Center Console and Electronic Operating System for a Vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle has a driver's position, a passenger position and a center console which is arranged between the driver's position and the passenger position. The center console includes an antenna which is designed to establish a wireless, radio-based near-field communication link.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising: a driver area; a front-seat passenger area; and a center console which is arranged between the driver area and the front-seat passenger area, wherein the center console comprises an antenna designed to establish a wireless, radio-based near-field communication link.

2. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the center console comprises at least one operator control element of an electronic operator control system for a controller of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the antenna is integrated into the operator control system.

4. The vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the center console comprises at least one decorative element which does not have an operator control function, and the antenna is provided away from the decorative element.

5. The vehicle as claimed in claim 4, further comprising: a support element provided in a region of the antenna, which support element protrudes in relation to a surface of the decorative element.

6. A component of a vehicle, comprising: a center console, wherein the center console comprise an antenna designed to establish a wireless, radio-based near-field communication link.

7. The component as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: a decorative element of the center console, the decorative element being at least partially conductive, wherein the antenna comprises conductive parts of the decorative element.

8. A system, comprising: an operator control system designed to be integrated into a center console of a vehicle; an operator control device of the operator control system; and an antenna designed to establish a wireless, radio-based near-field communication link, wherein the center console comprises the antenna and the operator control device.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the operator control device comprises a rotary and/or pushbutton actuating device and/or a touch-sensitive sensor area.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the operator control device comprises a support element for supporting a mobile device such that the wireless near-field communication link is establishable with the antenna which is provided in the operator control system by way of an antenna provided in the mobile device.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the support element is an element of the rotary and/or pushbutton actuating device which encloses the touch-sensitive sensor area and protrudes in relation to said sensor area.

12. The system as claimed in claim 8, further comprising an optical display device.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the optical display device comprises a mechanical frame, and the frame comprises the antenna.

14. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the optical display device comprises organic light-emitting diodes.

15. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the operator control device comprises an operator control element which is designed as a decorative element of the center console, which decorative element is variable in respect of its surface appearance.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a center console.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a smartphone which is placed onto the center console.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a further center console.

[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an operator control system comprising a display.

[0036] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a display with a frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] In the passenger car 1 illustrated merely schematically in FIG. 1, the driver seat 2a for the vehicle driver is provided in the driver area 2 and the front-seat passenger seat 3a for a front-seat passenger is provided in the front-seat passenger area 3. The driver area 2 and the front-seat passenger area 3 each also have a footwell and, in particular, also a space to the left and to the right of the respective seat. The center console 4 is fitted between the driver area 2 and the front-seat passenger area 3. A round, electromechanical rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 is provided in the center console in turn. Electrical signals to a controller of the passenger car 1 can be generated by way of the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5, which is integrated into the center console 4, both by the driver of the passenger car 1 and also by the front-seat passenger turning and/or pushing said rotary and pushbutton actuator. By way of example, a navigation system of the passenger car 1 or an entertainment system of the passenger car 1 are set or settings are made on another control system of the passenger car 1 by way of the electrical signals.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the center console 4. The rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 which is integrated into the center console 4 has an electrical circuit 7 with which turning and pushing movements of the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 are converted into corresponding electrical signals. The rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 illustrated here can exhibit, in particular, further details of the operator control device which are described in abovementioned document WO 2008/138492 A1, for example elements and/or properties of the cap element described there and/or a tilting function which can be used for navigating along a corresponding tilting direction in menus. In addition, for example, the center console 4 described here can have an enclosure, described in the prior publication, for the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 and/or further keys and/or switches for operator control functions. To this end, reference is hereby once again made to the entire contents of said publication.

[0039] The electrical circuit 7 is connected to at least one further control system 9 of the passenger car 1 by way of a corresponding electrical connection 9a. The connection 9a can be, for example, a suitable data bus, such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus and/or a Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) bus, for example.

[0040] On that side of the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 facing away from the console surface 4a, the rotary and pushbutton actuator has a sensor area 5a, a so-called operator control touchpanel, which is touch-sensitive and by which the driver and/or front-seat passenger, for example using one of their fingers, can likewise input operator control commands.

