Apple inc. (20250110580). OPTICAL SENSING OF TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTATIONAL SHAFT MOVEMENTS
OPTICAL SENSING OF TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTATIONAL SHAFT MOVEMENTS
Organization Name
Inventor(s)
Peng Zhao of Redwood City CA US
David D. Dashevsky of San Jose CA US
Mieczyslaw M. Dabrowski of San Francisco CA US
OPTICAL SENSING OF TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTATIONAL SHAFT MOVEMENTS
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 20250110580 titled 'OPTICAL SENSING OF TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTATIONAL SHAFT MOVEMENTS
Original Abstract Submitted
an assembly includes a rotatable and translatable input device having an axis of rotation, a circumference about the axis of rotation, and an optical encoder pattern disposed around the circumference. the optical encoder pattern includes a series of polygon facets about the circumference and a one-dimensional substantially retroreflective feature parallel to the axis of rotation. the assembly further includes an optical emitter configured to emit electromagnetic radiation toward the optical encoder pattern, and an optical receiver including a two-dimensional array of pixels. the optical receiver is configured to receive reflections of the emitted electromagnetic radiation from the optical encoder pattern and generate an irradiance pattern in response to the reflections. the optical emitter and the optical receiver are disposed along a sensing axis orthogonal to the axis of rotation.