The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 29, 2026
Filed:
May. 12, 2025
Alps Alpine Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Shunsuke Umemura, Miyagi, JP;
Masanori Yabuki, Miyagi, JP;
Hidemitsu Kondo, Miyagi, JP;
Kuniaki Suzuki, Miyagi, JP;
ALPS ALPINE CO., LTD., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An input apparatus includes a skin having an operation surface; a first electrode arranged on a back side of the operation surface; second electrodes arranged facing the first electrode; an elastic member arranged between the skin and the second electrodes; and a processor connected to the second electrodes. The skin and the elastic member are elastically deformable by a pressing operation performed on the operation surface. The processor selects at least one second electrode from among the second electrodes as a driving electrode, selects at least one second electrode adjacent to the second electrode selected as the driving electrode, from among the second electrodes, as a detecting electrode, and switches a combination of the second electrodes selected from among the second electrodes as the driving electrode and the detecting electrode, and detects an output of the detecting electrode in a plurality of the combinations.