CAPACITIVE OPERATING UNIT WHICH CAN BE OPERATED IN A TRANSLATIONAL MANNER AND WHICH HAS DEFINED SWITCHING POINTS

The invention relates to a capacitive operating unit (1) with a closed separating wall (10) which runs on a plane and at least one capacitive sensor (11). The separating wall (10) has a rear face and a visible face, and the visible face of the separating wall (10) is equipped with a stationary central element (20) and an operating element (30) which can be moved relative to the central element (20) parallel to the plane, wherein the central element (20) and the operating element (30) have at least one specified common contact point (A1, B1, C1, A2, B2, C2) and are designed to produce a local change in an electric field in the event of an electric contact at the at least one contact point (A1, B1, C1, A2, B2, C2), said electric contact being produced by a movement of the operating element (30) parallel to the plane. The at least one capacitive sensor (11) is arranged on the rear face of the separating wall (10) and is designed to detect the respective local change in the electric field and assign the respective local change to a respective position on the visible face of the separating wall (10).