DIGITAL AND ANALOGUE INSTRUMENT FOR A VEHICLE WITH MAGNETIC COUPLING

Description

DIGITAL AND ANALOGUE INSTRUMENT FOR A VEHICLE WITH MAGNETIC COUPLING TECHNICAL SECTOR The present invention relates to a digital and analog instrument for a vehicle, or an instrument that is defined as phygital (a combination of physical and digitali) as it combines the physical presence of a hand with the digital dimension of a digital screen. PRIOR ART Patent application EP4365002A2 discloses a digital and analog instrument having a digital display, a pointer that can be arranged above the digital display and is movably mounted to move above the digital display, and an actuator device configured to move the pointer above the digital display. According to a possible embodiment described in patent application EP4365002A2, the actuator device is configured to move the hand by transmitting motion to the hand through a contactless magnetic coupling; in particular, the actuator device comprises a motorized cursor that is arranged behind the digital screen (i.e. on the opposite side of the digital screen with respect to the hand), is - 1 aligned with the hand and magnetically attracts the hand (i.e., the cursor supports a permanent magnet that generates a magnetic field to magnetically attract the hand). The actuator device described above allows the hand to be moved only at relatively limited speeds and accelerations to avoid the risk of losing the magnetic connection between the motorized cursor and the hand; consequently, the actuator device allows the hand to be used only to indicate the value of physical quantities that change relatively slowly. According to a different embodiment described in patent application EP4365002A2, the actuator device comprises a support ring that is rotatably mounted and supports the hand in such a way that the rotation of the support ring also causes the hand to rotate; inside the support ring there is an annular rack and the actuator device comprises an electric motor that rotates a pinion that meshes with the annular rack. The actuator device described above allows the hand to be moved only at relatively limited speeds and accelerations both due to transmission limitations in the coupling between the pinion and the rack and to avoid generating excessively loud noise; consequently, the actuator device allows - 2 use the hand only to indicate the value of physical quantities that change relatively slowly. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is to provide a digital and analog instrument for a vehicle in which the needle can be moved safely at high speeds and accelerations so that it can also be used to indicate the value of suddenly changing physical quantities. According to the present invention, a digital and analog instrument for a vehicle is provided, as claimed in the appended claims. The claims describe preferred embodiments of the present invention and form an integral part of this specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting example of its implementation, in which: • Figure 1 is a perspective view, with parts removed for clarity, of a digital and analogue instrument made in accordance with the present invention; • Figure 2 is a side view of the digital and analogue instrument, with parts removed for clarity - 3 of figure 1; • Figure 3 is a perspective view of a rear rotor of the digital and analog instrument of Figure 1; and • Figure 4 is a perspective view of a front rotor of the digital and analog instrument of Figure 1. PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In Figure 1, the reference number 1 indicates as a whole a digital and analog instrument for the dashboard of a vehicle (specifically a car). The digital and analog instrument 1 is defined as phygital (a portmanteau of physical and digitali) as it combines the physical presence of a hand 2 with the digital dimension of a digital screen 3 (illustrated schematically in Figure 2 and not illustrated for clarity in Figure 1). In other words, the digital and analog instrument 1 comprises the digital screen 3 (for example made with LED technology or OLED technology) and the hand 2 which is placed in front (above) the digital screen 3 to overlap (when necessary) the digital screen 3. In the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the digital screen 3 has a circular (round) shape, but according to other embodiments not illustrated it - 4 digital screen may have a different shape such as a rectangle or square shape. The hand 2 is mounted movably to move (when necessary) in front of (above) the digital screen 3 to indicate information displayed by the digital screen 3. According to other embodiments not illustrated, the number and arrangement of the hands 2 could be different and, for example, two or more hands 2 could be coupled to the same digital screen 3. According to the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the hand 2 has a visible part (i.e. which can be superimposed on the digital screen 3) which extends from the edge of the digital screen 3 towards the centre of the digital screen 3; that is, the hand 2 