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US 4,296,406 AGranted
Pressure sensitive switch structure
AssigneeSperry Corporation
InventorBilly J. Pearson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention switch comprises a pair of electrodes separated by resilient resistive material which changes resistance several orders of magnitude in response to light pressure. Sensing and amplifying means are provided to detect a predetermined change in resistance. An array of a plurality of such switches may be arranged in a switching matrix to provide any desired form of switch controls or a keyboard for numerous electronic applications.
Claims6
A pressure sensitive matrix switch device comprising:
- an insulative base,
- a first conductive pad means having a plurality of switch pads,
- a second conductive pad means,
- at least one of said pads being mounted on said base,
- a pressure sensitive conductive-resistive material intermediate said conductive pad means,
- said conductive-resistive material normally displaying a very high resistance therebetween when no pressure is applied,
- said conductive-resistive material displaying a low resistance therebetween when a light pressure is applied,
- means for applying pressure to said conductive pads to compress said conductive-resistive material and to change the resistance of said conductive-resistive material from a relatively high ohmic value to a relatively low ohmic value,
- voltage source means connected to the said second conductive pad means,
- said change of said conductive-resistive material from a relatively high ohmic value to a relatively low ohmic value for generating a voltage signal from one of said switch pads indicative of a particular switch device being operated, and
- logic encoder means coupled to said voltage signal for generating binary coded signals indicative of one of said matrix switch devices being operated.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.