OPERATING MEMBER WITH MOVABLY MOUNTED ACTUATING PART AND IMPROVED GUIDANCE MECHANISM FOR THE PARALLEL GUIDANCE OF THE ACTUATING PART

Abstract

An operating member including a support; an actuating part mounted on the support by a mount, to be movable relative to the support, by manual actuation against a resetting force to carry out an actuating movement from a rest position into a depressed position; and a detector, having at least one force sensor, adapted to detect at least one position of the actuating part is presented. The mount includes a guidance mechanism having at least one pair of coupled levers, wherein the levers are each pivotably mounted on the support by a first pivot joint defining at least one first pivot axis and on the actuating part by a second pivot joint defining at least one second pivot axis to cause a pivoting movement of the levers by the actuating movement. The guidance mechanism further includes at least one coupling rod to couple the pivoting movement of the levers.

Claims

1. An operating member, comprising: a support; an actuating part, which defines an actuating surface is mounted on the support by a mount to be movable relative to the support, by manual actuation against a resetting force, along an actuation direction (R) while carrying out an actuating movement from a rest position into a depressed position; a detector having at least one force sensor, wherein the detector is adapted to detect at least one position of the actuating part; wherein the mount includes a guidance mechanism having at least one pair of coupled levers, wherein the guidance mechanism is adapted to guide the actuating part in parallel, wherein levers are each pivotably mounted, on the one hand, on the support by a first pivot joint defining at least one first pivot axis and, on the other hand, on the actuating part by a second pivot joint defining at least one second pivot axis, in order to cause in each case a pivoting movement of the levers by the actuating movement, wherein the guidance mechanism further includes at least one coupling rod in order to couple the pivoting movement of the levers; wherein the at least one coupling rod is fixed to the levers in an articulated manner, in each case by a first flexure joint, while defining a joint axis, wherein the levers of a pair are configured for moving synchronously about the first pivot axis when carrying out the actuating movement from the rest position into the depressed position, and a pivoting extent of each lever about the first pivot axis does not exceed 10°.

2. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein at least one pivot joint among the first pivot joint and the second pivot joint of said each lever of the at least one pair of coupled levers is configured as a second flexure joint.

3. The operating member according to claim 2, wherein the mount has a component which is fixed to the support or the actuating part and which is integrally connected to a respective lever in each case via the first pivot joint configured as the second flexure joint or the second pivot joint configured as the second flexure joint.

4. The operating member according to claim 2, wherein the first pivot joint of all the levers of the pair is configured as a rotary joint, and the second pivot joint of all the levers of the pair is configured as the second flexure joint.

5. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the mount includes an integrally formed molded part, which is manufactured in a thermal molding process.

6. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein a relative distance between the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis-of each lever of the pair is no more than 1.5 cm.

7. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein, in any one of: the rest position, the depressed position, and an intermediate position, the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis of said each lever of the pair lie in any one of: a common plane and parallel planes (E2, E3).

8. The operating member according to claim 2, wherein at least one of: the first flexure joint and the second flexure joint of said each lever of the pair are configured to generate the resetting force causing a reset into the rest position by an elastic deformation.

9. The operating member according to claim 8, wherein at least in the rest position the first flexure joint of said each lever of the pair is not elastically biased.

10. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein, in the rest position, a shortest connecting line connecting the joint axis of the levers of the pair in each case orthogonally intersects a plane (E4, E5) spanned by the first pivot axis of said each lever of the pair and the respectively closest joint axis.

11. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the levers of the pair are coupled to each other, by the at least one coupling rod, in such a way that directions of rotation of the pivoting movement about the first pivot axis, respectively, is opposite.

12. The operating member according to claim 11, wherein the at least one second pivot axis of the levers of the pair, with respect to the first pivot axis, are each disposed outwardly offset in a direction perpendicular to the actuation direction.

13. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein any one of: the first pivot joint and the second pivot joint has play in a direction perpendicular to the actuation direction.

14. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the first pivot axis, the second pivot axis, and the joint axis of each lever respectively form an angled lever.

15. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the levers of the pair are configured to be identical with respect to a relative spacing of the second pivot axis from the first pivot axis and a relative spacing of the associated joint axis from the first pivot axis.

16. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the levers of the pair are a first pair of levers, wherein the guidance mechanism has a second pair of levers coupled by a second coupling rod.

17. The operating member according to claim 16, wherein at least one lever of the first pair of levers is non-rotatably connected to a lever of the second pair of levers, and/or the coupling rod of the first pair of levers is non-rotatably connected to the second coupling rod of the second pair of levers.

18. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the actuating part passes through a stroke distance of less than 0.5 cm, during the actuating movement from the rest position into the depressed position.

19. The operating member according to claim 18, wherein a maximum extent of the actuating surface corresponds to at least ten times the stroke distance.

20. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the actuating part has at least one of: a touchpad and a touchscreen.

21. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the detector has a capacitively detecting force sensor.

22. The operating member according to claim 1 is used in a motor vehicle.

23. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the at least one position is the depressed position.

24. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the pivoting extent of each lever about the first pivot axis does not exceed 5°.

25. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein in the rest position, the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis of said each lever of the pair lie in any one of: a common plane and parallel planes.

26. The operating member according to claim 1, wherein the actuating part passes through a stroke distance of less than 0.3 cm during the actuating movement from rest position into the depressed position.

27. The operating member according to claim 17, wherein the non-rotatable connection is accomplished via a web.

Description

[0030] The various embodiments are explained further with reference to the following Figures. The Figures are to be understood only as examples and each merely represent a preferred embodiment. In the Figures:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the operating member 1 according to the embodiment,

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a perspective exploded view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 without the actuating part;

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a vertical section through the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the mounting means 11, which is shown in FIG. 1 and produced as a molded part.

