Patent ID: 8169416

Claim:
A capacitive touch screen, comprising: a substrate ( 10 ) comprising a plate which is open in a central portion thereof other than a rim ( 11 ) or comprising a transparent solid plate; a first electrode plate ( 20 ) placed on an upper surface of the rim ( 11 ) of the substrate ( 10 ); an elastic spacer ( 30 ) placed on an upper surface of the first electrode plate ( 20 ), the elastic spacer ( 30 ) being variable in thickness in response to application of an external pressure so as to be restorable to original shape thereof; a second electrode plate ( 40 ) placed on an upper surface of the elastic spacer ( 30 ); and a transparent panel ( 50 ) placed on an upper surface of the second electrode plate ( 40 ) to cover an entire area of the substrate ( 10 ); wherein one electrode plate of the first electrode plate ( 20 ) and the second electrode plate ( 40 ) comprises four or more electrode plates arranged along the rim ( 11 ) of the substrate ( 10 ) at positions spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals, the other electrode plate comprises a single electrode plate arranged over the rim ( 11 ) along the overall length thereof; and when a contact pressure is applied to a portion of the transparent panel ( 50 ), a distance (d) between the first electrode plate ( 20 ) and the second electrode plate ( 40 ) is restorably varied by elastic height variation of the elastic spacer ( 30 ), so that capacitances are varied at sensing points (S) corresponding to locations of the four or more electrode plates ( 20 ) or ( 40 ), and a touch location and a touch pressure are determined by variation rates of the capacitances measured at the sensing points (S).