[0041] An annular spacer element 8, which encloses the sensor area 5a, extends further upward at the outer edge of the round operator control touchpanel 5a. The spacer element 8 preferably has a height of at most one or a few millimeters (for example 2 millimeters, 5 millimeters or 10 millimeters) in relation to the operator control touchpanel 5a, so that the operator control of the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 by hand is moreover possible in an ergonomic and convenient manner. An antenna 6 is integrated into the round rotary and pushbutton actuator 5 just below, for example at most 0.5 cm, at most 1 cm, at most 5 cm or at most 10 cm below, the operator control touchpanel 5a. The antenna 6 is round, in a manner matched to the shape of the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5. The antenna is designed for a near-field communication link (NFC). The antenna 6 can be connected to a signal amplifier, a signal decoder and/or to the electrical circuit 7. In this case, the circuit 7 can have, in particular, signal-amplifying and/or signal-decoding functions.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows how a smartphone 20, which for its part has an antenna 26 which is designed for a near-field communication link (NFC), is placed flat on the spacer element 8 of the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5. The antenna 26 of the smartphone 20 is parallel to the antenna 6 of the passenger car 1 here. A near-field communication link can be established between the antennas 6, 26, so that data can be transmitted between control components of the smartphone 20 and control components of the passenger car 1.

[0043] The smartphone 20 can be carried, for example, by one of the vehicle users and can be held in the region of the antenna 6 on the center console 4 or, as shown in FIG. 3, conveniently placed on the rotary and pushbutton actuator 5, on the annular spacer element 8 thereof, for the purposes of coupling and data transmission.

[0044] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment in which an antenna 16 is integrated in the region of a decorative element 19 in the center console 4, which decorative element is provided with a scratch-prone high-gloss lacquer on its surface. In order to avoid scratching of the surface, the center console 4 has an annular spacer element 19a in the region of the decorative element 19, which annular spacer element protrudes upward in relation to the surface of the decorative element 19. When the smartphone 20 is placed flat onto the spacer element 19a, a near-field communication link can in turn be established between the antennas 6, 26. In order to prevent the smartphone 20 from slipping, in particular when the smartphone 20 is still also left on the center console for a certain time after pairing and transmission of personalization data and the passenger car 1 is set in motion, a stop 19b is additionally provided on the center console 4 in the exemplary embodiment shown here. For the same purpose, the spacer element 19b can also be provided with a slip-resistant coat.

[0045] For the purpose of establishing a near-field communication link, a touch sensor can be provided in the passenger car 1, which touch sensor detects whether an object, in particular a smartphone 20 with a corresponding NFC antenna 26, is in contact with a spacer element 8, 19a which is spatially associated with the vehicle-side NFC antenna 16. If contact is determined, a controller can preferably be activated on the vehicle side for the purpose of establishing the near-field communication link which is otherwise in an energy-saving idle mode.

[0046] In the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, a rotary/pushbutton actuator 25 is again provided on the center console 4. In addition to the rotary/pushbutton actuator 25, an optical display device 27, which is in the form of an OLED display, is provided on the surface of the center console 4, it being possible for graphical displays for operator control of the vehicle or other information, for example from an infotainment system relating to radio broadcasters, music titles, weather data, news, etc., to be output to the driver of the vehicle by means of said optical display device. In this exemplary embodiment, the NFC antenna 26 is arranged below the display 27 in the center console 4.

[0047] The OLED display can act, in particular, as a decorative element of the center console 4 and its optical appearance can resemble the adjacent regions of the center console. The OLED display can also be configured as a touchscreen and its appearance can be adapted depending on the operating state of the touchscreen, so that the OLED display cannot be distinguished from the other regions of the center console in the switched-off state and/or in a standby state and can be distinguished in a display state, for example in which the OLED display outputs a graphical symbol of an operator control button and/or at least one other item of optical information.

[0048] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6, an optical display device is provided in which an optical display 27a, for example an OLED display, is enclosed by a mechanical frame 29 in which the NFC antenna 30 is integrated for its part. In a further exemplary embodiment which is modified in relation to the above, the frame 29 can be raised in relation to the surface of the display 27a in such a way that the frame acts as a spacer element and, as already described further above with respect to corresponding frames, contact with the display 27a is avoided when a smartphone is placed onto the frame 29.

[0049] The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.