Vehicle Door Control Element With Separate Inner and Outer Touch Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern vehicle doors often lack intuitive and comfortable control elements, especially in designs that eliminate mechanical handles, making it difficult for users to operate the door correctly, particularly in emergency situations where third-party access is needed.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle door assembly features a control element with distinct outer and inner portions, each equipped with separate operating devices that generate signals for closing and opening functions, allowing users to intuitively operate the door by touching the appropriate portion, thereby reducing the risk of incorrect operation and enhancing user comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a stationary control element is provided on the vehicle door without mechanical adjustment, then the device complexity is reduced and security is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates because users cannot intuitively distinguish between opening and closing functions
Solution Approach 1:
The control element is segmented into two distinct functional zones: an outer portion with first operating devices for closing functions and an inner portion with second operating devices for opening functions. This segmentation allows each zone to have dedicated control surfaces, making the function differentiation intuitive while maintaining a compact, stationary design without mechanical adjustment components.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the control element are assigned different functions based on their spatial location. The outer portion is dedicated to closing operations while the inner portion is dedicated to opening operations. This local quality differentiation enables users to intuitively understand the function of each area, improving ease of operation despite the simplified stationary structure.
2Device complexity
If the control element is made compact to save space, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ease of operation deteriorates because little space is available for control surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The control element utilizes both the outer surface and inner surface as functional dimensions. By distributing control surfaces across these different spatial dimensions (outer portion for closing, inner portion for opening), the design maximizes the available control surface area within a compact form factor, resolving the contradiction between compactness and operational ease.
3Ease of operation
If separate operating devices are provided on both outer and inner portions, then the ease of operation is improved through intuitive control, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple operating devices are merged into integrated sensor systems on the control element. The first operating devices on the outer portion and second operating devices on the inner portion are combined with the control device to form a unified system that automatically distinguishes between opening and closing intentions based on which portion is actuated, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining intuitive operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly of a vehicle comprises a vehicle door, a control element arranged on a door portion of the vehicle door, and a control device for controlling a closing function for closing the vehicle door and an opening function for opening the vehicle door. The control element comprises at least one first operating device for generating an operating signal on user operation at an outer portion and at least one second operating device for generating an operating signal on user operation at an inner portion. The control device is configured to trigger a closing function for closing the vehicle door with reference to an operating signal of the at least one first operating device and to trigger an opening function for opening the vehicle door with reference to an operating signal of the at least one second operating device.