Displacement sensing
A sensing apparatus comprising a displacement sensor element arranged to sense a separation between a first element ( 2 ) and a second element ( 3 ) movably mounted with respect to the first element; an acceleration sensor element configured to sense an acceleration associated with the first element; displacement measurement circuitry ( 4 A) configured to make a measurement indicative of separation on the basis of the sensed separation; acceleration measurement circuitry ( 4 C) configured to make a measurement of acceleration on the basis of the sensed acceleration; and a processing element ( 4 D) configured to output a signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element on the basis of the measurement indicative of separation and the measurement of acceleration.
1. A sensing apparatus comprising: a displacement sensor element arranged to sense a separation between a first element and a second element movably mounted with respect to the first element; an acceleration sensor element configured to sense an acceleration associated with the first element; displacement measurement circuitry configured to make a measurement indicative of separation on the basis of the sensed separation; acceleration measurement circuitry configured to make a measurement of acceleration on the basis of the sensed acceleration; and processing circuitry configured to output a signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element on the basis of the measurement indicative of separation and the measurement of acceleration; wherein the processing circuitry is configured to output the signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element when the measurement of acceleration is determined to be less than or equal to an acceleration threshold value.
2. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to compare the measurement indicative of separation to a detection threshold value and, to output the signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element on the basis of the comparison.
3. The sensing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to output the signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element when the measurement indicative of separation is less than or equal to the detection threshold value.
4. The sensing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein one or both of the detection threshold value is determined on the basis of the measurement of acceleration, and the measurement indicative of separation is adjusted based on the measurement of acceleration.
5. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement indicative of separation is determined by calculating the difference between the displacement sensor element output signal and a reference value.
6. The sensing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the reference value is an average value determined based on the separation between the first element and the second element over a predetermined time period.
7. The sensing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the reference value is set to the current value for the displacement sensor element output signal when the measurement of acceleration is greater than or equal to the acceleration threshold value.
8. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to indicate there is no longer determined to be a displacement of the second element relative to the first element.
9. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element output by the processing circuitry is indicative of the magnitude of separation between the first and second element.
10. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to offset the measurement of acceleration by a predetermined amount of time, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to output the signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element on the basis of the measurement of separation and the offset measurement of acceleration.
11. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the acceleration sensor element is mechanically coupled to the first element.
12. The sensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second element comprises a touch sensor element configured to sense at least the presence of an object adjacent the second element.
13. An apparatus comprising the sensing apparatus of claim 1 .
14. A method for determining when displacement occurs in a sensing apparatus comprising a first element and a second element movably mounted with respect to the first element, the method comprising: sensing a separation between the first element and the second element; making a measurement indicative of a separation on the basis of the sensed separation; sensing an acceleration of the sensing apparatus; making a measurement of an acceleration on the basis of the sensed acceleration; and outputting a signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element on the basis of the measurement indicative of separation and the measurement of acceleration; wherein outputting a signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element includes outputting the signal to indicate there is determined to be a change in the separation of the second element relative to the first element when the measurement of acceleration is determined to be less than or equal to an acceleration threshold value.