Adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel

Abstract

An adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel comprises a support base (10) and at least one control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d). The support base (10) includes a main connection section (16) and several receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d), each of which has a first connector (11) and several first positioning sections (13), wherein the first connector (11) of each of the receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) is electrically connected to the main connection section (16).The at least one control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is docked to one of the receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d), each of the control units (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) having on its top side a control switch (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) and on its bottom side a second connector (21) and several second positioning sections (23), wherein the control switch (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) is electrically connected to the second connector (21) and the second connector (21) is optionally docked to the first connector (11), while the several second positioning sections (23) are positionable on the several first positioning sections (13).

Description

The present invention relates to an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel, and more particularly to a modular control panel having a plurality of adjustable and interchangeable control units capable of flexibly establishing various control functions.To facilitate control, various states in the same situation, such as the reception state of a microphone, the volume level of a stereo, or the image display of a monitor, are normally integrated into one and the same central control panel. The various control units of present-day central control panels, such as buttons, knobs, lamps or sliders, are usually fixedly installed.When adding additional elements to be controlled in the same situation, such as adding light sources or loudspeakers or adjusting other elements to be controlled, the existing central control panels lack the flexibility to be adjusted. The additional arrangement of other control units often results in a disordered control panel. The replacement of the entire central control panel would be environmentally hazardous and costly.Therefore, the question of how to increase flexibility in the movement and replacement of a control panel by improving the construction to eliminate the above-mentioned deficiencies and even to enable users to customize the central control panel has become an important issue to be solved in this technical field.Designs of an electrical assembly are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,101 B2, DE 10 2012 204 127 A1 and DE 20 2018 103 348 U1.Based on the drawbacks of the related art, the present invention aims to provide an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.According to the invention, this object is achieved by an adjustable and replaceable modular control panel comprising a support base and at least one control unit. The support base includes a main connection portion and a plurality of accommodation portions each having a first connector and a plurality of first positioning portions, the first connector of each of the accommodation portions being electrically connected to the main connection portion. The at least one control unit is docked to one of the receiving areas, wherein each of the control units has a control switch on its top side and a second connector and a plurality of second positioning portions on its bottom side, wherein the control switch is electrically connected to the second connector and the second connector is selectively docked to the first connector, while the plurality of second positioning portions are positionable on the plurality of first positioning portions.One of the advantageous effects of the present invention is that the present invention provides an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel that allows selective docking of the second connector of a control unit to one of the first connectors of the support base, wherein the control unit can be rotated through an angle such that the control unit can be adjusted or interchanged to improve adjustability and extensibility of the modular control panel of the present invention.For a better understanding of the features and technical contents of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and drawings of the present invention, which drawings are given by way of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional view of an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel of the present invention in the assembled state. Figure 2 shows an exploded three-dimensional view of an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional view of another configuration of the modular control panel of FIG. 1 in the assembled state; and FIG. 5 shows a three-dimensional view of yet another configuration of the modular control panel of FIG. 1 in the assembled state.Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, an embodiment of the present invention provides an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel comprising a support base 10 and a plurality of control units 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d. In the present embodiment, the support base 10 functions as a USB hub (USB hub), and can connect the plurality of control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dto a USB host control unit (USB host, not illustrated). The control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dare small moving control units each having the same connector as a USB interface and connected to the support base 10.As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support base 10 includes a main connection portion 16 and a plurality of accommodation portions 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d. The main connection portion 16 is for connection to a USB host controller (not shown) such as a USB controller (USB controller) of a computer or an electrical device. In the present embodiment, the main connecting portion 16 may be an outwardly led cable. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. It may also be, for example, an outward connector, such as a USB connector, which in turn is connected to the host controller (not shown) via a cable. The support base 10 has an inclined upper surface and is surrounded by a protruding retaining wall 14 enclosing a plurality of receiving regions 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d. In the present exemplary embodiment, the configuration of all receiving regions 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 dis identical. For example, the receiving region 10 aincludes a first connector 11 and a plurality of first positioning portions 13. The first connector 11 of each of the accommodating portions 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 dis electrically connected to the main connection portion 16. Details about the first connector 11 will be described later by way of example. The first positioning portion 13 of the present embodiment has the shape of a circular depression that can be used as a positioning hole.It should be added that at the periphery of the carrier base 10 at least one serial connector 17, such as a standard USB connector, can also be provided, via which another carrier base 10 or control unit can be connected in series in order to make the modular control panel of the present invention expandable. Moreover, the shape enclosed by the above-described holding protruding wall 14 of the support base 10 is not limited to a square, but may be, for example, rectangular, so that four control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dmay be placed side by side.The control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dare uniquely docked to the receiving regions 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d. In the present exemplary embodiment, the control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dare each in the form of a rectangle, preferably a square, the four sides of which can adjoin one another. The control unit may be, for example, a keypad, a pushbutton field, a rotary knob field, a small display field, a touch field, a rocker field and the like. However, the present invention is not limited to the above examples.Each of the control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dis provided on the upper surface