Operating device for motor vehicle
By using a simplified design in the motor vehicle operating device, detecting bending moments and providing tactile feedback, the problem of misoperation caused by slight touch is solved, the system complexity and cost is reduced, and effective identification and feedback of manual control is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN201980067859.5
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2018-10-17
- Filing Date
- 2019-07-31
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-31
- Estimated Expiration
- 2039-07-31
AI Technical Summary
The existing motor vehicle operating devices tend to inadvertently trigger safety-related functions or unwilling motor vehicle function adjustments under slight touch, resulting in erroneous operation, and the complex structure and multiple elastic components make the system expensive.
Using a simplified operating device design, it includes a housing, an operating component, a holding component and a control sensor. The bending torque is detected through the intermediate area spaced between the bottom wall of the holding component and the rear wall of the housing, and the torque is transmitted to the control sensor, and the analysis unit recognizes Minimum pressure manipulation and tactile feedback is provided through the actuator.
It realizes effective identification and tactile feedback of manual control, avoids misoperation, reduces the complexity and cost of the system, and improves the performance of the operating device with a compact structure.
Smart Images
Figure CN112840296B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This patent application claims the priority of German patent application 10 2018 125 769.4 from October 17, 2018, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into the subject matter of the present patent application.
[0002] The invention relates to an operating device for a motor vehicle, more specifically, to an operating device for a motor vehicle component such as an air conditioning system, an infotainment system or a navigation system, and more generally to an operating device for a human-machine interface. Background Art
[0003] The displays in motor vehicles are also input components in the form of touch surfaces, which are being used more and more widely and satisfactorily. For these touch displays that are already triggered by a slight contact, unintentional manipulation sometimes occurs. If safety-related functions are triggered as a result, or other undesired adjustments of motor vehicle functions occur, problems will arise. In this case, additional sensors are required, which can detect or determine the force with which the operator presses on the corresponding area in the operating area. In this way, substantial triggering caused by simple touch is avoided. Since there is usually a demand for rigid operating surfaces, force-sensitive resistors, strain gauges, optical or capacitive sensors are mainly used as sensors. These sensors often measure the travel of the operating surface relative to the rigid part of the component due to the displacement of the elastic component. For this reason, the display surface is usually movably arranged in the housing.
[0004] Actuating devices with a resiliently mounted actuating element are known from DE-B-10 2016 002 021, DE-A-10 2016 108 899 and EP-A-2 224 313.
[0005] The above principle requires a complex mechanism to enable the display to move relative to the rigid housing portion. In addition, one or more elastic components are required, which makes the entire system expensive. Summary of the invention
[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an operating device for a motor vehicle, the structure of which is simplified for measuring the actuation force during manual actuation of a display.
[0007] In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides an operating device for a motor vehicle, wherein the operating device is provided with:
[0008] - a housing with a front face and a rear wall, the front face having a receiving opening defined by an opening edge;
[0009] an operating component with an operating surface, which is arranged in the receiving opening at a distance from its opening edge, the operating component having a front side, the front side being provided with the operating surface, a rear side and a limiting edge region;
[0010] a holding part having a bottom wall and support portions protruding from the bottom wall, which support portions terminate below the limiting edge region of the operating part and are mechanically coupled to the operating part in the limiting edge region thereof;
[0011] - wherein the bottom wall of the holding member has an intermediate region spaced apart from the support portion, in which intermediate region the bottom wall of the holding member is supported on the rear wall of the housing;
[0012] a plurality of actuation sensors which detect manual actuation of the operating element, the actuation sensors being arranged between the bottom wall of the holding element and the rear wall of the housing in a peripheral region around a middle region of the bottom wall of the holding element, the peripheral region being spaced apart from the rear wall of the housing, and detecting a bending moment which acts on the holding element in a peripheral region around the middle region of the holding element when the operating element is manually actuated;
[0013] An evaluation unit which receives the signals from the actuation sensors and evaluates them in order to detect manual actuation of the operating element with a predeterminable minimum pressure.
[0014] The present invention advantageously proposes that a holding member that supports the operating member is used to transmit the pressing force to corresponding actuation sensors, which sense the pressing force with which the operating surface of the operating member is actuated.
