Patent ID: 6901134

Claim:
A sensor apparatus comprising: a plurality of sensor elements, each sensor element including at least one sensor and at least one output and can be activated in such a manner that in the activated state the at least one sensor is coupled to at least one output and a signal generated by the sensor is present on the output, each of the plurality of sensor elements having at least one control input and at least two of the plurality of sensor elements having two or more control inputs, the control inputs arranged to receive control signals whose combination forms signal patterns on the control inputs, each of the sensor elements including at least one switching unit coupled to the at least one sensor, to the output and to the control inputs and is arranged so as to evaluate the signal patterns present on the control inputs in order to compare these patterns with at least one activation pattern and to activate the relevant sensor element in the case of correspondence between the signal pattern present and an activation pattern, and wherein at least two sensor elements have at least one identical activation pattern.