User interface devices, apparatus, and methods

Abstract

User interface devices using magnetic sensing to provide output signals associated with motion and/or deformation of an actuator element of the interface devices are described. The output signals may be provided to an electronic computing system to provide commands, controls, and/or other data or information. In one embodiment, a user interface device may include a plurality of permanent magnets and a plurality of multi-axis magnetic sensors to generate motion and/or deformation signals to be provided to a processing element to generate the output signals.

1 . A user interface device, comprising:
 a spring mechanism;   an actuator element coupled to the spring mechanism;   a base element coupled to the spring mechanism;   a processing element; and   a motion sensing apparatus comprising one or more magnets and one or more multi-axis magnetic sensor elements, wherein the motion sensing apparatus is coupled between the actuator element and the base element to magnetically sense a motion of the actuator element and provide, to the processing element, one or more motion signals corresponding to the sensed motion.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the motion sensing apparatus is configured to magnetically sense the motion in a plurality of degrees of freedom of motion. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of degrees of freedom are four or more degrees of freedom of motion. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing element is further configured to provide an output signal corresponding to the sensed motion to an electronic computing system. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnets are configured so as to move with the actuator element relative to corresponding one or more multi-axis magnetic sensor elements. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more multi-axis magnetic sensor elements are configured so as to move with the actuator element relative to corresponding one or more magnets. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator element is pivotably mounted to the base element. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the spring mechanism comprises a helical coil center spring. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a motion resistance apparatus configured to provide resistance to a motion of the helical coil center spring. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the spring mechanism comprises a plurality of spaced coil springs. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the spaced coil springs are circumferentially spaced. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein two or more of the plurality of spaced coil springs are of a different aspect ratio, coil pitch, or wire cross-section. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the magnetic multi-axis sensors are disposed between the plurality of spaced coil springs. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the spring mechanism comprises one or more leaf springs. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the spring mechanism comprises a flat wire spring. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing element is configured to generate, based at least in part on the one or more motion signals, an output signal corresponding to a downward push or upward pull of the actuator element relative to the base element. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing element is configured to generate, based at least in part on the one or more motion signals, an output signal corresponding to four or more of a lateral shift, a rotation, a translation, a tilt, a roll, and a yaw of the actuator element relative to the base element. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnets comprise a plurality of permanent magnets. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements comprise a plurality of magnetic multi-axis sensor elements. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements comprise three-axis magnetic sensor elements. 
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 20 , wherein the three-axis magnetic sensor elements comprise Hall-Effect sensor elements. 
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnets comprise cylindrical magnets. 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnets comprise a conical tip magnet or a chiseled tip magnet. 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements comprise a single die sensor mounted to a keyed substrate. 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 23 , further comprising one or more magnetic pole pieces placed to shape the magnetic field of the conical tip magnet or the chiseled tip magnet. 
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the spring mechanism comprises a plurality of circumferentially spaced coil springs, the one or more magnets consist four magnets, and the one or more multi-axis magnetic sensors consist of four multi-axis magnetic sensors. 
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the magnetic multi-axis sensors are positioned between the circumferentially spaced coil springs. 
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 1 , further including one or more magnetic pole pieces configured to shape the magnetic field of the one or more magnets. 
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator element includes one or more dome switches configured to receive a push input. 
     
     
         30 . The device of  claim 29 , wherein the one or more dome switches are configured to provide tactile feedback responsive to the push input. 
     
     
         31 . The device of  claim 31 , wherein the processing element is further configured to generate, responsive to the push input and one or more motion signals, a pushbutton control signal to be provided to the electronic computing system. 
     
     
         32 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing element includes a programmable device configured to receive the motion signals and generate, based at least in part on the motion signals, one or more output signals to be provided to an electronic computing system. 
     
     
         33 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein a spring of the spring element is thermally bound to the actuator element. 
     
     
         34 . The device of  claim 33 , wherein a spring of the spring element is thermally bound to the base element. 
     
     
         35 . A user interface device, comprising:
 means for generating a varying magnetic field responsive to motion of an actuator element;   means for generating a motion signal in multiple axes based on the varying magnetic field; and   means for receiving the motion signal and generating, based at least in part on the motion signal, an output signal usable by an electronic computing system.   
     
