Patent 7676036 was granted and assigned to Panasonic on March, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An input device provided for an apparatus (1) which is held with a hand of a person. The input device includes a plurality of input keys (5) which are operated with a finger holding the apparatus (1), wherein in a case where the apparatus (1) having the input device is held with the hand, each input key (5) situated apart from a base of the finger has a finger contact area smaller than that of each input key (5) situated close to the base of the finger.