ACTUATOR HAVING IMPROVED HAPTIC FEEDBACK LIMITED TO ACTUATION AREA

The invention relates to an operating element (1), having: a carrier (2); an actuating part (3) supported on the carrier, which forms an operator-facing visual surface (10) that forms at least one island-shaped actuating surface (11) within the visual surface (10), wherein the actuating surface (11) is formed by a cantilevered actuating section (6) of the actuating part (3); and the actuating section (6) is surrounded by a flexible isolation section (5) of the actuating part (3), so that the actuating section (6) is mounted in an oscillating manner relative to the carrier (2); detection means (8, 9) for detecting a touch of the actuating surface and/or actuation of the actuating part (3); an actuator (4) fixed to the actuating section (6) of the actuating part (3) from the operator's perspective on the side facing away from the operator, which in the event of positive detection of an actuation or touch by the detection means (8, 9) is subjected to an electrical excitation signal (I(t)) for exciting an oscillation of the actuating section (6) for haptic feedback; wherein along a measurement distance (s) of a maximum of 1 cm lying on the visual surface, the determined dynamic stiffness of the actuating part (2) varies such that a first transfer function (U) determined at a beginning (x) of the measurement distance (s) differs significantly from a second transfer function (U) determined at an end (x) of the measurement distance (s) for a contiguous frequency range (X) lying between 30 Hz and 1,000 Hz for the same frequency range.