[0015] The holding element is designed essentially as a trough-shaped or pot-shaped element, which has a bottom wall from which the support parts project, preferably over all edge sections. In particular, the bottom wall has a circumferentially projecting peripheral wall, which advantageously transitions into a likewise circumferential flange. The support parts are then designed in this variant of the invention as side wall sections, which project from the bottom wall along each edge section of the bottom wall. However, it is also conceivable that individual support parts, which are separated from one another and are thus spaced apart, project from the bottom wall, preferably over all edge sections.
[0016] These support parts are coupled to the operating part in the limiting edge region of the operating part. The operating part itself has a front side, a back side and the aforementioned surrounding limiting edge region forming the operating surface.
[0017] The holding component itself is located in a housing of the operating device, which has a front side with a receiving opening defined by an opening edge, in which the operating component is arranged. The housing also has a rear wall. Finally, the housing also has side walls.
[0018] The particularity of the operating device according to the invention is that the holding element is rigidly connected to the housing rear wall in the middle region of its bottom wall. The rear wall thus supports the holding element in this middle region of the bottom wall. Outside the middle region, i.e. in the region surrounding the middle region of the bottom wall, the holding element is spaced apart relative to the housing rear wall; an annular gap is formed between the holding element and the rear wall.
[0019] If the operating surface of the operating part is now manually manipulated, the retaining part and in particular its bottom wall will be subjected to a bending moment. This is because the force manually pressed onto the operating surface of the operating part is transmitted to the bottom wall through the limiting edge area of the operating part and the supporting part mechanically coupled to the limiting edge area. Since the bottom wall is centrally arranged and has a gap from the rear wall of the housing in other places, the bottom wall can now deform like a bending beam clamped on one side, or withstand corresponding bending moments. These bending moments are transmitted to the manipulation sensor, which is located between the surrounding area surrounding the middle area of the bottom wall and the rear wall of the housing. The manipulation sensor can be designed as a travel sensor and / or a force sensor and / or a pressure sensor. MEMS components (micro-electromechanical sensors) are particularly suitable. The measurement signal of the manipulation sensor is transmitted to an analysis unit, which in particular has a microprocessor with corresponding hardware peripherals. The measurement signal of the manipulation sensor is analyzed in the analysis unit, specifically, to identify effective manual manipulation, that is, to identify manipulation of the operating part with a predeterminable minimum pressure. In this way, it is possible to infer a misoperation of the operating part.
[0020] The operating device according to the invention is characterized by a compact design. The shear-proof connection of the holding part to the rear wall of the housing allows an actuator to be arranged between the holding part and the operating part for the possibly desired tactile feedback of the operating device. In this case, the actuator is supported on the holding part on the one hand in order to mechanically stimulate the operating part in a pulsed manner, specifically, for example, to cause a transverse pulsed movement of the operating part, which can be detected manually tactilely, so that effective control of the operating part is tactilely fed back.
[0021] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the evaluation unit also evaluates the signal of the actuation sensor in order to detect the position on the actuation surface of the actuation element at which the actuation element is manually actuated.
[0022] Alternatively or also in addition, the operating component can be provided with a touch sensor for detecting a position on the operating surface of the operating component at which the operating component is manually actuated. The touch sensor can operate capacitively, resistively or optically. When using MEMS, the bending moment can be transmitted to a bending beam, a bending diaphragm, etc., to which the bottom wall of the holding component is subjected when the operating surface of the operating component is manually actuated, wherein the mechanical bending of these micromechanical components of the MEMS is detected by a transistor or resistive pressure measuring device or other micromechanical, microelectrical device.
[0023] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the support part and the limiting edge region of the operating element can be rigidly connected to one another.
[0024] As already mentioned above, the operating device according to the invention can also be equipped with a tactile feedback function. In this case, it is common practice to mechanically stimulate the operating surface when a valid manipulation has been detected. For this purpose, the operating part must be elastically connected together with the retaining part. In the solution proposed within the scope of the present invention, in which the retaining part of the operating part is connected to the rear wall of the housing in a shear-resistant manner, the operating part is then still used for mechanical stimulation of the tactile feedback function, and the operating part must be elastically and thus restorably connected to the supporting part of the retaining part. A variant of the present invention therefore proposes that the limiting edge area of the supporting part and the operating part are mechanically coupled to each other by means of a restorable connecting part arranged between them.
