ROTARY CONTROL DEVICE

Abstract

The invention relates to a rotary control device (1) for a vehicle comprising a user interface surface (3), in particular a knob, that is embodied to rotate with respect to a housing (5) of the device (1) around a rotational axis (7) of the device (1), further comprising a sensor unit (9) for monitoring the orientation and/or rotational movement of the user interface surface (3) with respect to the housing (5), a processing unit (11), and a communications interface (13) for transmitting control signals (Ts) according to an output (Op) from the processing unit (11), said output (Op) being generated by the processing unit (11) on the basis of sensor data (Ds) from the sensor unit (9).

Claims

1. A rotary control device for a vehicle comprising: a user interface surface configured to rotate with respect to a housing of the device around a rotational axis of the device; a sensor unit configured to monitor at least one of an orientation or a rotational movement of the user interface surface with respect to the housing; a processing unit configured to generate an output on a basis of sensor data from the sensor unit; a communications interface configured to transmit control signals according to the output from the processing unit; and a magnetorheological actuator comprising: a rotational element that is mechanically connected to the user interface surface and serves to interact with a magnetorheological fluid of the magnetorheological actuator; and an assembly configured to at least one of generate or manipulate properties of a magnetic field acting on the magnetorheological fluid such that the magnetorheological actuator serves to modulate torque transmission between the user interface surface and the housing according to vehicle status signals received by the device via the communications interface and on the basis of the sensor data from the sensor unit that indicates at least one of a current orientation of the user interface surface or a rotational movement of the user interface surface from a first orientation toward a second orientation.

2. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to divert the vehicle status signals received via the communications interface they are diverted to the processing unit; wherein the processing unit is configured to compare information contained in the vehicle status signals with a set of predetermined values of parameters stored in a memory unit of the device, and output governing signals to the assembly according to results of the comparison.

3. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to: compare information comprised in at least one vehicle status signal of the vehicle status signals indicating a current velocity value of the vehicle with a predetermined value of a velocity threshold parameter stored in a memory of the device to determine that the velocity value exceeds the threshold value; and responsively output governing signals to the assembly such that to cause the assembly to manipulate the properties of the magnetic field such that the rotational movement of the user surface interface from the first orientation to the second orientation is inhibited.

4. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to output governing signals to the assembly to cause the assembly to manipulate the properties of the magnetic field such that the rotational movement of the user surface interface from the first orientation to the second orientation is inhibited based, at least in part, on a current orientation of the user interface surface.

5. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to output governing signals to the assembly to cause the assembly to manipulate the properties of the magnetic field such that the rotational movement of the user surface interface from the first orientation to the second orientation is inhibited based, at least in part, on a current operation mode of the vehicle.

6. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to output governing signals to the assembly to cause the assembly to manipulate the properties of the magnetic field such that the rotational movement of the user surface interface from the first orientation to the second orientation is inhibited based, at least in part, on data stored in a memory of the device regarding a last control signal transmitted from the communications interface.

7. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to transmit the control signals for selecting operation modes of the vehicle.

8. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive a vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above a predetermined speed threshold in a forward direction; and wherein the processing unit is configured to, in response to the communications interface receiving the vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above the predetermined speed threshold in the forward direction, output governing signals to the assembly to cause the assembly to inhibit the user interface surface from being rotated to the second orientation, wherein the second orientation is for selecting a reverse drive operation mode.

9. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive a vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above a predetermined speed threshold in a reverse direction; and wherein the processing unit is configured to, in response to the communications interface receiving the vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above the predetermined speed threshold in the reverse direction, output governing signals to the assembly to cause the assembly to inhibit the user interface surface from being rotated to the second orientation, wherein the second orientation is for selecting a forward drive operation mode.

10. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive a vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above a predetermined speed threshold in a forward direction; and wherein the processing unit is configured to, in response to the communications interface receiving the vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above the predetermined speed threshold in the forward direction, actively disregard sensor data indicating that the user interface surface has been rotated to the second orientation, wherein the second orientation is for selecting a reverse operation mode.

