Visible and touchable touch screen shield

摘要

A shield for shielding a capacitive touch screen from external noise arising from stray capacitance is located between the exterior housing of a touch screen device and the touch screen itself. The shield comprises a thin piece of conductive material such as aluminum foil laminated between two layers of insulating material such as a polycarbonite and is secured to the upper surface of the touch screen, as by an adhesive. The shield has a central opening which is smaller than an opening in the housing of the touch screen device that is provided to enable the touch screen to be contacted for entry of data, and to enable a user to view a display that is located beneath the touch screen, which is transparent. Portions of the shield are thus visible, and the central opening of the shield thus defines the portion of the display which can be viewed. Different sizes of displays can therefore be used in the touch screen device by using shields with different sizes of central openings, without the need for redesigning the exterior housing of the touch screen device.