Patent ID: 9261348
Filing Date: 2016-02-16
CPC Classification: G01B,G01D

Claim Text:
1. A rotary input apparatus comprising: a stationary facing surface; a rotary facing portion facing the stationary facing surface; and an operation portion configured to rotate the rotary facing portion; wherein a stationary electrode having a plurality of facing portions is provided on the stationary facing surface, wherein the rotary facing portion is arranged above the stationary facing surface, the plurality of facing portions being arranged at a certain pitch in a circumferential direction of a circle, the circle being concentric with the center of rotation of the rotary facing portion, wherein a rotary electrode is provided on a bottom surface of the rotary facing portion, the rotary electrode facing the stationary electrode and being capable of being capacitively coupled with the plurality of facing portions, wherein the stationary electrode includes a first stationary sensing electrode and a second stationary sensing electrode formed along circumferences of different circles, the circles being concentric with the center of rotation of the rotary facing portion, wherein the first stationary sensing electrode includes a plurality of first facing portions and a first conducting portion, the plurality of first facing portions being arranged at a certain pitch along the circumference of one of the different circles and being the plurality of facing portions, the first conducting portion electrically connecting the plurality of first facing portions to one another, wherein the second stationary sensing electrode includes a plurality of second facing portions and a second conducting portion, the plurality of second facing portions being arranged at a certain pitch along the circumference of the other one of the different circles and being the plurality of facing portions, the second conducting portion electrically connecting the plurality of second facing portions to one another, and wherein the plurality of first facing portions and the plurality of second facing portions are formed by dividing rings, each of the rings being formed along the circumference of the one or the other one of the different circles, at an equal angular pitch in the circumferential direction so that the plurality of first facing portions and the plurality of second facing portions each have a predetermined angular width in the circumferential direction, and the plurality of first facing portions and the plurality of second facing portions have different phases from each other in the circumferential directions of the circles, and wherein the rotary electrode is formed so as to simultaneously face one of the plurality of first facing portions and one of the plurality of second facing portions, and the rotary electrode is formed so as not to simultaneously face adjacent first facing portions of the plurality of first facing portions and so as not to simultaneously face adjacent second facing portions of the plurality of second facing portions.