US 12,276,532 B2
Display screen position sensing using inductive sensing
Gustavo James Mehas, Mercer Island, WA (US); Damla Acar, La Mesa, CA (US); Ashley De Wolfe, San Diego, CA (US); Pooja Agrawal, Milpitas, CA (US); and Nicholaus Wayne Smith, La Mesa, CA (US)
Assigned to Renesas Electronics America Inc., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed by Renesas Electronics America Inc., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed on May 13, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/319,659.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/130,454, filed on Dec. 24, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0205816 A1, Jun. 30, 2022
Int. Cl. G01D 5/20 (2006.01); G06F 3/03 (2006.01); H04M 1/02 (2006.01)
CPC G01D 5/2066 (2013.01) [G01D 5/2073 (2013.01); G06F 3/03 (2013.01); H04M 1/0239 (2013.01); H04M 1/0268 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
generating a magnetic field by providing an alternating current to a driver coil,
wherein the magnetic field is affected by a magnetically-active target configured to move in relation to the driver coil and a sensor coil through sliding of a first section of a computing device relative to a second section of the computing device,
wherein the first section and the second section are configured to slide to change a size of a top surface of the computing device, and
wherein a size of a viewable portion of a flexible display screen mounted to the first section and the second section changes with the changing size of the top surface of the computing device, with a non-viewable portion of the flexible display screen sliding underneath one of the first section and the second section;
generating a voltage at the sensor coil in response to the magnetic field; and
determining a linear position of the flexible display screen by executing an algorithm at a processor,
wherein an input to the algorithm comprises voltage data associated with the voltage generated at the sensor coil, the linear position of the flexible display screen corresponding to the size of the viewable portion of the flexible display screen between a minimum size and a maximum size.