has a peripheral positioning since its visible part starts from the edge (from the periphery) of the digital screen 3. The digital and analog instrument 1 comprises an actuator device 4 that is configured to move the pointer 2 in front of (above) the digital display 3 and directly supports the pointer 2. Specifically, the actuator device 4 moves the pointer 2 through a contactless magnetic coupling. As illustrated in figures 2 and 4, the actuator device 4 comprises a front rotor 5 which has a centrally perforated ring shape (i.e. - 5 has a central through hole), surrounds the digital screen 3, is mounted so that it rotates around a central rotation axis 6 (perpendicular to the plane of the digital screen 3) and supports the hand 2 (i.e. the hand 2 is integral with the front rotor 5 and protrudes inwards from the front rotor 5): the rotation of the front rotor 5 around the rotation axis 6 also causes the rotation of the hand 2 around the rotation axis 6. The front rotor 5 is arranged in front of (above) the digital display 3 (so that the hand 2 carried by the front rotor 5 can be found in front of (above) the digital display 3 (i.e. it can overlap with the digital display 3). In other words, the front rotor 5 is arranged in front of (above) the digital display 3 in such a way that the digital display 3 is visible through a central hole in the front rotor 5 (which, as mentioned above, has a centrally perforated ring shape). The front rotor 5 is inserted inside a containment ring 7 (schematically illustrated in figure 2) which is fixed (i.e. it is fixed to a frame of the digital and analog instrument 1) and coaxial to the front rotor 5 such that the front rotor 5 is free to slide (i.e. rotate around the rotation axis 6) with respect to the containment ring 7. In other words, the ring 7 of - 6 containment has an annular seat inside it which slides into the front rotor 5 to allow the front rotor 5 to slide (i.e. rotate around the rotation axis 6) with respect to the containment ring 7. To reduce friction between the front rotor 5 and the containment ring 7, the front rotor 5 supports a plurality of balls 8 that are arranged laterally (i.e. come into contact with the containment ring 7) and are housed idly in respective seats so that they can rotate freely relative to the front rotor 5. According to a different embodiment not illustrated, the balls 8 are not present and the lateral surface of the front rotor 5 and / or the lateral surface of the containment ring 7 are coated with a low-friction coating, for example made of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) or DLC (Diamond Like Carbon). A covering of the digital and analog instrument 1 masks (covers, hides) the front rotor 5, leaving visible only the part of the hand 2 that protrudes further inside the front rotor 5; that is, a user observing the digital and analog instrument 1 sees only the hand 2 and the underlying digital screen 3 but does not see the front rotor 5 which is hidden from view by the covering of the digital and analog instrument 1. - 7 As illustrated in figures 2 and 3, the actuator device 4 comprises a rear rotor 9 which has a centrally perforated ring shape (but could also have a solid shape without a central hole), surrounds the digital screen 3, is mounted so that it rotates around the central rotation axis 6 and is rotated around the rotation axis 6 by an electric motor 10: the rotation of the rear rotor 9 around the rotation axis 6 is transmitted to the front rotor 5 by means of a magnetic coupling (better explained below) to determine the same rotation also of the front rotor 5 and therefore of the hand 2. That is, the magnetic coupling between the rotors 5 and 9 keeps the rotors 5 and 9 synchronous with each other by transmitting the movement of the rear rotor 9 to the front rotor 5.The rear rotor 9 is arranged behind (below) the digital screen 3 such that the digital screen 3 is located between the front rotor 5 and the rear rotor 9 (as illustrated in Figure 2); consequently, the rear rotor 9 is completely hidden from view by the digital screen 3 which is located in front of (above) the rear rotor 9. The rear rotor 9 is inserted inside a containment ring 11 (schematically illustrated in figure 2) which is fixed (i.e. it is fixed to a frame of the digital and analogue instrument 1) and coaxial to the rear rotor 9. - 8 so that the rear rotor 9 is free to slide (i.e., rotate around the rotation axis 6) relative to the containment ring 11. In other words, the containment ring 11 has an annular seat inside it that slidably accommodates the rear rotor 9 to allow the rear rotor 9 to slide (i.e., rotate around the rotation axis 6) relative to the containment ring 11. To reduce friction between the rear rotor 9 and the containment ring 11, the rear rotor 9 supports a plurality of balls 12 which are arranged laterally (i.e. come into contact with the containment ring 11) and are housed idly in respective seats so that they can rotate freely relative to the rear rotor 9. According to a different embodiment not illustrated, the balls 12 are not present and the lateral surface