Rejection of false turns of rotary inputs for electronic devices
Various embodiments for detecting and rejecting false, unintended rotations of rotary inputs of electronic devices are disclosed herein. In one example, an electronic device is provided with an optical detector that measures the distance between the electronic device and the wearer's forearm or hand, and when the distance is smaller than a threshold distance, the turns of the rotary input are false, unintended turns. In another example, a crown of a rotary input includes a plurality of capacitive sensors that detects the presence of a wearer's finger, which when absent, the turns of the rotary input are false turns. In another example, deflections or positions of a shaft of the rotary input are measured and if the deflections/positions indicate an upward force on the rotary input (which are likely caused by the wearer's forearm or hand), the turns of the rotary input are false turns. Other embodiments are described herein.
1 . An electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a rotatable member positioned along a side of the housing; and
a processing system configured to:
evaluate a rotation of the rotatable member to determine whether the rotation is a valid input event;
in response to a determination that the rotation of the rotatable member is a valid input event, cause alteration of an operation of the electronic device; and
in response to a determination that the rotation of the rotatable member is not a valid input event, rejecting the rotation of the rotatable member as an invalid input event.
2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:
determining that the rotation is a valid input event corresponds to a determination that the rotation satisfies a rotation threshold.
3 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the rotation threshold is at least one of:
a time threshold defining a minimum rotation duration of the rotation; or
a rotation threshold defining a minimum angular distance of the rotation.
4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein:
the rotation threshold is a first rotation threshold when the electronic device is operating in a sleep mode; and
the rotation threshold is a second rotation threshold different from the first rotation threshold when the electronic device is operating in a wake mode.
5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein evaluating the rotation of the rotatable member comprises detecting the rotation of the rotatable member using a set of indicia disposed around a circumference of a component of the rotatable member.
6 . The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the set of indicia includes a set of markings or a set of detents.
7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein causing alteration of the operation of the electronic device includes changing an audio output of the electronic device.
8 . An electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a rotatable input member coupled to the housing; and
a set of sensors configured to detect one or more parameters of an input to the rotatable input member, the one or more parameters including at least a rotation of the rotatable input member, wherein the electronic device is configured to:
determine, using an output of the set of sensors, whether a contact between the rotatable input member and a user of the electronic device corresponds to a valid input or an invalid input;
in response to the contact between the rotatable input member and the user corresponding to a valid input, alter an operation of the electronic device; and
in response to the contact between the rotatable input member and the user corresponding to an invalid input, not alter the operation of the electronic device.
9 . The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein:
the rotation of the rotatable input member is measured, via the set of sensors, using a set of markings disposed around a circumference of a portion of the rotatable input member.
10 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the set of sensors includes at least one of:
a capacitive sensor configured to detect the contact between the rotatable input member and the user;
a torque sensor configured to detect a torque applied to the rotatable input member at an oblique angle to an axis of rotation of the rotatable input member; or
an optical sensor configured to measure the rotation of the rotatable input member via the set of markings.
11 . The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the rotation of the rotatable input member is evaluated against a minimum rotation threshold to determine whether the contact between the rotatable input member and the user of the electronic device corresponds to a valid input or an invalid input.
12 . The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the set of sensors includes an accelerometer, and the minimum rotation threshold is configured to change in response to a determination, based at least in part on an output of the accelerometer, that the electronic device is undergoing motion.
13 . The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the minimum rotation threshold comprises:
a first threshold value when the electronic device is operating in a sleep mode; and
a second threshold value different from the first threshold value when the electronic device is operating in a wake mode.
14 . The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the first threshold value is greater than the second threshold value.
15 . An electronic device comprising:
a housing; and
a rotatable member coupled to the housing and rotatable relative to the housing, wherein the electronic device is configured to:
identify a rotation of the rotatable member as a potential input;
determine if the rotation of the rotatable member satisfies a condition;
in response to a determination that the rotation does not satisfy the condition, reject the potential input;
in response to a determination that the rotation satisfies the condition, identify the potential input as a valid input; and
in response to identifying the potential input as a valid input, causing alteration of an operation of the electronic device.
16 . The electronic device of claim 15 , further comprising a band configured to couple the electronic device to a user.
17 . The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein:
the electronic device further comprises:
one or more displays; and
one or more speakers; and
causing alteration of the operation of the electronic device includes at least one of altering a graphical output on the one or more displays or altering an audio output of the one or more speakers.
18 . The electronic device of claim 17 , wherein at least one of the one or more displays is a touch screen.
19 . The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein identifying a rotation of the rotatable member as a potential input includes measuring, via a sensor of the electronic device, an angular distance of rotation of the rotatable member.
20 . The electronic device of claim 19 , wherein determining if the rotation of the rotatable member satisfies the condition includes determining that the angular distance of rotation of the rotatable member satisfies a minimum angular distance.