Provided is a refrigeration appliance including a storage compartment, a user interface controller, and a user interface arranged in the storage compartment. The user interface is a stacked arrangement including a sensor assembly carrier, a graphic overlay, a light guide, and a printed circuit board (PCB) with a user interface controller and a self-capacitive electrode sensor. The main controller receives a signal from the user interface with self-capacitive electrode sensor and adjusts the temperature of the storage compartment based on the signal from the self-capacitive electrode sensor. A method controlling a refrigeration appliance with a stacked user interface is also provided.

Techniques and apparatuses are described that implement touch sensors and electronic devices including touch sensors. In some implementations, the touch sensor includes a sensing portion and a contact portion extending from the sensing portion. While the sensing portion is configured to be placed in proximity to an interior surface of a housing of an electronic device to detect a touch on the housing, the contact portion is bent to electrically couple the sensing portion to a circuit board via two distinct electrical paths.

A sensor electrode and an insulating body are coupled together by a hot melt member in a sensor of a steering wheel. The sensor electrode makes contact with the insulating body at first protrusions so as to form through holes in the hot melt member. The hot melt member is accordingly able to stretch easily due to the through holes, enabling a high extensibility for the sensor to be achieved.

A sensing module and an electronic device are provided. The sensing module includes a substrate, at least one light-emitting unit, a light-guiding assembly, at least one sensing circuit structure, and a sensing processor. The light-guiding assembly is connected to the substrate and includes at least one light-guiding structure. The at least one light-emitting unit is configured to emit a light beam outwardly through the at least one light-guiding structure. One end of the at least one sensing circuit structure is disposed on the substrate. The sensing processor is disposed on the substrate, and is configured to sense a capacitance change in a peripheral area of the at least one sensing circuit structure by the at least one sensing circuit structure and to generate a sensing signal. The sensing processor or an external controller is configured to control the at least one light-emitting unit according to the sensing signal.

A switch to be attached to a panel having an opening in a surface includes: a stationary member to be attached to the panel; a movable member to be placed at a distance from the panel, the movable member having a manipulation surface separated from the panel in the opening with a gap intervening between the manipulation surface and the panel, the manipulation surface being exposed from the opening; and a vibration element disposed between the stationary member and the movable member, the vibration element vibrating the movable member.

Electronic control device (10) comprising: —an electronic circuit (11) having an operative face (11a) on which a plurality of LEDs (12) are mounted; —a frame (13) defining a plurality of first channels (14) which face the LEDs so as to guide their light radiation; —a composite screen (15) which covers the first channels (14) so as to be crossed by a light radiation coming from the LEDs (12) and guided by the first channels (14) towards the composite screen (15). The composite screen (15) comprises: —a diffuser layer (16) configured to homogenize a light radiation that crosses it; —an operative layer (17) having electronic tracks comprising touch-sensitive pads (18) and connection contacts (19). The electronic control device (10) further comprises at least one connector (20) which connects electrically the connection contacts (19) to the electronic circuit (11) in order to transmit to the latter electrical signals following touching, by a user, of at least one of said sensitive pads (18) on the composite screen (15).

A capacitive sensor includes: a substrate that is in the form of a sheet; and a sensor electrode that is capacitive and disposed on a frontside of the substrate. The sensor electrode is a conductive fabric made by applying a metal plating on a mesh fabric that is woven of a plurality of warps and a plurality of wefts and that has openings each formed by two adjacent warps among the plurality of warps and two adjacent wefts among the plurality of wefts. An area defined by a maximum outside diameter of a warp or weft is smaller than an area of an opening space of each of the openings.

A solid-state switch for an external system includes a cover member, a first solid-state transducer, a microcontroller, a user feedback device, and a switching circuit. The first transducer is mechanically coupled to the cover member and configured to generate first signals in response to a perturbation at the cover member. The microcontroller is configured to obtain first data from the first signals and determine user inputs in accordance with at least the first data and an operational state of the solid-state switch. The user feedback device is configured to provide feedback to a user of the solid-state switch in accordance with a switching behavior of the switching circuit. The microcontroller is couplable to a master controller of the external system. The switching behavior of the switching circuit is determined in accordance with: (a) the commands from the master controller to the microcontroller, and/or (b) user inputs as determined by the microcontroller.

Systems and methods of printing sensor loops on a sensor mat for use in a steering wheel are disclosed herein. For example, the sensor mat may include a base substrate, one or more printed sensing loops, and an insulating material. The printed sensing loops are made with conductive ink that is disposed upon the base substrate or the insulating layer from a print head and adheres thereto. These sensor mats are versatile with respect to the type of base substrate and insulating materials that may be used, the shape of the sensing loops, and the area each loop may occupy. Shielding loop(s) may also be printed adjacent the sensing loop(s). This configuration allows shielding for the sensing loops as part of the sensing mat, which may reduce the thickness of the steering wheel rim and manufacturing and installation times.

A method of producing a control panel for a vehicle. The method includes the following operations: a) producing a touch-sensitive film, the touch-sensitive film including a film, a conductive layer, a main decorative layer, and a secondary decorative layer, the conductive layer being arranged on an inner face of the film, the main decorative layer being arranged on an outer face of the film, and the secondary decorative layer having at least one critical deformation portion arranged on the inner face of the film in at least one corresponding critical deformation zone; b) shaping said touch-sensitive film, the touch-sensitive film being shaped in a non-developable three-dimensional manner in each critical deformation zone; and c) molding a layer of plastic material onto the main decorative layer.