Operator control part for a furniture control means and an electrically adjustable item of furniture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional control panels for electrically adjustable furniture have fixed designs, leading to increased production costs for custom designs, as new circuit boards and molds are required for each individual configuration.
Innovation Solution
A flexible control panel design featuring a flat sensor module with proximity-sensitive surfaces, a control panel with marked buttons, and a control module that evaluates sensor signals to detect button actuations, allowing for customizable button placement and design without altering the underlying hardware, using capacitive sensors and a microcontroller to generate actuation signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional control panels with fixed button arrangements are used, then the manufacturing process is simple and reliable, but customization requires new circuit boards and molds which increases production costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical button switches with capacitive touch sensors that detect changes in electrical capacitance when a user touches the control panel surface. This substitution eliminates the need for physical buttons and complex circuit board routing, allowing software-based configuration of button positions and functions without hardware changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The control panel uses a universal capacitive sensor array that can be programmed to serve multiple functions through software configuration. The same hardware platform supports different button arrangements, positions, and functionalities by loading different configuration data, making the system adaptable to various customization requirements without requiring new hardware designs.
2Ease of manufacture
If fixed circuit board layouts are used for control panels, then manufacturing is cost-effective, but individual design adaptations require new board designs and injection molds
Solution Approach 1:
The control panel implements dynamic configurability where button positions, sizes, and functions are determined by software parameters rather than fixed hardware layouts. The system can dynamically adapt its interface configuration based on user preferences or application requirements, allowing infinite design variations from a single manufactured hardware platform.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the control panel's functional parameters through software configuration rather than physical modification. By adjusting digital parameters such as touch zone coordinates, sensitivity thresholds, and button mappings, the system achieves design customization without altering the physical hardware, thereby maintaining cost-effective manufacturing while providing design flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If proximity-sensitive sensor surfaces are used instead of fixed buttons, then customization becomes flexible and cost-effective, but the detection mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The control panel divides the touch-sensitive surface into multiple independent sensor zones, each capable of being configured as a separate button or control element. This segmentation allows the system to create customized button layouts by activating or deactivating specific sensor zones through software, providing flexibility without requiring physical segmentation of hardware components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables cost-effective customization of control panel designs without the need for new hardware, reducing production costs and allowing for flexible placement of buttons, while providing haptic feedback and user-friendly operation.
Implementation Method 1
The sensors formed by the sensor surfaces are based, for example, on resistive measurement, acoustic surface wave measurement, capacitive measurement or the like. In various embodiments, the sensor areas each have a capacitive sensor.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3C
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AI summary
In the case of an operator control part (1) for a furniture control means for controlling an electrically adjustable item of furniture, the operator control part (1) comprises a flat sensor module (20) with a large number of proximity-sensitive sensor areas (20a to 20t) which are arranged on the sensor module (20), and an operator control panel (10) for covering the large number of sensor areas (20a to 20t) wherein a set of switching areas (11 to 19) is marked on the operator control panel (10), and comprises a control module (30) which is designed to detect operation of one of the switching areas (11 to 19) on the basis of sensor signals which are output by the sensor areas (20a to 20t), and to generate an operating signal for the furniture control means on the basis of operation being detected. The sensor module (20) and the control module (30) are arranged in a housing (40) of the operator control part (1), wherein the operator control panel (10) forms a cover of the housing (40).