[0025] It is particularly advantageous if the connecting element is able to recover after being compressed perpendicularly to the operating surface of the operating element and is shearable (scherbar) when the operating element is moved orthogonally thereto. As a material for the connecting element, elastomeric materials such as rubber or silicone are suitable. The connecting element is advantageously designed as a strip material, which preferably extends along the entire limiting edge area and mechanically couples the limiting edge area to the supporting part of the retaining element. Through the geometrical shaping of the strip material, its elasticity perpendicular to the operating surface and transversely to it can be influenced within certain limits. It is also feasible to use a composite material, i.e. an elastomeric material and a rigid body embedded therein, which significantly reduces or completely prohibits the compressibility perpendicular to the operating surface, but nevertheless ensures the shearability of the connecting element transversely to the operating surface.
[0026] With the above-described solution of elastically connecting the operating part to the holding part, it is now possible to provide an actuator for tactile feedback between the holding part and the operating part, which actuator is supported on the holding part (and thus on the housing via the holding part) and mechanically actuates the operating part with its actuator. For example, an electromechanical actuator such as a tie rod is suitable as an actuator, but also a piezoelectric actuator (with or without a reinforcing transmission element) is suitable.
[0027] In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the operating component has a display with a front side for displaying information, which forms the operating surface of the operating component. In this case, the display can have a cover plate defining the operating surface, with a display unit arranged behind it for visually displaying information. In this embodiment of the operating component with a display, the cover plate advantageously protrudes over the entire surface beyond the display unit, wherein the protruding area forms a limiting edge area of the operating component.
[0028] The displays mainly used on operating devices today work with LCD technology. In order to see the displayed information more clearly, such displays are equipped with a background lighting unit. The holding component supports the operating component in the operating device according to the present invention, and the holding component can now be used to accommodate such a background lighting unit. However, the following displays are also used as an alternative: for these displays, the individual pixels are then autonomously illuminated to a certain extent when they are needed to display information. Therefore, unlike LCD technology, the display is not designed as a shutter, but is provided with individual pixels that can be actively controlled for illumination. An example of such a display is, for example, an OLED display. For displays that can be actively controlled for illuminating individual pixels, the background lighting unit itself is no longer needed. For such a display, the holding component then meets the function of mechanically protecting the back of the display, and in addition, even when the display has a background lighting unit accommodated by the holding component, the holding component also acts on the back. In both cases, the holding component more or less covers the back of the display.
[0029] In all these cases, the concept according to the invention of using a holding element for transmitting the torque acting on the operating element during manual actuation is the same. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and by way of example.
[0031] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an operating device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0032] Figure 2 is a top view of the operating device;
[0033] Figure 3 shows a condition in which pressure is applied to an operating surface of an operating member of an operating device using fingers of a hand; and
[0034] Figure 4 A situation is shown in which the operating element is mechanically actuated in a pulsed manner laterally as a result of the active actuation of its operating surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] Figure 1 The basic structure of an operating device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown. The operating device 10 has a housing 12, which has a receiving opening 16 on its front side 14, and an operating component 18 with an operating surface 20 is arranged inside the receiving opening. The housing also has a rear wall 22, which is connected to the front side 14 of the housing 12 via a side wall 24.
[0036] The trough-shaped holding element 26, which in this embodiment is located inside the housing 12, has a bottom wall 28 from which support sections 30 protrude on all sides and which transition into an outwardly facing mounting flange 32. The mounting flange 32 is mechanically coupled to a surrounding limiting edge region 34 of the operating element 18.
[0037] In this embodiment, the operating element 18 is designed as a display 36. The display 36 has a cover plate 38, the front side of which forms the operating surface 20 of the operating element 18. A display unit 40 (for example, implemented using LCD technology) is located behind the cover plate 38. In addition, the display 36 can also have a touch sensor in the form of a touch pad 42. Such displays are basically known in the prior art and will not be described in detail here.
