Patent ID: 7312790

Claim:
An input apparatus comprising: a locally deformable input unit with which a coordinate input operation and an indication mark input operation are performed and which includes indication marks which indicate a plurality of input positions, said input unit generating an input signal in response to the coordinate input operation and the indication mark input operation, the coordinate input operation and the indication mark input operation sharing an operational surface of the input unit; a control unit which receives the input signal from the input unit and generates an operation signal in accordance with the input signal; and wherein the control unit recognizes the input signal obtained from the input unit as coordinate data, and when one of the indication marks is touched individually, the control unit generates the operation signal corresponding to an item indicated at the corresponding input position; wherein the control unit is capable of switching from an indication mark input operation mode to a coordinate input operation mode when an operating member does not keep contacting the indication marks for a predetermined time interval.