Granted Patent B2

US 7,978,477 · App. 12/117,775 · Granted Jul 12, 2011

Abstract

Claims (41)

1. A dual-channel optical navigation system, the system comprising:

a circuit board to mechanically support and electrically connect multiple navigation sensors on opposing sides of the circuit board;

a contact navigation sensor coupled to a first side of the circuit board, the contact navigation sensor to generate a contact navigation signal based on contact navigation images of a contact navigation surface approximately adjacent to the dual-channel optical navigation system; and

a free-space navigation sensor coupled to a second side of the circuit board, the free-space navigation sensor to generate a free-space navigation signal based on free-space navigation images of an operating environment of the dual-channel optical navigation system.

2. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , further comprising a light source connected to the first side of the circuit board, the light source to illuminate the contact navigation surface.

3. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 2 , wherein the light source comprises a light-emitting diode (LED), a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), or a LED die.

4. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , further comprising a light pipe to transmit light along a contact navigation channel from the light source to the contact navigation surface by reflection of the light via a first reflective surface, wherein the first reflective surface is oriented at an angle to reflect the light at approximately a right angle and to redirect the light along a path of travel which is approximately normal to the contact navigation surface.

5. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 4 , wherein the light pipe is further configured to direct the light reflected from the contact navigation surface to the contact navigation sensor by reflection via a second reflective surface, wherein the second reflective surface is oriented at an angle to reflect the light at approximately a right angle.

6. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 5 , wherein the light pipe is further configured to direct the light reflected from the contact navigation surface toward the second reflective surface through the first reflective surface, wherein the first reflective surface is configured to reflect the light from the light source toward the contact navigation surface according to total internal reflection and to refract the light reflected from the contact navigation surface toward the second reflection surface.

7. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 4 , further comprising:

a housing to at least partially contain the circuit board, the contact navigation sensor, and the free-space navigation sensor; and

a spacer to mount between the circuit board and the light pipe, wherein the spacer defines:

a first aperture to pass the light from the light source to the first reflective surface of the light pipe; and

a second aperture to pass the light reflected from the contact navigation surface and the second reflective surface to the contact navigation sensor.

8. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , further comprising a free-space lens to direct light corresponding to the free-space navigation images to the free-space navigation sensor.

9. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the contact and free-space navigation sensors comprises a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) class sensor.

10. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the circuit board is aligned approximately vertical relative to the contact navigation surface.

11. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the circuit board comprises a printed circuit board (PCB), and wherein the contact and free-space navigation sensors comprise pre-packaged integrated circuits (IC) bonded to the PCB.

12. The dual-channel optical navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the circuit board comprises a printed circuit board (PCB), and wherein the contact and free-space navigation sensors comprise integrated circuit (IC) dies bonded to the PCB.

13. An optical navigation device, the device comprising:

a circuit board to mechanically support and electrically connect multiple navigation sensors on opposing sides of the circuit board;

a contact navigation sensor coupled to a first side of the circuit board, the contact navigation sensor to generate a contact navigation signal based on contact navigation images of a contact navigation surface approximately adjacent to the optical navigation device;

a light source coupled to the first side of the circuit board, the light source to illuminate the contact navigation surface; and

a light pipe to transmit the light from the light source to the contact navigation surface and to direct reflected light from the contact navigation surface to the contact navigation sensor.

14. The optical navigation device of claim 13 , wherein the light pipe comprises:

a first reflective surface to reflect the light from the light source to the contact navigation surface; and

a second reflective surface to reflect the reflected light from the contact navigation surface to the contact navigation sensor;

wherein the first reflective surface is further configured to refract the reflected light from the contact navigation surface toward the second reflective surface.

15. The optical navigation device of claim 13 , wherein the navigation sensors comprise complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) class sensors.

16. The optical navigation device of claim 13 , further comprising a free-space navigation sensor coupled to the circuit board on a second side of the circuit board opposite the contact navigation sensor, wherein the free-space navigation sensor is configured to receive light from a free-space navigation lens and to generate a free-space navigation signal.

17. A method of making a dual-channel optical navigation system, the method comprising:

mounting a contact navigation sensor to a first side of a circuit board, the contact navigation sensor to generate a contact navigation signal in a contact operation mode;

mounting a light pipe to the first side of the circuit board, the light pipe to redirect light from a contact navigation surface approximately 90 degrees toward the contact navigation sensor; and

mounting a free-space navigation sensor to a second side of the circuit board, the free-space navigation sensor to generate a free-space navigation signal in a free-space operation mode.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising mounting a light source to the first side of the circuit board, the light source to illuminate the contact navigation surface via the light pipe, wherein the light pipe is further configured to redirect the light from the light source approximately 90 degrees toward the contact navigation sensor.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising mounting a free-space lens structure to the second side of the circuit board approximately aligned with the free-space navigation sensor.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

mounting a housing to at least partially contain the circuit board, the contact navigation sensor, the light pipe, and the free-space navigation sensor; and

mounting a structural spacer between the first side of the circuit board and the light pipe, wherein the structural spacer comprises:

a first aperture to pass the light from the light source to a first reflective surface of the light pipe; and

a second aperture to pass the redirected light from the contact navigation surface to the contact navigation sensor.

Assignments (8)