A hand held domestic appliance comprises a handle part, a driven member, a motor for driving the driven member and a controller for controlling the motor. The handle part comprises a surface sensor for detecting a contact surface area and optionally also pressure and the controller is adapted to control the power supplied to the motor in dependence on the sensed contact surface area and optionally also pressure.

Disclosed is a door handle module for a vehicle. The module includes a pulse transformer configured to transform a first discharge pulse ({circle around (7)}) of a first voltage level (V1), which is discharged from a touch sensor, to a second discharge pulse {circle around (8)} with a rising section which increases the first discharge pulse ({circle around (7)}) to a second voltage level (V2) which is higher than the first voltage level; an effective pulse generator configured to generate an effective pulse ({circle around (10)}) using a voltage detected in the rising section of the second discharge pulse ({circle around (8)}); and a charge amplifier configured to amplify the effective pulse ({circle around (10)}) to an analog voltage in an analog form and output the amplified analog voltage as a signal for controlling locking and unlocking of a vehicle door.

A self capacitance type touch panel includes a touch driver including a plurality of touch ICs; and a touch unit including a plurality of touch groups that are controlled by the plurality of touch ICs, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of touch groups includes a plurality of pattern electrodes, and some touch ICs selected from the plurality of touch ICs apply sensing voltages to respective corresponding touch groups at a same timing.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a capacitive sensing apparatus, a manufacturing and operation method thereof and an electronic device including the capacitive sensing apparatus. An apparatus includes first capacitive sensing unit(s) and second capacitive sensing unit, and a control unit. The control unit is configured to control periodic charging of the capacitive sensing units, determine first voltage change(s) for the first capacitive sensing unit(s) and second voltage change(s) for the second capacitive sensing unit(s), and calculate, for the first capacitive sensing unit(s), a signal-to-noise ratio value based on the first voltage change(s) and the second voltage change(s). Sensing results of first capacitive sensing unit(s) may be calibrated based on the sensing results of second capacitive sensing unit(s), thereby reducing influence of environmental changes on stability and sensitivity of a capacitive sensing apparatus.

A method and apparatus include a plurality of sensor elements arranged within an integrated circuit package and a controller arranged within the integrated circuit package and coupled to the plurality of sensor elements. The controller is configured to apply a transmit signal to a first sensor element of the plurality of sensor elements and receive a receive signal from a second sensor element of the plurality of sensor elements. The receive signal represents a mutual capacitance of the first sensor element and the second sensor element.

Non-contact position and motion sensing is improved for oscillator frequency based sensors in response to adding a two phase calibration along with bootstrapping circuit. Calibration is performed across the multiple sensor channels, so that: (1) maximum sensor channel loading is determined, and (2) the amount of capacitive load required for each other channel to match this same maximum load is stored for application to that channel during non-contact sensing. Capacitive coupling between channels is nullified by a bootstrapping process, in which time-domain voltage on the active channel is replicated on the non-active channels during non-contact sensing, thus creating equal potentials across inter-channel couplings that effectively eliminate inter-channel capacitive loading.

A capacitance measuring circuit of a touch sensor includes a voltage comparing part, a control part, a complex switch, a charging/discharging circuit part and a timer part. The voltage comparing part outputs a first comparing signal by comparing with a first reference voltage and a sensing voltage of a touch sensor and a second comparing signal by comparing with a second reference voltage and the sensing voltage, in response to a first control signal provided from an external device. The control part outputs a charging/discharging control signal based on the first and second comparing signals, in response to a second control signal provided from an external device. The complex switch is connected to each two terminals of the touch sensors, and is configured to set a path transmitting a sensing signal to the touch sensor and a path receiving a sensing signal sensing a capacitance variation amount of the touch sensor via the touch sensor.

The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement for detecting a capacitance of a capacitive component and/or a change in the capacitance of a capacitive component, which circuit arrangement comprises, inter alia a monostable flipflop controllable by a control signal and having at least two inputs and one output, wherein a first input of the flipflop is provided for the control signal, and a second input is connected to a capacitive component. The circuit arrangement further comprises a conversion device, which is connected to the output of the monostable flipflop, and an evaluation unit, which is connected to the conversion device in order to evaluate the signal voltage and from this to generate at least one detection value, which indicates the capacitance and/or a change in the capacitance of the capacitive component.

An apparatus and method for determining a valid user input in an electronic device is provided. The electronic device generally includes a touch unit included in a touch input circuit, wherein the touch unit corresponds to a touch area, a signal generator configured to transmit a signal to a first signal line and a second signal line by generating the signal, a signal measuring device configured to measure a part of a modified signal based on the transmitted signal, and a signal determiner configured to determine whether a user input is provided to the touch area based on the measured signal. The first signal line connects the signal generator and the touch unit, and the second signal line extends from the signal generator and is parallel with the first signal line.

An apparatus and method wherein the apparatus comprises; a sensor arrangement comprising a plurality of sensor cells wherein a sensor cell comprises a transistor and a sensor coupled to the transistor; first selection circuitry configured to sequence a subset of sensor cells to which a gate input signal is provided, wherein the gate input signal is provided to the gate of the transistors within the sensor cells; second selection circuitry configured to sequence a subset of sensor cells from which an output signal is received; sensing signal circuitry configured to provide a sensing signal, wherein the sensors are provided between the sensing signal circuitry and the second selection circuitry such that the output signal provides an indication of the impedance of the sensors.