/or data to devices at a touch panel are disclosed including a method of manufacturing a touch panel for a touchscreen, comprising the steps of: plotting at least one wire, on a layer of adhesive over a transparent substrate that comprises at least one through hole, in a predetermined pattern that comprises a first portion that extends over the substrate and a further portion that extends over a region of a transparent support that extends over at least a region of the through hole; providing touch electrodes for a touch panel of a touchscreen via the first portion of the plotted wire; and providing a plurality of electrical connectors for a user input device secured at the through hole, via the further portion of the plotted wire.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed herein for incorporating a power-saving sleep mode into electronic devices using an activity-based switch device. These switch devices may have with a communication module having more advanced electronics, such as wireless communications features. These switch devices may be built into electronic devices and/or batteries during manufacture, and/or may also be retrofitted into already existing electronic devices and/or batteries. A switch device may be placed between a power source, such as a battery, and the electronic device. When activity or motion is detected, the switch closes to connect the power source to the electronic device, thus turning the portable electronic device “on” as normal. However, when activity is not detected for a meaningful amount of time, the switch opens and disconnects power from the electronic device to conserve power, thus placing the portable electronic device into a power-saving sleep mode to conserve the power source.

A keyboard for secure data entry is provided. The keyboard comprises at least one or more of data entry buttons that can be depressed by a user. For each of the data entry buttons, a button actuator is provided that is movable upon the user depressing the respective data entry button and a primary capacitive sensor is provided that is arranged to determine movement of the button actuator of the respective data entry button by capacitance sampling. The button actuator is at least partly made from a conductive material. The button actuator is coupled to a defined electric potential at least during the capacitance sampling to shield the primary capacitive sensor from eavesdropping.

A method of detecting shift of a rotatable interface is disclosed. The rotatable interface has a fixed base with a conductive region on a bottom surface, the fixed base attached to a display screen of an input device. The method includes providing, during a first time period, a reference signal to first and second sets of electrodes of the input device that are each capacitively coupled to the conductive region. The method further includes, during a second time period, providing the reference signal to the first set of electrodes, providing a sensing signal to the second set of electrodes, and receiving, during the second time period, a resulting signal on the second set of electrodes. The method still further includes determining a translation of the rotatable interface relative to the display screen based, at least in part, on the resulting signal values received during the second time period.

A method of detecting shift of a rotatable interface is disclosed. The rotatable interface has a fixed base with a conductive region on a bottom surface, the fixed base attached to a display screen of an input device. The method includes providing, during a first time period, a reference signal to first and second sets of electrodes of the input device that are each capacitively coupled to the conductive region. The method further includes, during a second time period, providing the reference signal to the first set of electrodes, providing a sensing signal to the second set of electrodes, and receiving, during the second time period, a resulting signal on the second set of electrodes. The method still further includes determining a translation of the rotatable interface relative to the display screen based, at least in part, on the resulting signal values received during the second time period.

A key unit and a keyboard using the same are provided. The key unit includes a circuit board, an elastic element, a keycap, and a processing circuit. The circuit board includes a capacitance sensing circuit embedded therein, and the capacitance sensing circuit includes a pair of sensor electrodes. The elastic element is disposed on the circuit board. The keycap is moveably disposed above and spaced apart from the circuit board. The elastic element is disposed between the keycap and the circuit board so that the keycap moves between a non-depressed position and a depressed position with respect to the circuit board. The processing circuit is electrically connected to the pair of sensor electrodes to obtain a variation of a coupling capacitance between the pair of sensor electrodes and to determine whether the keycap is touched or depressed according to the variation of coupling capacitance.

A touch keyboard includes a keyboard touch electrode module and keyswitches arranged along lengthwise and widthwise directions. The keyboard touch electrode module includes plural key electrode matrixes one-to-one corresponding to plural key projection areas for the keyswitches. The key electrode matrixes are arranged along the lengthwise direction and the widthwise direction. At least two key electrode matrixes unaligned in the widthwise direction are identical to each other. The key electrode matrix includes plural electrodes arranged alternately at an electrode interval. A size of the electrode in the widthwise direction is defined by a function of the electrode interval, a key pitch between two widthwise-adjacent ones of the key projection areas, and an electrode row number covered within the key pitch.

A motion-enable device includes a mechanical switch and a capacitive sensor with a sensing region that is located adjacent to the mechanical switch. The mechanical switch enables a first signal when closed or actuated that indicates that the mechanical switch is in an active state. The capacitive sensor enables a second signal when a conductive object is disposed in the sensing region, where the second signal indicates that the capacitive sensor is in an active state. Enablement of operation of an apparatus depends on receipt of both the first signal and the second signal. The mechanical switch and the capacitive sensor act as the two separate switches required by functional safety requirements for a motion enable device. Because the sensing region of the capacitive sensor is adjacent to the mechanical switch, the first and second signals are generated when an operator actuates the mechanical switch with a single digit.

Example methods and apparatuses of controlling a user interface with a plurality of input mechanisms are disclosed. One example method includes causing a first set of input mechanisms in the plurality of input mechanisms to be visually emphasized via a first visual technique while a second set of input mechanisms in the plurality of input mechanisms is not visually emphasized via the first visual technique, receiving a user input via an input mechanism that is included in the first set, based on the user input, determining a third set of input mechanisms in the plurality of input mechanisms and a fourth set of input mechanisms in the plurality of input mechanisms, and causing the third set of input mechanisms to be visually emphasized via the first visual technique while the fourth set of available input mechanisms is not visually emphasized via the first visual technique.