     
         36 . A method for providing an output signal from a user interface device, comprising:
 generating, at a motion sensing apparatus including one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements, one or more motion signals corresponding to movement of an actuator element relative to a base element;   receiving, at a processing element, the one or more motion signals; and   generating, at the processing element, based at least in part on the one or more motion signals, an output signal usable by an electronic computing system.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the output signal is generated to correspond to sensed motion in a plurality of degrees of freedom of motion. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the plurality of degrees of freedom are four or more degrees of freedom of motion. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the output signal is generated to correspond to four or more of a lateral shift, a rotation, a translation, a tilt, a roll, and a yaw of the actuator element relative to the base element. 
     
     
         40 . A computer-readable medium including instructions for causing a computer to:
 receive, from a motion sensing apparatus including one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements, one or more motion signals corresponding to movement of an actuator element relative to a base element; and   generate, based at least in part on the one or more motion signals, an output signal usable by an electronic computing system.   
     
     
         41 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 40 , wherein the codes include codes to generate the output signal corresponding to sensed motion in a plurality of degrees of freedom of motion. 
     
     
         42 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 41 , wherein the plurality of degrees of freedom are four or more degrees of freedom of motion. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the codes include codes to generate the output signal based at least in part on four or more of a lateral shift, a rotation, a translation, a tilt, a roll, and a yaw of the actuator element relative to the base element. 
     
     
         44 . A system, comprising:
 an electronic computing system; and   a user interface device coupled to the electronic computing system, the user interface device comprising:
 a spring mechanism; 
 an actuator element coupled to the spring mechanism; 
 a base element coupled to the spring mechanism; 
 a processing element; and 
 a motion sensing apparatus comprising one or more magnets and one or more multi-axis magnetic sensor elements, wherein the motion sensing apparatus is coupled between the actuator element and the base element to magnetically sense a motion of the actuator element and provide, to the processing element, one or more motion signals corresponding to the sensed motion. 
   
     
     
         45 . A user interface device, comprising:
 a base element; and   an actuator assembly coupled to the base element, the actuator assembly including:   a movable element;   a motion sensing apparatus configured to magnetically sense a motion of the movable element and provide, responsive to the sensed motion, a motion signal;   a deformable element;   a deformation sensor apparatus configured to magnetically sense a deformation of the deformable element and provide, responsive to the deformation, a deformation signal;   a fixed element coupled to the base element; and   a processing element coupled to the motion sensor apparatus and the deformation sensor apparatus, the processing element configured to receive one or both of the motion and deformation signals and provide, based on one or both of the motion and deformation signals, an output signal.   
     
     
         46 . The device of  claim 45 , wherein the motion sensing apparatus is configured to sense the motion in a plurality of degrees of freedom. 
     
     
         47 . The device of  claim 46 , wherein the plurality of degrees of freedom are four or more degrees of freedom. 
     
     
         48 . A method for providing an output signal from a user interface device, comprising:
 generating, at a motion sensing apparatus including one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements, one or more motion signals corresponding to movement of a movable actuator element;   generating, at a deformation sensing apparatus including one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements, one or more deformation signals corresponding to a deformation of a deformable actuator element;   receiving, at a processing element, the one or more motion signals and the one or more deformation signals; and   generating, at the processing element, based at least in part on one or more of the one or more motion signals and the one or more deformation signals, an output signal usable by an electronic computing system.   
     
     
         49 . A computer-readable medium including instructions for causing a computer to:
 receive, from a motion sensing apparatus including one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements, one or more motion signals corresponding to movement of a movable actuator element;   receive, from a deformation sensing apparatus including one or more magnetic multi-axis sensor elements, one or more deformation signals corresponding to deformation of a deformable actuator element; and   generate, based at least in part on one or more of the more or more motion signals and the one or more deformation signals, an output signal usable by an electronic computing system.   
     
     
         50 . A system, comprising:
 an electronic computing system; and   a user interface device coupled to the electronic computing system, the user interface device comprising:   a base element; and   an actuator assembly coupled to the base element, the actuator assembly including:   a movable element;   a motion sensor apparatus configured to sense a motion of the movable element and provide, responsive to the sensed motion, a motion signal;   a deformable element;   a deformation sensor apparatus configured to sense a deformation of the deformable element and provide, responsive to the deformation, a deformation signal;   a fixed element coupled to the base element; and   a processing element coupled to the motion sensor apparatus and the deformation sensor apparatus, the processing element configured to receive one or both of the motion and deformation signal and provide, based on one or both of the motion and deformation signal, an output signal to the electronic computing system.