A moisture absorbing sensor is provided that includes a hygroscopic material that maintains a shape before and after moisture absorption and maintains a hygroscopic state for a predetermined time or more after moisture absorption; and an electrode disposed in the hygroscopic material. Moreover, an electrical characteristic of a circuit formed by the electrode and the hygroscopic material changes according to a moisture absorption amount of the hygroscopic material.

There is provided a perishable goods monitoring system for monitoring the freshness or condition of a perishable product encapsulated within a package, the system comprising a sensor device, a wireless communication reader device and a processing module, said sensor device comprising a fibrous hydrophilic material based electrical sensor and a wireless communication tag chip coupled thereto and being configured to be incorporated in or on a said package, said wireless communication reader device being configured for wireless communication with said wireless communication tag by means of wireless communication technology when said reader device is within a predetermined distance of said tag, and said processing module being configured to receive sensor data from said sensor, via said reader device, correlate said sensor data against a stored calibration data set associated with said perishable product and determine thereby data representative of freshness of said perishable product.

The apparatus for detecting moisture in a building structure comprises at least one inductance element; at least one fixed capacitance element configured not to have a change in capacitance although the moisture is present in the building structure; and

at least one variable capacitance element configured to be electrically connected with the at least one fixed capacitance element and have a change in capacitance when the moisture is present in the building structure, wherein at least one first resonant frequency is determined based on the at least one inductance element, the at least one fixed capacitance element, and the at least one variable capacitance element.

A wearable environmental sensor is configured to measure environmental information regarding a place where the device is worn, and includes a black-bulb temperature sensor including a black bulb and a temperature sensor for measuring internal temperature in the black bulb, the black-bulb temperature sensor being in a housing, wherein the black bulb includes an insertion hole into which the temperature sensor is inserted, the black bulb includes a weld portion welded to the housing, in an outer-circumferential portion of the bottom surface, the black bulb includes a guide portion in an outer-circumferential portion around the insertion hole, the housing includes an insertion opening into which the guide portion of the black bulb is inserted, the housing includes a protruding portion at an outer-circumferential portion around the insertion opening, and the guide portion is supported by the protruding portion.

The present invention relates to a sensor device (10) for detection of liquid and/or humidity. The sensor device comprises a resonance circuit comprising an inductor (13) connected to a capacitor (11), wherein the capacitor comprises a first electrode (11a) and a second electrode (11b) together sandwiching at least a portion of a dielectric substrate (14). The first and second electrodes are configured to provide an overlap mismatch relative to each other, and the overlap mismatch area (ma) is at least 0.1% of the overlapping area (o.sub.a) of the two electrodes. The present invention further relates to a system (70) for reading a sensor device and a method (100, 200) for reading a sensor device.

The present invention provides capacitive gas sensor and manufacturing method thereof in which the capacitive gas sensor comprises: a first electrode; a second electrode; a gas-sensitive dielectric material arranged between the first and the second electrodes to form a gas sensitive capacitor, the gas-sensitive dielectric material has a permittivity that depends on an amount of a gas compound absorbed from the environmental medium; and a dielectric-electrode interfacing material arranged at an interface between the gas-sensitive dielectric material and at least one of the first and second electrodes. The dielectric-electrode interfacing material is adapted to absorb thermally-induced dilatation of the at least one of the first and second electrodes for reducing mechanical stress on the gas-sensitive dielectric material.

Described examples include devices and methods for measuring relative humidity of an environment using inductance. The devices can include a resonant circuit, including a capacitor and an inductor. The inductor includes a moisture-absorbing core with at least a portion thereof exposed to an environment, with at least one magnetic property of the core being variable in response to changing levels of moisture in the environment. An excitation circuit provides an AC excitation signal to the resonant circuit. A sense circuit determines an inductance of the inductor according to a sense signal from the resonant circuit. The sense circuit is coupled to generate an output signal that indicates a humidity level of the environment according to the sense signal.

Monolithic humidity sensor devices, and methods of manufacture. The devices include circuitry on or over a silicon substrate. A primary passivation barrier is formed over the circuitry with conductive vias therethrough; a capacitor, comprising metal fingers with spaces therebetween, is formed above said primary passivation barrier and electrically coupled by the conductive vias to the circuitry. A secondary passivation barrier is formed over the capacitor. A hygroscopic material layer is formed over the secondary passivation barrier, wherein the capacitor is operable to exhibit a capacitance value responsive to moisture present in the hygroscopic material layer and the circuitry is operable to generate a signal responsive to said capacitance value.

A moisture sensor comprises a carrier element comprises an insulating material, a first and a second electrode structure at a distance from one another at the carrier element, a moisture-sensitive, dielectric layer element at a first main surface region of the carrier element and adjacent to the first and second electrode structures and a third electrode structure on a first main surface region of the moisture-sensitive, dielectric layer element, such that the moisture-sensitive, dielectric layer element is between the third electrode structure and the first electrode structure and between the third electrode structure and the second electrode structure. The first electrode structure is a first capacitor electrode and the second electrode structure is a second capacitor electrode of a measurement capacitor for capacitive moisture measurement, wherein the third electrode structure is a floating electrode structure.

An apparatus and method for measuring pressure and/or humidity, having at least one sensor for measuring pressure and/or humidity. The sensor has at least one capacitor having at least two electrodes that are arranged in a horizontal direction relative to one another along and on a flexible support material. At least one dielectric layer is arranged between the electrodes. At least one at least partially moisture-permeable and/or moisture-absorbing layer is arranged in some places on a side, facing away from a support material, of the electrode and/or the dielectric layer. The at least one electrode and/or the dielectric layer are arranged transversely between the support material and the moisture layer. In this way, a capacitance is at least partially changed by moisture hitting the dielectric layer, and a processing unit is designed and provided to measure and/or store this change, so as to create a capacitive moisture sensor.