Manual control for operating an electrically motor driven furniture drive
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hand controls for electromotive furniture drives lack differentiated identification of keyboard elements, especially in the care sector where additional functions like blocking are required, leading to difficulties in user interaction.
Innovation Solution
A hand control with advanced keyboard lighting that enables global and selective illumination of keyboard elements through individually controllable light sources, using multicolor LEDs and a control device connected to each light source, which receives information about drive function states to mark elements accordingly, allowing for different brightness levels and color coding for functional identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If all keyboard elements are illuminated with permanent lighting, then the user can easily find the desired operating button in the dark, but the lighting cannot provide differentiated identification of functional states
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different lighting characteristics to different keyboard elements based on their functional state. Each keyboard element can be illuminated independently with specific color codes (e.g., green for enabled, red for blocked) rather than uniform illumination, providing localized information about the state of each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color changes to encode functional state information. Different colors indicate different states of keyboard elements (e.g., green for active functions, red for blocked functions), allowing users to quickly identify the status of each function without additional text or symbols.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional functions like blocking are added to furniture drives, then more comprehensive control is achieved, but the complexity of identifying and operating keyboard elements increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color-coded lighting to simplify the operation of complex furniture drives with multiple functions. Each keyboard element's lighting color indicates its current state (enabled, blocked, active), providing intuitive feedback that reduces the cognitive load on users and makes the system easier to operate despite its complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements visual feedback through keyboard lighting that responds to the functional state of each key. When a function is blocked or enabled, the corresponding keyboard element changes its lighting state, providing immediate feedback to the user about the current system configuration and preventing erroneous operations.
3Loss of information
If individual light sources are assigned to each keyboard element for selective illumination, then functional identification is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using a single control device that manages multiple lighting functions across all keyboard elements. The control device provides centralized control for illumination, state indication, and color coding, reducing the need for separate control circuits for each light source and simplifying the overall system architecture.
4Area of stationary object
If multicolor LEDs are used for keyboard lighting, then differentiated functional identification is achieved with space efficiency, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple lighting functions into a single multicolor LED component for each keyboard element. By combining red, green, and blue LEDs in one package, the patent achieves compact space utilization while providing multiple color states for functional identification, reducing the number of discrete components and their associated alignment requirements.
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
The solution provides clear and intuitive identification of keyboard elements, enhancing user interaction by indicating functional states through lighting, thus improving usability and safety, especially in environments where additional functions like blocking are necessary.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one first light source and the at least one second light source are light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
Implementation Method 2
All light sources can be controlled individually and are in the form of light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
Implementation Method 3
the at least one first light source is connected to a respective keyboard element via a light guide for illuminating the at least two keyboard elements
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The manual control (1) has two keypad elements (2, 3) that are directly and indirectly illuminated by a keypad lighting, where the lighting is connected with a voltage supply. The keypad lighting has two light sources e.g. multicolor LEDs, which are controlled independent of each other by a control device. The keypad elements are attached to the respective light sources, by an optical fiber. The control device has a microcontroller and is connected with the light sources by an adapter comprising a shift register.