11. The rotary control device according to claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive a vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above a predetermined speed threshold in a reverse direction; and wherein the processing unit is configured to, in response to the communications interface receiving the vehicle status signal indicating that the vehicle is traveling with a speed above the predetermined speed threshold in the reverse direction, actively disregard sensor data indicating that the user interface surface has been rotated to the second orientation, wherein the second orientation is for selecting a forward operation mode.

Description

[0023] An embodiment of the invention will next be explained in detail with reference to the following FIGURE. It shows:

[0024] FIG. 1 a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the inventive rotary control device.

[0025] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the inventive rotary control device 1 having a user interface surface 3, which can be moved and rotated by a user or operator of a vehicle. The user interface surface can be rotated around a rotational axis 7 of the device 1 to various orientations, for example for selecting operation modes of a vehicle. The user interface surface 3 can furthermore be moved by a user or operator of the vehicle between a first, second and third position P1, P2, P3.

[0026] The device 1 comprises a housing 5, which at least partially encloses a processing unit 11 mounted on a substrate 15, which is a printed circuit board. The processing unit 11 is connected to a communications interface 13. Via the communications interface 13 signals such as control signals Ts can be transmitted and received.

[0027] In particular, the communications interface 13 is can receive vehicle status signals. The vehicle status signals can be forwarded to the processing unit 11, where the information contained in these signals can be taken into account when issuing governing signals for controlling the behavior of the assembly.

[0028] The processing unit 11 is further connected to a sensor unit 9 which serves to monitor the rotational movement and/or orientation of the user interface surface with respect to the housing 5. The sensor unit 9 transmits sensor data Ds to the processing unit 11 and on the basis of this sensor data Ds, the processing unit 11 can generate control signals to transmit via the communications interface 13.

[0029] The device further comprises an assembly 17 for generating and manipulating a magnetic field in a chamber 19 of the housing 5. The chamber contains a magnetorheological fluid 21 also known as MRF. Positioned partially within the chamber is a rotational element 23. The rotational element 23 is mechanically connected to the user interface surface 3 and rotates with the rotation of the interface 3.

[0030] Corresponding to changes in properties of the magnetic field caused by the assembly 17, such as field strength and direction, the magnetorheological fluid 12 varies in viscosity so to speak. Therefore, in a corresponding way, the fluid transfers more or less torque between the user interface surface 3 and the housing 5 of the device 1. This is due to the changing sheer forces within the fluid and between the fluid and the chamber wall. Since the housing 5 of the device is generally fixedly mounted within the vehicle, the assembly can be considered to modulate a sort of braking force acting on the user interface surface 3. Such systems comprising MRF 21 in a chamber 19, rotational elements 23, and assemblies 17 for manipulating the magnetic field within the chamber 19 are often referred to as MRF-Actuators. The processing unit 11 is embodied to output governing signals for controlling the assembly 17. The assembly 17 can, for example, be driven by a circuit on the substrate 15 feeding the assembly 17 with a pulsed width modulated (PWM) current or voltage in accordance with the governing signals from the processing unit 11.

[0031] The device further comprises a servo actuator 25 which engages with the rotational element 23 and can therefore apply torque to the user interface surface 3.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0032] 1 Rotary control device [0033] 3 user interface surface [0034] 5 housing [0035] 7 rotational axis [0036] 9 sensor unit [0037] 11 processing unit [0038] 13 communications interface [0039] 15 substrate/PCB [0040] 17 assembly for generating/manipulating magnetic field [0041] 19 chamber [0042] 21 magnetorheological fluid [0043] 23 rotational element [0044] 25 servo actuator [0045] X1 first direction [0046] X2 second direction [0047] P1 first position [0048] P2 second position [0049] P3 third position