of the rear rotor 9 and / or the lateral surface of the containment ring 11 are coated with a low-friction coating, for example made of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) or DLC (Diamond Like Carbon). According to other embodiments not illustrated, the containment ring 11 is not present (and therefore only the containment ring 7 is present), the containment ring 7 is not present (and therefore only the containment ring 11 is present) - 9 containment), or both containment rings 7 and 11 are missing. According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the electric motor 10 is coaxial with the rear rotor 9 and directly supports the rear rotor 9, i.e. the rear rotor 9 is fixed to one end of a rotating shaft of the electric motor 10; according to a different embodiment, a speed reducer could be interposed between the shaft of the electric motor 10 and the rear rotor 9. As previously mentioned, the rotation of the rear rotor 9 around the rotation axis 6 is transmitted to the front rotor 5 by means of the magnetic coupling. In particular, the front rotor 5 supports a plurality of front permanent magnets 13 (illustrated in figures 1 and 4) which are uniformly distributed around the rotation axis 6 (for example, they could be provided from six front permanent magnets 13 to sixteen front permanent magnets 13) and have their polarities oriented axially (i.e. parallel to the rotation axis 6); similarly, the rear rotor 9 supports a plurality of rear permanent magnets 14 (illustrated in figure 3) which are uniformly distributed around the rotation axis 6 and have their polarities oriented axially (i.e. parallel to the rotation axis 6). - 10 rotation). The same number of front permanent magnets 13 and rear permanent magnets 14 is provided so that each front permanent magnet 13 is axially aligned with a respective rear permanent magnet 14 and is therefore magnetically attracted by the respective rear permanent magnet 14; obviously, the polarities of the permanent magnets 13 and 14 must be appropriately arranged so that two axially aligned permanent magnets 13 and 14 magnetically attract each other (i.e. do not magnetically repel each other). According to a preferred, but not binding, embodiment, the polarities of the front permanent magnets 13 (and therefore, consequently, the polarities of the rear permanent magnets 14) are alternately inverted, that is, each front permanent magnet 13 is located between two front permanent magnets 13 having opposite polarities (and therefore each rear permanent magnet 14 is located between two front permanent magnets 14 having opposite polarities). In this way, if for some reason the front rotor 5 rotates with respect to the rear rotor 9 (i.e. loses synchronism with respect to the rear rotor 9), the magnetic push of the permanent magnets 13 and 14 tends to bring the front rotor 5 back to its original position with respect to the rear rotor 9. - 11 Obviously, the permanent magnets 13 and 14 must be capable of generating a relatively strong magnetic field so that the influence of the magnetic field extends to a distance sufficient to overcome the distance between the rotors 5 and 9 by passing through the digital screen 3 which is interposed between the rotors 5 and 9. Digital shield 3 is designed to be insensitive to the magnetic field (i.e., not affected by the presence of permanent magnets 13 and 14). Digital shield 3 may also contain ferromagnetic material that increases the influence of the magnetic field beyond digital shield 3 (by reducing the size of the air gap between permanent magnets 13 and 14). In the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the rear rotor 9 is arranged behind the digital screen 3 to be on the opposite side of the digital screen 3 with respect to the front rotor 5 and therefore the digital screen 3 is interposed between the front rotor 5 and the rear rotor 9. According to a different embodiment, the rear rotor 9 is arranged in front of the digital screen 3 (which is therefore located behind both the front rotor 5 and the rear rotor 9); obviously in this embodiment the rear rotor 9 must necessarily have a ring shape. - 12 centrally drilled in motion such that the digital screen 3 is visible through a central through hole of the rear rotor 9. The embodiments described herein may be combined with each other without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. The 2-instrument panel described above can be used advantageously in any type of road vehicle (for example a car or a motorcycle) and also in any type of non-road vehicle. The digital and analog instrument 1 described above has numerous advantages. First of all, the digital and analog instrument 1 described above allows the hand 2 to be moved safely at high speeds and accelerations and can therefore also be used to indicate the value of suddenly changing physical quantities; this result is achieved thanks to a particularly strong and stable magnetic coupling between the two rotors 5 and 9. Furthermore, the digital and analogue instrument 1 described above has a particularly small footprint and can therefore be integrated into any type of vehicle dashboard. Finally, the digital and analog instrument 1 described above has a relatively low production cost. - 13 low as it uses simple and easily available components on the market. LIST OF FIGURE REFERENCE NUMBERS digital and analog instrument needle digital display actuator device front rotor rotation axis ball retaining ring rear rotor electric motor ball retaining ring front permanent magnets rear permanent magnets

