Patent ID: 8902173

Claim:
A pointing device comprising: a moveable object comprising a ring-shaped conductive surface; a plurality of radial sensor elements in a ring configuration disposed on a substrate and configured to capacitively couple with the ring-shaped conductive surface of the moveable object, the ring configuration of the plurality of radial sensor elements having an outer circumference and an inner circumference, wherein the ring-shaped conductive surface is disposed in a default position such surface-area overlaps of the plurality of radial sensor elements and respective portions of the ring-shaped conductive surface are substantially equal, wherein the surface-area overlaps change when the moveable object is moved from the default position, and wherein the diameter of the ring-shaped conductive surface is greater than the diameter of the plurality of radial sensor elements; a sensing area disposed within the inner circumference of the plurality of radial sensor elements and configured to capacitively couple with another conductive surface of the moveable object when a live hinge molded into the moveable object is depressed in a direction perpendicular to a first plane, wherein the other conductive surface is fixed to the live hinge; and a processing device coupled to the substrate, the processing device configured to scan the plurality of radial sensor elements, sense movement of the moveable object parallel to the substrate based on changes in capacitances of the plurality of radial sensor elements and sense movement of the moveable object perpendicular to the substrate based on a change in capacitance of the sensing area, wherein the changes in capacitances of the plurality of radial sensor elements is caused by the changes in the surface-area overlaps of the respective portions of the ring-shaped conductive surface.