The invention relates to a shift operating element, specifically for a motor vehicle, having an actuation surface which can be moved by the manual application of force by means of an element, wherein the element is specifically the finger of a human hand. The shift operating element comprises a sensor which interacts with the actuation surface such that the sensor, upon the movement of the actuation surface by means of the element, generates a signal. The signal is specifically employed to shift and/or trigger a function, in the manner of a shift signal. A mechanical damping and/or restoring element is provided which interacts with the actuation surface upon the movement thereof. The mechanical damping and/or restoring element is a constituent of the sensor, specifically the mechanical damping and/or restoring element is integrated into the sensor.

The invention relates to sensor for use as a pressure and/or a force sensor. The sensor comprises an elastic and stretchable layer with material having a first Young's modulus and a first yield strain, at least a first stretchable electrode and a second stretchable electrode attached to the elastic and stretchable layer and arranged a first distance apart from each other, a flexible foil having a second Young's modulus, and electrically conductive wiring attached to the flexible foil. At least a part of the electrically conductive wiring is coupled to the stretchable electrodes in an electrically conductive manner, the first yield strain is at least 10 per cent; the first Young's modulus is less than the second Young's modulus, and the thickness of the flexible foil is at most 0.5 mm.

An aerosol generation device for consuming an aerosol generation substrate includes a housing and a control unit, the housing having an outer layer having an elastically deformable area, and the control unit including: a printed circuit board having a plurality of electrical transmission lines for electrically connecting components thereon, and a capacitive sensor component arranged on the printed circuit board.

The invention relates to sensor (900) for use as a pressure and/or a force sensor. The sensor (900) comprises a elastic and stretchable layer (050, 100, 200) with material having a first Young's modulus (Y.sub.200) and a first yield strain (.sub.y,200); at least a first stretchable electrode (301) and a second stretchable electrode (302) attached to the elastic and stretchable layer (050, 100, 200) and arranged a first distance (d.sub.1, d.sub.1,301,302) apart from each other; a flexible foil (500) having a second Young's modulus (Y.sub.500); and electrically conductive wiring (400) attached to the flexible foil (500). At least a part of the electrically conductive wiring (400) is coupled to the stretchable electrodes (301, 302) in an electrically conductive manner; the first yield strain (.sub.y,200) is at least 10 percent; the first Young's modulus (Y.sub.200) is less than the second Young's modulus (Y.sub.500).

A metering valve comprising a solenoid having: a coil mounted on a core; and an armature moveable axially with respect to the core and against a return bias in response to a current in the coil; a variable capacitor having a first plate mounted for movement with the armature and a second plate fixed with respect to the core. The metering valve comprises an electronic feedback loop which is used to adjust the current in the coil based on a feedback signal derived from of the capacitance of the variable capacitor. A reference capacitor may be provided having opposing third and fourth plates at a set separation. A valve body may house the solenoid, the variable capacitor and the reference capacitor.

A method of inspecting an electrode provided in a gas sensor element includes the steps of: producing, in advance, a calibration curve representing a relation between an Au maldistribution degree defined based on a ratio of an area of a portion at which Au is exposed on a noble metal particle surface and calculated from a result of XPS or AES analysis on an inspection target electrode, and a predetermined alternative maldistribution degree index correlated with the Au maldistribution degree and acquired in a non-destructive manner from the gas sensor element heated to a predetermined temperature; acquiring a value of the alternative maldistribution degree index for the inspection target electrode of the gas sensor element while the gas sensor element is heated to the predetermined temperature; and determining whether the Au maldistribution degree satisfies a predetermined standard based on the calibration curve and the acquired inspection value.

A capacitive measurement device for indicating when two surfaces moving relative to each other are spaced less than a predetermined distance apart. The device comprises a probe having an elongated conductor, an insulating core, a conducting inner guard, an insulating interlayer, and a conducting sheath. A portion of the conductor, insulating core and conducting inner guard form a probe tip which extends beyond the insulating interlayer and conducting sheath by a predetermined offset. The probe is configured to extend from a first surface by a predetermined distance and to generate a signal when the tip is contacted by a second surface.

A capacitive proximity sensor 1 comprises an oscillation means 33; a sensor circuit 10, which includes a sensor electrode 11; a detection circuit 20, which outputs a determination voltage signal corresponding to the capacitance of the sensor electrode 11, based on the electrical signal output from the sensor circuit 10; and a control unit 32. The sensor electrode 11 is connected in parallel to a connection point P1 between a coil L and a capacitor C in an LCR series resonance circuit. The detection circuit 20 outputs a determination voltage signal S.sub.1 based on the electrical signal at the detection point P3 between the capacitor C and the resistor R. The control unit 32 detects the proximity of a human body to the sensor electrode 11, based on the determination voltage signal S.sub.1.

This application relates to methods and apparatus for operating MEMS sensors, in particular MEMS capacitive sensors (C.sub.MEMS) such as a microphones. An amplifier apparatus is arranged to amplify an input signal (V.sub.INP) received at a sense node from the MEMS capacitive sensor. An antiphase signal generator generates a second signal (V.sub.INN) which is in antiphase with the input signal (V.sub.INP) and an amplifier arrangement is configured to receive the input signal (V.sub.INP) at a first input and the second signal (V.sub.INN) at a second input and to output corresponding amplified first and second output signals. This converts a single ended input signal effectively into a differential input signal.

A method includes obtaining a capacitive function of ground plane displacement and gap distance, and optimizing, using the capacitive function, an optimization function to obtain multiple slice lengths. The slice lengths correspond to multiple gap distances between a first sensor electrode and a second sensor electrode. The method further includes defining a sensor electrode shape using slice lengths and gap distances, defining a sensor electrode pattern based on the sensor electrode shape, and storing the sensor electrode pattern.