Patent ID: 7470352

Claim:
A sensor arrangement comprising: a plurality of row lines arranged in a first direction; a plurality of column lines arranged in at least a second direction; a plurality of sensor arrays arranged in crossover regions of the row lines and the column lines, each of the plurality of sensor arrays having: at least one coupling device for electrically coupling a respective row line to a respective column line; and a sensor element assigned to the at least one coupling device, wherein the sensor element influences electric current flow through the at least one assigned coupling device; a detector electrically coupled to a respective end section of at least a portion of the row lines and of at least a portion of the column lines, the detector detecting a respective accumulative current flow from the individual electrical current flows provided by the sensor arrays of the respective lines; and a decoding device coupled to the row lines and the column lines, the decoding device evaluating at least a portion of the accumulative electric current flows fed to the decoding device via the row lines and the column lines to determine at which of the sensor elements a sensor signal is present.