Patent ID: 7595788

Claim:
A housing for an electronic device with integrated user input capability comprising: a housing body containing an opening and a deformable user input zone adjacent to said opening, said user input zone having a conductive inside surface as a first conductive layer, said inside surface being supported only on one side away from said opening and therefore suspended in a cantilever fashion away from said opening, a rigid base spaced apart from said inside surface of the user input zone of the housing at a predetermined gap distance, said base having a second conductive layer facing said first conductive layer, a capacitance measuring circuit connected to both said first and second conductive layers, whereby a capacitance sensor is formed between said first and second conductive layers, said sensor is responsive to deformation of the housing towards said rigid base at the user input zone caused by applying force onto said zone, said deformation causing a change in capacitance between said first and said second conductive layers, said change in capacitance being detected by said capacitance measuring circuit and transmitted as a user input signal to said electronic device.