Optosys Sa

Roland Bochud

Peter Heimlicher

Charles Rhême

Laurent Genilloud

Annette Liggenstorfer-Heimlicher

Pierre-Yves Dénervaud

A proximity sensor for detecting the proximity of an object, including a sensing element, a detection circuitry provided on a circuit board, and a housing with a rear portion adjoining a rear end of the housing and a front portion adjoining a front end of the housing, the sensing element being arranged inside the front portion of the housing to interact with the object through the front portion, the detection circuitry being interconnected with the sensing element to receive a detection signal from the sensing element, the housing including side walls extending in a longitudinal direction from the rear end to the front end of the housing, the side walls surrounding the circuit board. To allow a better flexibility of the sensor along its length expansion, the circuit board includes at least one bendable section extending in a transverse direction with respect to the longitudinal direction and that the side walls substantially consist of at least one flexible material in a region surrounding the bendable section of the circuit board such that the sensor is bendable through the transverse direction.

Proximity sensor

The present disclosure relates to a proximity sensor for detecting the proximity of an object, the sensor including a sensing element (), a detection circuitry (), and a housing (), the sensing element () being arranged in a front portion () of the housing () such that it is adapted to interact with the object through the front portion () and the detection circuitry being interconnected with the sensing element () in order to receive a detection signal from the sensing element (), wherein the detection circuitry () is provided on a circuit board (A,B,C) extending at least through a middle portion () of the housing (). To allow a better flexibility of the sensor along its length expansion, it is proposed that the housing () includes multiple segments () that are consecutively arranged in a longitudinal direction () from a rear end () toward a front end () of the housing (), wherein neighboring segments of said segments () are linked to each other via a respective pivot axis () extending transversely with respect to said longitudinal direction (), such that the housing () is bendable around each of said pivot axes (), wherein both of said front portion () and said middle portion () each includes at least one of said segments (), and wherein the circuit board (A,B,C) includes at least one bendable section () extending transversely with respect to said longitudinal direction (), said bendable section () being provided inside said neighboring segments ().

An optical sensor system comprises one or more optical sensor devices, a master device and an electrical bus connecting the sensor devices to the master device. The bus comprises a signal daisy chain for the transmission of synchronization events. The sensor devices are adapted to detect a synchronization event at a signal input terminal, to time an optical activity based on this synchronization event and to provide at a signal output terminal a synchronization event delayed by an offset time with respect to the detected synchronization event. A property of the synchronization events provided by the sensor devices is indicative of an output value of the respective sensor device, corresponding to a state of an optical section to which the sensor is sensitive. Diodes are connected between the signal output terminals of the sensor devices and a signal line of the bus, which is connected to a signal input terminal of the master device, so that the latter receives the synchronization events from the sensor devices. The master device comprises means for extracting the output values of the sensor devices from these synchronization events. A sensor device for such a system comprises an enclosure of cuboid outer shape adapted to be mounted to a mounting rail so that the longitudinal direction of the rail is perpendicular to lateral sides of the enclosure. An electrical connector with the signal input and output terminals and with power supply terminals is arranged at a side connecting the lateral sides of the enclosure. Bus segments are provided for connecting the sensor devices to the system bus.

Optical sensor system, optical sensor device and bus segment for connecting the device to a bus of the system

The gear unit for use with a manually adjustable electric component has a manually operable adjusting shaft and a reduction gear including a rotatable ball cage and a plurality of balls as well as a race ring element having a spring and retaining portion that encircles the race ring externally. Such a gear unit allows greatly reduced dimensions and furthermore offers a considerable dielectric strength.

Growing community of inventors

Noréaz, Switzerland

Roland Bochud