Abstract: A sensor device for insertion into a water channel in a washing machine is provided with two electrodes as sensors on a sensor carrier. These electrodes are in direct contact with the water through apertures. The electrodes are connected to a transformer on the sensor carrier directly and without any further components or couplings being required. The other side of the transformer is connected to an activating and evaluating means, in particular to a microprocessor positioned on the same carrier.

Abstract: A method and device for measuring the surface tension of liquids uses the bubble pressure principle, wherein a parameter relating to a bubble formed using a defined gas mass flow rate or volume flow rate is measured at the tip of a capillary tube immersed in the liquid. The surface tension is calculated from the measured value. With a defined gas mass flow rate or volume flow rate, the time between the minimum pressure and the maximum pressure and hence a defined pressure increase in a bubble are measured, and from this the surface tension is calculated. A relatively inexpensive sensor for measuring the surface tension in an appliance, such as a washing machine, using this inventive concepts is disclosed using a piezoelectric transducer.

Abstract: A laminate core of a stator of an electrical machine with an internal rotor includes slots each having a slit opening dimensioned such that only a single winding wire can be inserted therethrough into the slot.