Electrostatic capacity type touch sensor for detecting a large number of touch positions with a small number of detection electrodes

1. An electrostatic capacity type touch sensor, comprising:

a substrate;

a first common electric potential line disposed on the substrate;

a second common electric potential line disposed on the substrate, the second common electric potential line surrounding the first common electric potential line;

first and second detection electrodes disposed on the substrate in a region interposed between the first and second common electric potential lines and being axisymmetrical with respect to a Y axis, the Y axis intersecting a common center of the first and second common electric potential lines;

third and fourth detection electrodes disposed on the substrate in the region and being axisymmetrical with respect to an X axis, the X axis intersecting the common center and being orthogonal to the Y axis;

a charge amplifier generating a first output voltage and a second output voltage, the first output voltage being proportional to a capacitance difference between a capacitance of a first capacitor formed between the first detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines and a capacitance of a second capacitor formed between the second detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines, the second output voltage being proportional to a capacitance difference between a capacitance of a third capacitor formed between the third detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines and a capacitance of a fourth capacitor formed between the fourth detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines;

first to fourth terminals electrically connected to the first to fourth detection electrodes, respectively, for applying the charge amplifier with voltages corresponding respectively to the capacitance of the first capacitor, the capacitance of the second capacitor, the capacitance of the third capacitor, and the capacitance of the fourth capacitor, the first to fourth terminals being included a first wiring layer; and

a common electric potential line electrically connecting the first common electric potential line and the second common electric potential line, the common electric potential line being included in a second wiring layer different from the first wiring layer, the common electric potential line electrically isolated from and overlapping the first detection electrode in a plan view of the electrostatic capacity type touch sensor.

2. The electrostatic capacity type touch sensor of claim 1 , wherein the first common electric potential line is disposed on a circumference of a first circle with a first radius, and the second common electric potential line is disposed on a circumference of a second circle with a second radius, the second radius being larger than the first radius, and wherein a boundary region between the first detection electrode and the third detection electrode is set so that an area of the first detection electrode included in a sector form of the second circle and an area of the third detection electrode included in the sector form vary linearly as the sector form rotates.

3. The electrostatic capacity type touch sensor of claim 2 , wherein the boundary region between the first detection electrode and the third detection electrode is set so that the area of the first detection electrode included in the sector form linearly decreases and the area of the third detection electrode included in the sector form linearly increases as the sector form rotates.

4. The electrostatic capacity type touch sensor of claim 2 , wherein X and Y coordinates of a point on a center line of the boundary region in a first quadrant of an X-Y coordinate system are represented by following equations:

X =( R+W×n/ 90°)×cos(π× n/ 180°)

Y =( R+W )× n/ 90°×sin(π× n/ 180°)

where R denotes the first radius, R+W denotes the second radius, and n varies from 0° to 90°.

5. The electrostatic capacity type touch sensor of claim 1 , further comprising an arithmetic unit detecting a touch position on the region interposed between the first and second common electric potential lines based on calculation of tan −1 (V 1 /V 2 ), where V 1 denotes the first output voltage and V 2 denotes the second output voltage.

6. The electrostatic capacity type touch sensor of claim 1 , wherein the first common electric potential line is disposed on a circumference of a first ellipse and the second common electric potential line is disposed on a circumference of a second ellipse, the second ellipse being larger than the first ellipse.

7. An electrostatic capacity type touch sensor, comprising:

a substrate;

a first common electric potential line disposed on the substrate;

a second common electric potential line disposed on the substrate adjacent the first common electric potential line;

first, second, third and fourth detection electrodes disposed on the substrate in a region interposed between the first common electric potential line and the second common electric potential line;

a charge amplifier generating a first output voltage and a second output voltage, the first output voltage being proportional to a capacitance difference between a capacitance of a first capacitor formed between the first detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines and a capacitance of a second capacitor formed between the second detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines, the second output voltage being proportional to a capacitance difference between a capacitance of a third capacitor formed between the third detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines and a capacitance of a fourth capacitor formed between the fourth detection electrode and the first and second common electric potential lines;

first to fourth terminals electrically connected to the first to fourth detection electrodes, respectively, for applying the charge amplifier with voltages corresponding respectively to the capacitance of the first capacitor, the capacitance of the second capacitor, the capacitance of the third capacitor, and the capacitance of the fourth capacitor, the first to fourth terminals being included a first wiring layer; and

a common electric potential line electrically connecting the first common electric potential line and the second common electric potential line, the common electric potential line being included in a second wiring layer different from the first wiring layer, the common electric potential line electrically isolated from and overlapping the first detection electrode in a plan view of the electrostatic capacity type touch sensor,

wherein the first common electric potential line is disposed on a circumference of a first arc with a first radius and the second common electric potential line is disposed on a circumference of a second arc with a second radius, the first and second arcs sharing a common center and the second radius being larger than the first radius, and wherein a boundary region between the first detection electrode and the third detection electrode is set so that an area of the first detection electrode included in a sector form of the second arc having a predetermined center angle decreases as the sector form rotates and an area of the third detection electrode included in the sector form increases as the sector form rotates.