[0038] In the limiting edge region 34 of the cover plate 38, the cover plate is reversibly connected to the mounting flange 32. This is done by means of a connecting element 44, which in the present embodiment is designed as an elastic band extending along the mounting flange 32. The connecting element is, for example, bonded to the mounting flange 32 and the cover plate 38 in a shear-proof manner.
[0039] A background lighting unit 46 for background lighting the display 36 is located in the groove-shaped holding part 26, and the background lighting unit has a light guide part 48 and a diffuser 50 for homogenizing the light emitted from the light guide part 48 toward the display 36. In the present embodiment, light is fed into the light guide part 48 by an LED as a light source 52 arranged on the inner side of the support part. This technology is also basically known and will not be described in detail here.
[0040] according to Figure 1The particularity of the operating device 10 is that the holding part 26 is rigidly connected to the rear wall 22 of the housing 12. Figure 1 . In this case, the middle region 54 of the bottom wall 28 is connected to the rear wall 22 of the housing 12. The peripheral region 56 of the bottom wall 28 extends completely around the middle region 54 and is arranged at a distance from the rear wall 22 of the housing 12 (see gap space 58). In this intermediate space, the actuation sensor 60 is preferably located in the corner region of the bottom wall 28, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 as shown in .
[0041] The actuation sensor 60 supplies its measurement signals to an evaluation unit 62, which also receives information from the contact sensor element (touchpad 42) of the display 36. In the evaluation unit 62, the signals of the actuation sensor 60 are now evaluated in order to determine whether the operating surface 20 has been pressed with a minimum pressure force during manual actuation, which is decisive for effective actuation of the operating surface 20.
[0042] Furthermore, the operating device 10 is equipped with a tactile feedback function. For this purpose, the operating device 10 has an actuator 64, which is designed, for example, as an electromagnetic actuator, but can also be designed as a piezoelectric actuator. The task of the actuator 64 is to mechanically excite the operating part 18 in a transverse pulsed manner when a valid actuation of the operating part 18 is detected. For this purpose, in particular, an elastic connecting part 44 is used, which, on the one hand, allows a force or a torque to be transmitted from the operating part 18 via the holding part 26 to the actuation sensor 60, but on the other hand also enables a transversely acting shear.
[0043] This is Figure 3 and Figure 4 In Figure 3 1 shows the situation at the moment when the operating surface 20 is manually touched with the minimum pressing force required for effective actuation. The actuation sensor 60 senses the pressing force. If the pressing force is greater than the minimum pressing force, the analysis unit 62 outputs a control signal to the actuator 64, which mechanically excites the operating element 18 transversely in a pulsed manner, which in turn causes the operating element 18 to move in a horizontal direction. Figure 4 This is indicated by arrow 66.
[0044] Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , when pressure is applied eccentrically manually to the operating surface 20, the manipulation sensor 60 (i.e., at the contact point of the operating surface 20) opposite to the contact point of the operating surface 20 is Figure 3One or both touch sensors 60 shown on the right are still in contact with the holding part 26. This is sometimes useful when pressure sensors or force sensors are used as actuation sensors 60. When using travel sensors as actuation sensors 60, a spacing can also be created here between these sensors and the holding part 26 (when these sensors are arranged on the rear wall 22 of the housing 12) or between these sensors and the rear wall 22 (when these sensors are arranged on the bottom surface of the holding part 26), or a spacing exists when the operating part 18 is in the stationary state.
[0045] In addition to being used to detect whether the operating surface 20 has been touched with a predeterminable minimum pressure, the manipulation sensors 60 can also be used to utilize the location of manual action on the operating element 18. Depending on the location of action on the operating surface 20, the force used to manually press on the operating surface 20 is used as measurement signals of different magnitudes for a plurality of manipulation sensors 60. By means of a corresponding prior calibration, the location of manual manipulation of the operating surface 20 can then be inferred from the measurement signal pattern.