thereof with a control switch 22 a, 22 b, 22 c, 22 dsuch as a button, a small turning knob, a linear turning knob, or a large turning knob, etc., to which the present invention is not limited. All control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dare identically constructed on their underside. For example, the control unit 20 cincludes a second connector 21 and a plurality of second positioning portions 23, and the control switch 22 cof the control unit 20 cis electrically connected to the second connector 21. By docking the second connector 21 to the first connector 11, a control signal of the control switch 22 cmay be output to the outside via the main connection portion 16 of the support base 10. The plurality of second positioning portions 23 of the present embodiment have the shape of circular protrusions that can be positioned respectively on the plurality of first positioning portions 13 in order to achieve positioning of the control units 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 din the receiving regions 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d.A feature of the present invention is that each of the control units (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) can be differently oriented and adjustably placed in any of the receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d). According to this feature, the second connector 21 is located, in particular, in the middle of the bottom of the respective control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d). In the present embodiment, each of the control units (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) has a substantially square bottom, the second connector 21 being located in the geometrical centre of the bottom of the control unit, i.e. at the point where two diagonal lines cross. In this case, the plurality of first positioning portions 13 of each of the receiving regions ( 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d) each have the shape of a depression and are distributed at four corners of the underside of the respective control unit ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d), while the second positioning portion 23 is formed as a projection and is matched in shape to the first positioning portion 13. However, the above example is only one of the possible embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. Thus, the bottom of the control unit is not limited to the square shape, but may be, for example, circular with the second connector 21 located at the center of the circle. In addition, the control unit may have the shape of a rectangle of two squares, the shape of a diamond, an L-shape, a T-shape, etc., similarly to building blocks of different shapes that can be joined together. The control unit is also not limited to a single second connector on the bottom, but may be provided with more than one second connector.More specifically, the first connector 11 exemplarily includes a plurality of elastic terminals 111 arranged in a straight line. The elastic terminals 111 may be spring pins (cargo pin), for example. The second connector 21 is circular and has a plurality of electrically conductive contact rings 211. The plurality of contact rings 211 each have the shape of a circular ring and are arranged concentrically with respect to one another, while the plurality of elastic connections 111 are arranged in a straight line and correspondingly contact the plurality of contact rings 211, such that the respective control unit ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d) can be docked to the receiving region ( 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d) in different orientations.In the present embodiment, there are four elastic terminals 111 in total, namely, a power terminal for power supply, signal terminals for a pair of differential signals, and a ground terminal for ground, which may correspond to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.Accordingly, the second connector 21 of the present embodiment includes a total of four contact rings 211, namely, a central circular ring and three circular rings having different diameters, each serving as a power ring for power supply, signal rings for a pair of differential signals, and a ground ring for ground, respectively.In the present embodiment, the first connector 11 further includes a first magnetic attraction ring 112 surrounding the plurality of elastic terminals 111. Further, the second connector 21 includes a second magnetic attraction ring 212 surrounding the plurality of contact rings 211, wherein the first magnetic attraction ring 112 can attract the second magnetic attraction ring 212. The magnetic attraction ring may be made of a magnetic material or a material that can be magnetically attracted. By means of the two magnetic attraction rings mentioned above, an attraction force for fixing a control unit ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d) in a receiving region ( 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d) can be provided.Additionally, it should be noted that each receiving region ( 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d) of the carrier base 10 can further comprise at least one Hall sensor H 1, while at least one locating magnet M 1 can be provided on the underside of the control unit ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d), wherein the Hall sensor H 1 is capable of applying the Hall effect (Hall effect) in order to monitor changes in the magnetic field of the locating magnet M 1. In one possible exemplary embodiment, two Hall sensors H 1, H 2 are provided in each of the receiving regions, said Hall sensors being arranged at an angle of 90 degrees to one another on the same circular line about the center of the first connector 11, while the control unit is provided with two locating magnets M 1, M 2 which are arranged at an angle of 90 degrees to one another on the same circular line about the center of the second connector 21. In this way, when the control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is rotated into different angular positions, the two Hall sensors H1, H2 and the two locating magnets M1, M2 can detect four states at all, such as detecting the two locating magnets M1, M2 or detecting one of the locating magnets M1 or M2 or not detecting the locating magnets, which means that the control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is in four different angular positions. In other words, the carrier base 10 can also identify in which angular position (or orientation) the control unit ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d) is located.As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, the control units ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d) of FIG. 4 are arranged differently from shown in FIG. 1 on the carrier base 10 and the control units ( 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d) of FIG. 5 are also arranged displaceably on the carrier base 10 differently from shown in FIG. 1.[Advantageous Effects of Embodiment]One of the advantageous effects of the present invention is that the present invention provides an adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel that allows selective docking of the second connector of a control unit to one of the first connectors of the support base, wherein the control unit can be rotated through an angle such that the control unit can be adjusted or interchanged to improve adjustability and extensibility of the modular control panel of the present invention.Moreover, different users may purchase, exchange, or add different controllers as needed to control, e.g., volume, illumination, microphone, etc. Even a separate modular control panel can be designed individually.The above disclosed content represents only one possible preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not thereby limit the scope of the claims of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent technical changes made by applying the contents of the specification and the drawings of the present invention are included in the claims of the present invention.List of reference characters10 Support base 10 a, 10 b, 10 c, 10 d Aufnahmebereich area 11 First connector 111 Elastic terminal 112 First magnetic attraction ring 13 First positioning portion 14 Protruding holding wall 16 Main connection portion 17 Serial connector 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 dControl unit 22 a, 22 b, 22 c, 22 dControl switch 21 Second connector 211 Contact ring 212 Second magnetic attraction ring 23 Second positioning portion H 1, H 2 Hall sensor M 1, M 2 Locating magnet

