A switching device includes at least one (a first) sheet of glazing material having a first major surface and an opposing second major surface, a switch attached to the first major surface of the first sheet of glazing material, and a sensor assembly facing the second major surface of the first sheet of glazing material. The switch includes a movable portion operatively coupled with the sensor assembly such that upon operation of the switch, the movable portion moves from a first position to a second position and the movement of the movable portion from the first position to the second position is detectable by the sensor assembly. The switching device may be part of a window or door for a building or a vehicle.

A sensor is provided with a cylindrical-shaped housing which has an opening formed at one end, an electronic component which is housed in the housing, a cylindrical-shaped clamp of which one end is inserted into the housing from the opening, and a sealing resin which seals the gap between the inner wall of the housing and the outer wall of the clamp. On the outer wall, the clamp has a rib which rises towards the inner wall of the housing. The rib includes an apex and a sloped surface which extends from the apex towards another end of the clamp and which intersects the outer wall of the clamp. The sealing resin, which exudes from between the inner wall of the housing and the apex and which is positioned on the sloped surface, has a recess resulting from surface tension.

This sensor includes: a housing 10 which houses an electronic component in the internal space; a detection unit 40 which has a coil 42 and a core 41 that houses the coil 42 and which is arranged on the end side in the internal space; a substrate 30 which is arranged more inside the internal space than the detection unit 40 and on which a circuit electrically connected to the coil 42 is provided; a first shield 451 at least one portion of which is arranged further on the end side in the internal space than the detection unit 40 and which suppresses the penetration of noise from outside of the housing 10; and a spacer 51 which is positioned between the first shield 451 and the detection unit 40 and which separates the surfaces of the first shield 451 and the detection unit 40 that face each other.

A proximity sensor includes a light source, an optical sensing element, and an integration circuit. The light source is turned on and off several times during a measurement time interval. When the light source is turned on and off, the optical sensing element senses the surrounding light to generate a first current and a second current, respectively. The integration circuit integrates the first current and the second current to generate a first integration signal and a second integration signal respectively for determining whether an object is approaching. When the light source is turned on, the present second integration signal is stored, and a stored first integration signal is used as a starting value to integrate the first current. When the light source is turned off, the present first integration signal is stored, and the stored second integration signal is used as a starting value to integrate the second current.

An apparatus includes a display screen, and an optical proximity sensor module disposed behind the display screen. The optical proximity sensor module includes a light emitter operable to produce light having a wavelength for transmission through the display screen toward a target object, and a light sensor operable to sense light reflected by the target object and having the wavelength. The optical proximity sensor module can includes means for reducing a maximum energy density of a light beam produced by the light emitter. The means for reducing the maximum energy density of the light beam is disposed between the light emitter and the display screen so as to intersect the light beam produced by the light emitter. In some cases, there are multiple light emitters collectively operable to provide sufficient optical energy for proximity sensing without producing a visible spot on the display screen. These and other techniques can help reduce or eliminate display screen distortion caused by energy from the light emitters.

The present description concerns a button capable of being activated by the proximity of a user's finger, including: a time-of-flight distance sensor; and a control circuit, coupled to the distance sensor and configured to transmit a control signal, where the control circuit is configured to perform a switching of the signal, between a first state and a second state, conditioned at least by the detection by the sensor, for a first time period, of an object at a distance shorter than a first threshold.

A magnetic switch sensor is provided having a magnetic field sensing element configured to generate a magnetic field signal in response to a magnetic field indicative of a distance or angle between the magnetic field sensing element and a target, a first circuit coupled to receive the magnetic field signal and having an output to provide a comparison signal, and a debounce circuit coupled to receive the comparison signal and having an output to provide a debounced signal. The sensor can include a second circuit having an input coupled to receive the debounced signal and an output at which is provided a toggle signal that transitions between first and second levels every other time the magnetic field signal crosses a threshold level.

A proximity sensor for a portable connected wireless device generating an immediate proximity status signal (PROXSTAT, 310) that becomes active when a part of a user's body is close to the proximity sensor, an averaging unit (259) that may include a FIFO buffer, averaging the immediate proximity status flag in a predetermined time window, and a decision unit generating a time-averaged proximity status flag (350) based on an averaged value of the immediate proximity status flag in the time window, for example when the averaged value exceeds a predetermined threshold. In embodiments, the sensor is configured to switch temporarily and repeatedly the time-averaged proximity status flag to an inactive state when the value of the averaged or accumulated value yields an active state of the time-averaged proximity status flag. This feature improves the connectivity when the sensor is used to limit the RF emission of mobile devices.

A control device which allows an operator/user to follow the user's anatomical movement by following natural hand rotation, includes two independent detection sensors or sensor portions embedded in two different parts of the device, one in a fixed part and one in a mobile or rotative part, with resistance to mutual disturbance between the two. The device includes a knob portion rotatable about an axis of rotation, at least one sensor configured to sense a rotational position of the knob in relation to the axis of rotation, circuitry adapted to at least provide electrical power to the rotative knob portion, circuitry adapted to transmit the sensed rotational position of the knob, and a base portion rotatably coupled to the knob portion.

A module having an input configured to connect a sensor and having an indicator configured to optically indicate a physical state of the sensor. The module is configured to transmit a logical signal associated with the physical state or an inverted logical signal of the sensor to a higher-level unit and to receive a control value from the higher-level unit. The module is configured to evaluate the control value and to determine, on the basis of the control value, whether the value of the logical sensor signal or the inverted logical sensor signal is to be used for the optical indication of the physical state of the sensor.