Claims

1) A digital and analog instrument (1) for a vehicle and comprising: a digital display (3); a pointer (2) which is movably mounted to move in front of the digital display (3); and an actuator device (4) configured to move the pointer (2) by transmitting motion to the pointer (2) through a non-contact magnetic coupling; the digital and analog instrument (1) is characterised in that the actuator device (4) comprises: a front rotor (5) which has a centrally perforated ring shape, is arranged in front of the digital display (3), is mounted rotatably about a central rotation axis (6), and supports the pointer (2); a plurality of front permanent magnets (13) which are supported by the front rotor (5); a rear rotor (9) which is mounted rotatably about the central rotation axis (6);a plurality of rear permanent magnets (14) which are supported by the rear rotor (9) and are configured to be magnetically attracted by the respective front permanent magnets (13); and an electric motor (10) configured to rotate the rear rotor (9) about the rotation axis (6). 2) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to claim 1, wherein the front permanent magnets (13) and the rear permanent magnets (14) are oriented to have their polarities oriented axially, i.e. parallel to the rotation axis (6). 3) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the front permanent magnets (13) and the rear permanent magnets (14) are uniformly distributed around the rotation axis (6). 4) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the same number of front permanent magnets (13) and rear permanent magnets (14) are provided in such a way that each front permanent magnet (13) is axially aligned with a respective rear permanent magnet (14) and is therefore magnetically attracted by the respective rear permanent magnet (14). 5) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the polarities of the front permanent magnets (13) and the rear permanent magnets (14) are arranged in such a way that each front permanent magnet (13) is magnetically attracted to a respective rear permanent magnet (14) to which it is axially aligned. 6) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the polarities of the front permanent magnets (13) are alternately inverted, i.e. each front permanent magnet (13) is located between two front permanent magnets (13) having opposite polarities. 7) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pointer (2) is integral with the front rotor (5) and protrudes inwards from the front rotor (5). 8) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7 and comprising a front containment ring (7) which is fixed, is coaxial with the front rotor (5) and houses the front rotor (5) inside it in such a way that the front rotor (5) is free to slide with respect to the front containment ring (7). 9) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to claim 8, wherein the front rotor (5) supports a plurality of first spheres (8) which are arranged laterally to come into contact with the front containment ring (7) and are housed idly in respective seats to be able to rotate freely with respect to the front rotor (5). 10) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9 and comprising a rear containment ring (11) which is fixed, is coaxial with the rear rotor (9) and houses the rear rotor (9) within it in such a way that the rear rotor (9) is free to slide with respect to the rear containment ring (11). 11) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to claim 10, wherein the rear rotor (9) supports a plurality of second spheres (12) which are arranged laterally to come into contact with the rear containment ring (11) and are housed idly in respective seats to be able to rotate freely with respect to the rear rotor (9). 12) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the electric motor (10) is coaxial with the rear rotor (9) and directly supports the rear rotor (9) as the rear rotor (9) is fixed to one end of a rotating shaft of the electric motor (10). 13) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the front rotor (5) is arranged in front of the digital screen (3) in such a way that the digital screen (3) is visible through a central hole of the front rotor (5). 14) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the rear rotor (9) is arranged behind the digital screen (3) to be on the opposite side of the digital screen (3) with respect to the front rotor (5). 15) Digital and analogue instrument (1) according to one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the digital screen (3) is interposed between the front rotor (5) and the rear rotor (9).