Abstract: Capacitive proximity sensing is carried out by detecting a relative change in the capacitance of a “scoop” capacitor formed by a conductor and a surrounding ground plane. The conductor may be a plate provided in the form of an adhesive label printed with conductive ink. Charge is transferred between the “scoop” capacitor and a relatively large “bucket” capacitor, and a voltage of the bucket capacitor is applied to an input threshold switch. A state transition (e.g., from low to high, or high to low) of the input threshold switch is detected and a value (TouchVal) indicative of a number of cycles of charge transfer required to reach the state transition is determined. The presence or absence of an object or body portion in close proximity to or contact with a device can be determined by comparing TouchVal with a predetermined threshold value (TouchOff).

Abstract: A scrolling device for a computer may include a touch-sensitive surface, which may be elongated and/or have one or more active regions. Scrolling may be performed in manual as well as automated ways that may result in more accurate and efficient scrolling. Scrolling, as displayed on the screen, may further be rounded to the nearest document text line and/or distance unit, even though a more precise scrolling location value may be stored and/or tracked.

Abstract: A touch-sensitive device for use as an electronic input device for controlling by scrolling the visible portion of a document or image relative to a display. The device can include various improved configurations such as physically separate opposed input surfaces at opposite longitudinal ends and/or lateral sides. The end regions of a touch sensitive surface may be rounded and/or tapered to provide relative positional feedback to the user. Tactile positional feedback can also include surface texture changes on the scrolling area and/or changes in the surface of the frame in the region immediately adjacent the scrolling area. The touch sensitive areas may be provided within a split alphanumeric section of an ergonomic keyboard to enable scrolling without the user having to remove his or her hands from the alphanumeric section.

Abstract: A method and system for electronically scrolling a document with a data processing apparatus uses an input device, e.g., a mouse, to permit position based scrolling without first accessing a scroll bar or other scrolling functionality element. In a page positional scrolling (PPS) mode useful for scrolling short distances, a displayed document is scrolled one pixel per one pixel of motion of the mouse. In a second mode (document positional scrolling—DPS), the document is scrolled a distance per pixel of mouse movement corresponding to the ratio of the document length (or width) to the page length (or width). In a further embodiment (smoothed document positional scrolling—SDPS), as the mouse is moved away from a starting position the system begins scrolling in PPS, transitions smoothly from PPS to DPS, and then continues to scroll in DPS.

Abstract: A method and system uses an acceleration curve to enhance data navigation. In a preferred embodiment, the scrolling algorithm of an input device with a rotational member accelerates a resultant scroll amount in direct relation to a rotational speed of the rotational member. The acceleration curve may be implemented in a look-up table in the mouse driver. Different acceleration curves may be used based upon whether a user is scrolling up or scrolling down. In a further embodiment, acceleration is temporarily inhibited upon the occurrence of a change in the direction of rotation of the rotational member.

Abstract: Capacitive proximity sensing is carried out by detecting a relative change in the capacitance of a “scoop” capacitor formed by a conductor and a surrounding ground plane. The conductor may be a plate provided in the form of an adhesive label printed with conductive ink. Charge is transferred between the “scoop” capacitor and a relatively large “bucket” capacitor, and a voltage of the bucket capacitor is applied to an input threshold switch. A state transition (e.g., from low to high, or high to low) of the input threshold switch is detected and a value (TouchVal) indicative of a number of cycles of charge transfer required to reach the state transition is determined. The presence or absence of an object or body portion in close proximity to or contact with a device can be determined by comparing TouchVal with a predetermined threshold value (TouchOff).

Abstract: A scrolling device for a computer may include a touch-sensitive surface, which may be elongated and/or have one or more active regions. Scrolling may be performed in manual as well as automated ways that may result in more accurate and efficient scrolling. Scrolling, as displayed on the screen, may further be rounded to the nearest document text line and/or distance unit, even though a more precise scrolling location value may be stored and/or tracked.

Abstract: In a computer system, a touch sensitive input device having touch sensitive auxiliary controls system can be used to anticipate a user's action. When a user's hand approaches a touch sensitive input device, feedback can be displayed on a display screen. A user can receive feedback without activating the input device. The feedback may take the form of status information related to the feature controlled by the input device and can vary depending upon the application open. Likewise, when the hand of a user is moved away from the touch sensitive input device, the feedback brought on by sensing the user's hand may disappear.