Patent ID: 8547350

Claim:
A touch input device, comprising: a touch-plane having an exterior touch surface to be locally exposed to a touch or a pressure force, and an underside interior mating surface; a base-plane having an exterior supporting surface and an interior mating surface; wherein the base-plane further comprises a foundation plane supporting the input device assembly; a plurality of non-contact sensors which are aligned with opposing sensor targets on the interior mating surface, wherein the plurality of non-contact sensors and opposing sensor targets comprise sensor pairs; wherein said sensor pairs interact in order to measure the separating air gap between them; wherein each sensor pair emits a signal stream of measurements to report air gap changes; and wherein said sensor pairs collectively monitor the virtual sensing framework between said planes; and an array of flexible mounts that bond said interior mating surfaces to each other, creating a consistent co-planar gap between said planes, while said flexibility permits touch-plane deflection under pressure.