Capacitive touch panel having a non-planar touch surface

摘要

An improved capacitive touch panel (30/50) includes a trimplate (32/52) defming a non-planar touch surface (24), a planar array of capacitive sensing elements (40) mounted behind the trimplate (32/52), and a formable interface element (36/54) of high relative static permittivity sandwiched between the sensing elements (40) and the inboard face (32a) of the trimplate (32/54). The interface element (36/54) is a compression molded silicone rubber element having a first major surface (44) that is sculpted to match and uniformly contact the inboard face (32a) of the trimplate (32/54), and a second major surface (42/82) that is planar and uniformly contacts the planar array of capacitive sensing elements (40). The interface element (36/54) has a limited amount of compliance so that slight compression of the interface element (36/54) between the trimplate (32/54) and sensing elements (40) eliminates any air gaps between the contacting surfaces.