Patent ID: 7952568

Claim:
A touch panel comprising: a first touch panel substrate which includes resin film, the first touch panel substrate having a first face, the first touch panel being configured to, in response to a user touch, flex in a direction perpendicular to the first face; a second touch panel substrate which includes at least one of quartz and glass, the second touch panel substrate having a second face, the second touch panel being disposed such that the second face is directly opposite and parallel to the first face; a processor; a surface acoustic wave generator operatively coupled to the processor, the surface acoustic wave generator being configured to generate a surface acoustic wave having a duration which is associated with a value, the surface acoustic wave propagating across the second face in a predetermined direction; a surface acoustic wave sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the surface acoustic wave sensor being configured to sense the generated surface acoustic wave; spacers disposed between the first and second touch panel substrates along a path where the generated surface acoustic wave propagates from the surface acoustic wave generator to the surface acoustic wave sensor; and a memory device which stores instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor, in cooperation with the surface acoustic wave generator and the surface acoustic wave sensor, to, using the duration of the attenuation: (a) determine whether the attenuation was generated in response to the user touch; and (b) determine whether the attenuation was generated based on one of the spacers.