Abstract: An axially driven piston-cylinder unit comprising a cylinder, a piston that can be moved back and forth in the axial direction of the cylinder, between first and second piston positions, and a drive element that can be moved back and forth in the axial direction of the cylinder and is mechanically connected to the piston by means of a piston rod. The piston rod is connected to the piston or the drive element against the pretension of an elastic device, in such a way that it can be moved axially in relation to the piston or the drive element, such that when the piston head comes into contact with the front wall of the cylinder borehole, on the side of the cylinder head, the other movement of the drive element is performed against the force of the elastic device, thus braking the drive element.

Abstract: A piston/cylinder unit comprising a cylinder, a piston which reciprocates in the axial direction of the cylinder between first and second piston positions, and a fluid bearing provided between the piston and the cylinder which supports the piston such as to be axially displaceable in the cylinder and defines the piston-side bearing surface, enclosing the circumference of the piston at least over a part of the axial extension of the piston, whereby the fluid bearing comprises a number of outlet nozzles for the fluid arranged in the inner circumferential wall of the cylinder. The outlet nozzles are arranged such that when the piston is in the second position, first outlet nozzles provide the front or middle region of the piston-side bearing surface relative to the piston longitudinal extension and second outlet nozzles provide the middle region of the piston side bearing surface with pressure fluid.

Abstract: An axially driven piston/cylinder unit comprising a cylinder, a piston being movable between first and second piston positions in the axial direction of the cylinder, a fluid bearing between the piston and the cylinder and defining a bearing surface on the piston side enclosing said piston over a part of the axial length of the piston, and a drive element mechanically-connected to the piston by means of a piston rod. The piston rod is embodied to permit and compensate for a radial offset, or an inclination between the cylinder axis and the longitudinal axis, defining the movement direction of the drive element. The piston rod is provided with a first drive-side joint section, the piston rod is also provided with a second piston-side joint section and that the second piston-side joint section is provided in the rear region of the piston, away from the piston crown.

Abstract: To provide a circuit arrangement for controlling a sensor by means of a power supply source which is connected to input terminals of the sensor, and an evaluation circuit which is connected to output terminals of the sensor, by means of which the current consumption of a sensor in the standby state can be reduced in a simple manner, the power supply source (14) is switchable between at least two current levels in dependence upon an output signal level (S) of the sensor (12).

Abstract: To provide a circuit arrangement for controlling a sensor by means of a power supply source which is connected to input terminals of the sensor, and an evaluation circuit which is connected to output terminals of the sensor, by means of which the current consumption of a sensor in the standby state can be reduced in a simple manner, the power supply source (14) is switchable between at least two current levels in dependence upon an output signal level (S) of the sensor (12).

Abstract: A method for offset compensation of a magnetoresistive position or angular position measuring system includes at least one Wheatstone bridge with four locally offset magnetoresistive resistors to which a DC voltage is applied and past which a permanent magnet is moved, wherein the respective bridge voltage is measured, by which method a subsequent offset compensation of magnetoresistive position or angular position measuring systems is also possible on site. Provision is made for a calibration cycle to be run through upon start-up of the measuring system, by moving the permanent magnet past the bridge(s) for a measuring cycle, evaluating the extreme values of the bridge voltages measured during this procedure by deriving the mean values thereof, and deriving from these mean values corresponding compensation values in the form of offset values to be taken into consideration by the measuring system, the compensation values being stored in a register.

Abstract: To provide a circuit arrangement for protecting the input of an integrated circuit particularly suitable for analog signals, more specifically a CMOS circuit, against overvoltages, said circuit arrangement (100) comprising: at least two input terminals (10; 20) and at least one protection stage (S) in which each input terminal (10; 20) is connected to a power supply voltage (US) by a respective protection diode (12; 22), particularly a semiconductor diode, and to a reference potential (UR) by a respective protection diode (16; 26), particularly a semiconductor diode, by which, on the one hand, disturbing demodulation effects affecting the signal path can be reliably avoided in the input signal due to a simple and low-cost structure, and, on the other hand, effective protection of overvoltages caused by electrostatic discharges is ensured, it is proposed that at least a further diode (14, 18; 24; 28) is arranged in series with each protection diode (12, 16; 22, 26), and the protection stage (S) precedes at

Abstract: A bearing arrangement for the support of tensile forces, in particular for the suspended mounting of a mass, in order to simulate the weightlessness of the latter in a gravitational field, has a first bearing element comprising at least one magnet and a second, metallic bearing element, to which the first bearing element is attracted magnetically. At least one of the bearing elements has, in its bearing surface, gas outflow nozzles which are loaded by a compressed gas, so that a gas stream flowing out of the gas outflow nozzles forms a gas cushion between the bearing elements attracting one another due to the magnetic force, said gas cushion keeping the bearing elements at a distance from one another. The magnetic attraction force between the bearing elements is, in this case, equal to the sum of the tensile force exerted by the mass and the first bearing element and of the repulsion force of the gas cushion.

