Patent ID: 6859048

Claim:
A force detector having a function for detecting a strength of an applied external force, comprising: a substrate; an elastic deformable body which is disposed at a position opposed to the substrate, at least a portion of said elastic deformable body being made of material having elastic deformability, and said elastic deformable body displacing with respect to the substrate due to an elastic deformation caused by the applied external force; a force detecting element disposed between said substrate and said elastic deformable body, and changes in a predetermined electrical characteristic due to a displacement of said elastic deformable body; and a switching element including a pair of contacting electrodes and carrying out a switching function so that an electrical insulated condition is normally maintained between said pair of contacting electrodes, and when an external force with more than a predetermined strength is applied to said elastic deformable body, an electrical conductive condition is obtained between said pair of contacting electrodes in response to a deformation of said elastic deformable body; wherein an electrical characteristic of said force detecting element is detected as an electric signal, when an electrical conductive condition is obtained on said pairs of contacting electrodes.