[0046] List of Reference Numerals
[0047] 10 Operating device
[0048] 12 Housing
[0049] 14 Front of the housing
[0050] 16 Receiving opening on the front
[0051] 18 Operating parts
[0052] 20 Operating surface of the housing
[0053] 22 Rear wall of housing
[0054] 24 Side wall of the housing
[0055] 26. Retaining parts
[0056] 28 Bottom wall of the holding component
[0057] 30 Supporting portion for holding component
[0058] 32 Mounting flange of support section
[0059] 34 Limiting edge area of operating components
[0060] 36 Display
[0061] 38 Display cover
[0062] 40 Display unit of display
[0063] 42 Display touchpad
[0064] 44 Connecting parts
[0065] 46 Display backlighting unit
[0066] 48 Light guide for background lighting unit
[0067] 50 Diffuser for background lighting unit
[0068] 52 Light source for background lighting unit
[0069] 54 Middle area of the bottom wall
[0070] 56 The surrounding area around the middle area
[0071] 60 Control Sensor
[0072] 62 Analysis Units
[0073] 64 Actuator
[0074] 66 Arrow
Claims
1. An operating device for a motor vehicle, comprising: - a housing (12) with a front face (14) having a receiving opening (16) defined by an opening edge and a rear wall (22); - an operating component (18) having an operating surface (20), which is arranged in the receiving opening (16) at a distance from its opening edge, the operating component having a front side, a rear side and a limiting edge region (34), the front side being provided with the operating surface (20); - a holding part (26) having a trough-shaped or cup-shaped bottom wall (28) and support parts (30) protruding from the bottom wall, which support parts end below the limiting edge region (34) of the operating part (18) and are mechanically coupled to the operating part in its limiting edge region (34); - in, The bottom wall (28) of the holding member (26) has a middle region spaced apart from the supporting portion (30) and a peripheral region surrounding the middle region, wherein the bottom wall (28) of the holding member (26) is supported on the rear wall of the housing (12) in the middle region, and wherein the peripheral region of the bottom wall (28) is arranged to have a distance from the rear wall of the housing (12); - a plurality of actuation sensors (60) which detect manual actuation of the operating part (18), the actuation sensors being arranged between the peripheral region of the bottom wall (28) of the holding part (26) and the rear wall of the housing (12), wherein the actuation sensors (60) detect a bending moment which acts on the holding part (26) in the peripheral region of the holding part surrounding the middle region when the operating part (18) is manually actuated; as well as - an analysis unit (62) which receives the signals from the actuation sensor (60) and analyzes these signals in order to detect manual actuation of the operating element (18) with a predeterminable minimum pressure, - wherein the operating element (18) has a display (36) with a front side for displaying information, - wherein the display (36) has a cover (38) defining the operating surface (20) and having a display unit (40) arranged behind the cover for visually displaying information, - wherein the cover plate (38) protrudes laterally beyond the display unit (40) on each side and the protruding area forms a limiting edge area (34) of the operating component (18), so that the protruding area of the cover plate (38) is mechanically coupled to the supporting portion (30) of the holding component (26), and wherein the holding element (26) accommodates a background lighting unit (46) for background lighting the display unit (40).
2. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein: The analysis unit (62) also analyzes the signal of the actuation sensor (60) in order to detect a position on the actuation surface (20) of the actuation component (18) at which the actuation component (18) is manually actuated.
3. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein: The operating component (18) is provided with a touch sensor, which is used to identify a position on an operating surface (20) of the operating component (18) and to manually operate the operating component (18) at this position.
4. The operating device according to claim 3, wherein: The touch sensor element operates capacitively, resistively or optically.
5. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein: The support portion (30) and the limiting edge region (34) of the operating element (18) are rigidly connected to one another.
6. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein: The support portion (30) and the limiting edge region (34) of the operating component (18) are mechanically coupled to each other by means of a resilient connecting component (44) arranged therebetween.
7. The operating device according to claim 6, wherein: The connecting member (44) is capable of recovering after being compressed perpendicularly to the operating surface (20) of the operating member (18), and is capable of recovering by shearing when the operating member moves orthogonally to the compression perpendicularly to the operating surface (20).
8. The operating device according to claim 6, further comprising an actuator controllable by the analysis unit (62), the actuator being used to generate tactile feedback by mechanically acting on the operating component (18) when the operating component (18) is manipulated with a predeterminable minimum pressure.
9. The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein: The actuation sensor (60) has a travel sensor and / or a force sensor and / or a pressure sensor.