Abstract: To provide a method for offset compensation of a magnetoresistive position or angular position measuring system, which comprises at least one Wheatstone bridge with four locally offset magnetoresistive resistors to which a DC voltage is applied and past which a permanent magnet is moved, wherein the respective bridge voltage is measured, by which method a subsequent offset compensation of magnetoresistive position or angular position measuring systems is also possible on site, provision is made for a calibration cycle to be run through upon start-up of the measuring system, by

Abstract: In an evaluation circuit for evaluating an output signal of a magnetoresistive sensor (1) for rotational speed measurement, in which the evaluation circuit performs an offset compensation of the sensor signal and comprises a comparator (4) which receives the offset compensated sensor signal and compares it with a reference voltage, a reliable identification of the output signal of the sensor after switching on the arrangement is ensured in that, in an initial mode, the value of the reference voltage is selected in dependence upon the temperature, the temperature dependence being approximated to that of the sensor signal, in that a control unit (6) is provided which, in the initial mode, consecutively checks whether the sensor signal is present, triggers the offset compensation only after the presence of said signal, subsequently checks whether the comparator (4) supplies an output signal, and changes over to a control mode only after the presence of said signal, in which control mode the temperature dependenc

Abstract: Arrangement for determining a position, an angle and/or a rotational speed by means of a sensor (1), which has at least one sensor full bridge with two half bridges (3, 4), and by means of an encoder (2; 11) with laterally alternating magnet poles, a sinusoidal magnetic field running through the sensor (1) in the event of a relative movement between the sensor (1) and encoder (2; 11) such that the two half bridges (3, 4) of the sensor (1) each supply a sinusoidal sensor signal (V1, V2), and a sum signal (SUM) and a difference signal (DIFF) being obtained from these signals by means of forming sums and differences, respectively, which are evaluated in order to determine a position, an angle and/or a rotational speed.

Abstract: To provide a circuit arrangement for protecting the input of an integrated circuit particularly suitable for analog signals, more specifically a CMOS circuit, against overvoltages, said circuit arrangement (100) comprising:

Abstract: In an evaluation circuit for evaluating an output signal of a magnetoresistive sensor (1) for rotational speed measurement, in which the evaluation circuit performs an offset compensation of the sensor signal and comprises a comparator (4) which receives the offset-compensated sensor signal and compares it with a reference voltage, a reliable identification of the output signal of the sensor after switching on the arrangement is ensured in that, in an initial mode, the value of the reference voltage is selected in dependence upon the temperature, the temperature dependence being approximated to that of the sensor signal, in that a control unit (6) is provided which, in the initial mode, consecutively checks whether the sensor signal is present, triggers the offset compensation only after the presence of said signal, subsequently checks whether the comparator (4) supplies an output signal, and changes over to a control mode only after the presence of said signal, in which control mode the temperature dependenc

Abstract: An aerostatic bearing includes a thin material thickness area having a bearing surface and a back side opposite to the bearing surface, and a plurality of nozzle-forming microholes formed in the thin material layer and having a conical cross-section, with the microholes being drilled with a laser beam applied from the back side, and with the most narrow section of the microholes being located on the bearing surface.

Abstract: An angle sensor includes at least two angularly spaced sensor units which measure in a contactless manner and whose sensor voltages are similar but angularly shifted sinusoidal functions (sensor characteristic) of the angle .alpha. to be measured relative to a rotatable element and a processing circuit forms an angle sensor voltage which is a measure of the angle .alpha.. Using limited analog circuitry, a wide angular range is obtained and also a monotonously increasing angle sensor voltage which is dependent as linearly as possible on the angle to be measured, in that the sensor voltages are direct voltages which are constant in time.

Abstract: A method for manufacture of at least one micronozzle in an aerostatic bearing, wherein at least one hole is placed into a compacted bearing surface from porous sintered material by means of a laser beam and disposed so as to be distributed across the surface. The holes distributed across the compacted bearing surface constitute micronozzles of an aerostatic bearing.