CAPACITIVE TOUCH PANEL HAVING A NON-PLANAR TOUCH SURFACE
First Claim
1. A capacitive touch panel, comprising:
- a planar circuit board supporting an array of capacitive sensing elements;
a trimplate spaced apart from said planar circuit board, and defining a non-planar touch surface with an array of touch points in alignment with the array of capacitive sensing elements, the various touch points being separated from respective capacitive sensing elements by different distances due to the non-planarity of the touch surface and the planarity of the circuit board; and
a silicone interface element sandwiched between said planar circuit board and said trimplate for electrically coupling the touch points to the respective capacitive sensing elements to compensate for the different distances.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved capacitive touch panel includes a trimplate defining a non-planar touch surface, a planar array of capacitive sensing elements mounted behind the trimplate, and a formable interface element of high relative static permittivity sandwiched between the sensing elements and the inboard face of the trimplate. The interface element is a compression molded silicone rubber element having a first major surface that is sculpted to match and uniformly contact the inboard face of the trimplate, and a second major surface that is planar and uniformly contacts the planar array of capacitive sensing elements. The interface element has a limited amount of compliance so that slight compression of the interface element between the trimplate and sensing elements eliminates any air gaps between the contacting surfaces.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A capacitive touch panel, comprising:
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a planar circuit board supporting an array of capacitive sensing elements; a trimplate spaced apart from said planar circuit board, and defining a non-planar touch surface with an array of touch points in alignment with the array of capacitive sensing elements, the various touch points being separated from respective capacitive sensing elements by different distances due to the non-planarity of the touch surface and the planarity of the circuit board; and a silicone interface element sandwiched between said planar circuit board and said trimplate for electrically coupling the touch points to the respective capacitive sensing elements to compensate for the different distances. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification