Patent ID: 8169295

Claim:
A manually operable position sensor for providing control signals to an electronic device, comprising: a fabric ribbon having a length substantially longer than its width with insulating yarns and electrically conducting yarns included therein, such that said conducting yarns define a first conductive track, a second conductive track and a third conductive track, each said conductive track running the length of said fabric ribbon; said conductive tracks are configured to interface with an electronic device; and an active region of the fabric ribbon forms part of an analog sensor assembly that is receptive to a manually applied pressure, the position of said manually applied pressure is determined by measuring a voltage across two of the conductive tracks; and said sensor has a first conductive fabric plane, and a separation layer between said first conductive fabric plane and said active region of said fabric ribbon wherein: said first conductive track and said second conductive track are electrically connected to opposite ends of said first conductive fabric plane to generate a voltage gradient across said first conductive fabric plane; and a conductive path is formed between said first conductive fabric plane and said third conductive track of said active region when manual pressure is applied to said active region.