Claims

An adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel comprising: a support base (10) comprising a main connection portion (16) and a plurality of receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) each having a first connector (11) and a plurality of first positioning portions (13), wherein the first connector (11) of each of the receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) is electrically connected to the main connection portion (16); and - at least one control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) which is docked to one of the receiving regions (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d), wherein each of the control units (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) has a control switch (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) on its top side and a second connector (21) and a plurality of second positioning sections (23) on its bottom side, wherein the control switch (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) is electrically connected to the second connector (21) and the second connector (21) is selectively docked to the first connector (11), while the plurality of second positioning sections (23) can be positioned on the plurality of first positioning sections (13).The adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel of claim 1, wherein the support base (10) has an inclined top surface and is surrounded by a protruding retaining wall (14).The adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second connector (21) is located in the center of the bottom of the control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d).The adjustable and replaceable modular control panel according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of first positioning portions (13) of each of the receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) each have the shape of a depression and are distributed at the corners of the underside of the respective control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d), wherein the second positioning portion (23) is formed as a protrusion and is matched in shape to the first positioning portion (13).The adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first connector (11) includes a plurality of elastic terminals (111) arranged in a straight line, while the second connector (21) is formed in a circular shape and includes a plurality of contact rings (211) each having a shape of a circular ring and arranged concentrically with each other, the plurality of elastic terminals (111) respectively contacting the plurality of contact rings (211), so that the respective control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) can be docked to the accommodating portion (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) in different orientations.The adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel of claim 5, wherein there are four resilient terminals (111) in total for power supply, a pair of differential signals, and ground.The adjustable and interchangeable modular control panel of claim 5 or 6, wherein the first connector (11) further comprises a first magnetic attraction ring (112) surrounding the plurality of resilient terminals (111), and the second connector (21) further comprises a second magnetic attraction ring (212) surrounding the plurality of contact rings (211), the first magnetic attraction ring (112) being capable of attracting the second magnetic attraction ring (212).Adjustable and replaceable modular control panel according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein each receiving region (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) of the carrier base (10) further comprises at least one Hall sensor (H1, H2), while at least one locating magnet (M1, M2) can be provided on the underside of the control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d), wherein the at least one Hall sensor (H1, H2) serves for monitoring a change in the magnetic field of the at least one locating magnet (M1, M2).Adjustable and replaceable modular control panel according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein each of the receiving areas (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) has two Hall sensors (H1, H2) arranged at an angle of 90 degrees to each other on the same circular line around the center of the first connector (11), while the control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) has two locating magnets (M1, M2) arranged at an angle of 90 degrees to each other on the same circular line around the center of the second connector (21), so that the two Hall sensors (H1, H2) and the two locating magnets (M1, M2) when the control unit (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is rotated into different angular positions, This is to be able to detect different states.

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