CAPACITIVE TOUCH PAD APPARATUS

• US 20100071966A1
• Filed: 09/16/2009
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xacti Corporation (Office Support KK)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: MACHIDA, Noriyuki, KOGA, Issei
• Granted Patent: US 8,223,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 178/18.60
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033

Abstract

Electrodes E1 and E2 are formed on a substrate SB1. Electrodes E3 to E10 are formed on the substrate SB1 to surround the electrodes E1 and E2. Conductive lines L1 and L2 extend over the substrate SB1 to sandwich the electrodes E6 and E7, and are connected to the electrodes E1 and E2. An insulating sheet, having a surface exposed to outside, covers the electrodes E1 to E10 and conductive lines L1 to L10. When a finger contacts the insulating sheet, if there are the electrodes E1 and E2 on a bottom side of a contact portion, capacitances of the electrical conductors EC1 and EC2 are changed. When the finger contacts the insulating sheet, if there are the electrodes E7 and the conductive line L1 that extends in the vicinity thereof on the bottom side of the contact portion, capacitances of the electrical conductors EC7 and EC1 are changed.

Claims

1. A capacitive touch pad apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of first electrodes formed on a substrate;

a plurality of second electrodes formed on said substrate in such a manner as to surround said plurality of first electrodes;

a plurality of first conductive lines which extend over said substrate in such a manner as to sandwich at least one of said plurality of second electrodes so as to be connected to said plurality of first electrodes, respectively; and

an insulating sheet, having one primary surface exposed to outside, for covering said plurality of first electrodes, said plurality of second electrodes, and said plurality of first conductive lines.

2. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of second conductive lines which extend over said substrate so as to be connected to said plurality of second electrodes, respectively, wherein said insulating sheet further covers said plurality of second conductive lines.

3. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a detector for detecting a change in capacitance of each of said plurality of first electrodes and said plurality of second electrodes; and

a processor for executing a process that is referred to a plurality of detection results by said detector.

4. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said detector detects a change in the capacitance by comparing a change amount of an input impedance indicating a numerical value corresponding to the capacitance with a threshold value.

5. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said detector detects a change in the capacitance by comparing an input impedance indicating a numerical value corresponding to the capacitance with a reference impedance.

6. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the detection results of said detector indicate one of active and negative, and said processor includes a determiner for determining whether or not both detection results, out of a plurality of detection results by said detector, corresponding to said plurality of first electrodes are active, a first predetermined process executor for executing a first predetermined process when a determination result of said determiner is affirmative, and a second predetermined process executor for executing a second predetermined process when the determination result by said determiner is negative.

7. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said plurality of second electrodes are formed on said substrate in such a manner as to depict a ring, and said processor includes an assigner for assigning a common parameter to said plurality of second electrodes, and an updater for updating a value of the parameter assigned by said assigner by responding to a detection result, out of the plurality of detection results by said detector, corresponding to said plurality of second electrodes.

8. A capacitive touch pad apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a prohibiter for prohibiting a determining process of said determiner when the number of active detection results, out of the plurality of detection results by said detector, exceeds the number of said first electrodes.