Touch control system

A moisture immune touch control circuit which is static electricity resistant for use with a substrate comprising:

• a touch responsive circuit including at least one touch pad which produces a detection signal in the presence of capacitance of a user at said touch pad, wherein said detection signal is substantially immune to the presence of moisture;
• and
• a decoding circuit the responds to said detection signal in order to determine the presence of said capacitance of a user, said decoding circuit comprising a low gain detector circuit, an amplifier and an impedance element, said detector circuit having an input coupled with said touch responsive circuit to receive said detection signal and an output coupled with said amplifier, said impedance element connected between said input and a ground providing an input impedance for said decoding circuit of less than approximately 10 kohms.

A touch control circuit for use with a substrate comprising:

• a touch responsive circuit including at least one touch pad which produces a detection signal in the presence of capacitance of a user at said touch pad;
• and
• a microcomputer having an output which operates a resistance network in order to produce an analog signal, a comparator which compares said analog signal with said detection signal and produces a digital signal which is supplied as an input to said microcomputer, said digital signal having a state which is a function of the relative amplitudes of said analog signal and said detection signal, wherein said microcomputer is programmed to adjust said output while monitoring said input in a manner which determines whether said detection signal represents the presence of capacitance of a user at said touch pad.