Capacitive switch and panel
AssigneeRobertshaw Controls Company
InventorsHugh J. Tyler, William H. Conway
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A user, touch actuable switch panel of the capacitive type that includes one or more touch actuable capacitive switches, each switch including at least two capacitive plate elements formed on a dielectric panel. Conductive paths formed on the dielectric panel interconnect the capacitive plate elements to a source for applying signals to the capacitive plate elements forming said capacitive switches and sensing a resulting change in signal level when a selected switch is actuated by the user. Trim tabs formed on the dielectric panel are provided to balance the effect of stray capacitance between the conductive paths and the capacitive plate elements to maintain the level of change of signal at a determined value upon the actuation of each of said one or more capacitive switches.
Claims8
In a user, touch actuable switch panel of the capacitive type including one or more touch actuable capacitive switches each switch including at least two capacitive plate means formed on a dielectric panel and conductive paths formed on said dielectric panel for interconnecting the capacitive plate means to means for applying signals to said capacitive plate means forming a respective capacitive switch and sensing a resulting change in signal level when said respective switch is actuated by said user, the improvement comprising:
- means formed on said dielectric panel for balancing the effect of stray capacitance between said conductive paths and said capacitive plate means forming said one or more capacitive switches and maintaining the level of said change of signal at a determined value upon the actuation of one of said respective capacitive switches.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.