Patent ID: 9354752
Filing Date: 2016-05-31
CPC Classification: G06F

Claim Text:
1. A sensor apparatus comprising: a touch panel that includes an input operation surface and an electrode pattern formed on a substrate, the electrode pattern located inside a coordinate detection area in a lateral plane, to detect a coordinate position at which an operator comes into contact with the input operation surface directly or indirectly; a casing configured to accommodate the touch panel; a plurality of pressure-sensitive sensors, each of which is located in a circumferential area that is outside of the coordinate detection area, and includes a first electrode directly fixed to the substrate and separate from the electrode pattern, a second electrode directly fixed to the casing, and an elastic body arranged between the substrate and the casing and elastically supporting the substrate with respect to the casing, and detects a pressing force input to the input operation surface, as a change of a capacitance between the first and second electrodes, such that coordinate detection and pressure detection both occur in the lateral plane, wherein the plurality of pressure-sensitive sensors includes a first pressure-sensitive sensor and a second pressure-sensitive sensor; and a judgment unit configured to judge whether an input made by the operator is an erroneous input based on a first magnitude of a first variation in capacitance in a temporal change over a predetermined time period of a first output from the first pressure-sensitive sensor and a second magnitude of a second variation in capacitance in the temporal change over the predetermined time period of a second output from the second pressure-sensitive sensor, the first variation in capacitance being in an opposite direction from the second variation in capacitance, by determining, during movement of the coordinate position in a lateral direction, whether the first magnitude of the first variation in capacitance and the second magnitude of the second variation in capacitance both exceed a predetermined threshold, and responsive to determining that the first magnitude of the first variation in capacitance and the second magnitude of the second variation in capacitance both exceed the predetermined threshold, judging the input made by the operator as the erroneous input.