Patent attributes
A capacitance type sensor good in operability and less in erroneous operation is provided. Switches SW1-SW4 are formed between a displacement electrode 40 and switch electrodes E11-E14 kept at a predetermined potential and grounded switch electrodes E15-E18. Switches SW11-SW14 and SW51-SW55 are connected to respective capacitance electrodes E1-E4 that cooperate with the displacement electrode 40 to form capacitance elements. A decision circuit judges states of the switches SW1-SW4. When at least one of the switches SW1-SW4 is off, an X-axial output is calculated based on the capacitance values of the capacitance elements C1 and C2, and a Y-axial output is calculated based on the capacitance values of the capacitance elements C3 and C4. When any of the switches SW1-SW4 is on, a Z-axial output is calculated based on the sum of the capacitance values of the capacitance elements C1 to C4.