[0035] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the operating member 1 according to the embodiment. It serves for performing an operating input by means of a movable actuating part 2 within the context of a man-machine interface.

[0036] The operating member 1 according to the disclosed embodiments comprises a support 3. The term “support” denotes a component which is a part of a supporting structure or is indirectly or directly fixed, for example, to a motor vehicle component, such as a motor vehicle steering wheel. For example, the support 3 is formed from a plastic, a metal or a metallic alloy, such as ZAMAK, or combinations thereof.

[0037] Further, an actuating part 2 is provided, which has an actuating surface 10 facing towards the operator B, for the operator B to carry out an operating input. An actuating operating input is understood to be an actuation, particularly with a simultaneous contact, by the operator B, which goes beyond a contact, during which the operator B applies an actuating force acting perpendicularly on the actuating surface 10, in order to cause a displacement of the actuating part 2, which follows the actuating force, against a resetting force. In this case, a depressed position is understood to be the maximum possible final position of the actuating part 2, wherein the maximum stroke distance of the actuating part 2, which results from the displacement from the rest position shown in FIG. 1 into the depressed position, is referred as a stroke distance and is less than 0.3 cm.

[0038] Detection means 9 for detecting at least one position, such as the depressed position, of the actuating part 2 are also provided. Here, this is a capacitive force sensor. The latter is configured for capacitively detecting the relative displacement between the actuating 2 part and the support 3, by a determination of a change in measuring capacitance between an electrode fixed to the actuating part 2 and an electrode fixed to the support 3.

[0039] Further, mounting means 11 are provided in order to enable the above-described movability of the actuating part 2 relative to the support 3. According to the disclosed embodiments, these mounting means 11 comprise a guidance mechanism 4 for the parallel guidance of the actuating part 3. A parallel guidance is understood to mean that the actuating part 2 undergoes a substantially translational displacement during actuation and that thus, the actuating surface 10 is, for example, displaced along the actuation direction R while maintaining its orientation in space if possible. In this case, due to a pivoting movement of the guidance mechanism contributing to the parallel guidance, a displacement of the actuating part 2 in the direction parallel to the actuating surface 10, which is herein referred to as horizontal, is not completely excluded, but, just like a tilting of the actuating part 2, is supposed to be minimized or even avoided by the solution according to the disclosed embodiments.

[0040] The guidance mechanism 4 comprises two pairs of coupled levers 5, 6 or 5′, 6′, wherein the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ are each, on the one hand, mounted on the support 3 and, on the other hand, on the actuating part 2 so as to be pivotable about an associated pivot axis S.sub.1 or S.sub.2, in order to cause in each case a pivoting movement of the levers 5, 6; 5′ 6′ by means of the actuating movement. In this case, all levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ are configured to move synchronously about the first pivot axis S.sub.1 when carrying out the actuating movement from the rest position into the depressed position. In order to minimize the horizontal displacement, the pivoting extent of each lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ about the first pivot axis S.sub.1 is limited according to the disclosed embodiments to 10°, preferably to 5°. Due to the perspective view and the masking resulting therefrom, FIG. 1 does not show the mounting means 11 in their entirety. However, the structure of the second pair is identical to that of the first pair, which becomes clear from the detailed view of the further Figures. The guidance mechanism 4 moreover comprises at least one coupling rod 7, 7′ for coupling the pivoting movement of the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′. In this case, the coupling rod 7, 7′ is fixed to the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ in an articulated manner, in each case by means of a first flexure joint 16, while defining a joint axis G. In this case, the coupling rod 7, 7′ provides a connection between the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ of one pair that can be subjected, if possible exclusively, but at least primarily, to tensile and compressive loads and that serves for transmitting the rotary movement about the first pivot axis S.sub.1 from one lever 5, 5′ to the respective other lever 6, 6′ of the pair, wherein the directions of rotation of the levers 5, 6 or 5′, 6′ of a pair are in each case opposite in the embodiment shown herein. Due to the fact that the coupling rod 7, 7′ and the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ are connected via a first flexure joint 16, the mechanical play of the parallel guidance is minimized. “Lost motion” is avoided. In addition, the parallel guidance can be realized to be free of noise. In order to save constructional space, the first pivot axes S.sub.1 of the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ of the guidance mechanism 4, in the rest position of the actuating part 2, are disposed in a common imaginary plane E1, which is inclined to the actuating surface 10, as is most apparent from FIG. 3. As FIG. 2 shows, the first pivot joints 13, 14, with which the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ are rotatably mounted on the support 3, are configured as rotary joints and have a pin 14 each, which reaches into a correspondingly disposed pin accommodating portion 13 of a bearing support formed on the support 3, thus defining the first pivot axes S.sub.1. In order to enable the lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ to pivot relative to the actuating part 2, the second pivot joint 18 is provided, which in this case is configured as a second flexure joint. Alternatively, the second pivot joint 18 may also be configured as a rotary joint. In the latter embodiment, at least one of the pivot joints of the first pivot joint 13, 14 or the second pivot joint 18 would have to be configured with play in the direction perpendicular to the actuation direction R between the joint partners.

[0041] The resetting force, which is primarily generated by an additional resetting means, which is not shown, and which is provided for resetting the actuating part 2 into the rest position, is caused by the elastic deformation of the first flexure joint 16 and, if necessary, the second pivot joints 18 configured as second flexure joints. In order to minimize the mechanical stress on the first flexure joints 16, not only is the pivoting extent of each lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ about the first pivot axis S.sub.1 limited to 10°, preferably to 5°, but also, the guidance mechanism 4 is designed such that the first flexure joint 16 of each lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ is not elastically biased in the rest position, i.e. is in the unstressed position of its non-installed state.

[0042] The pivot axes S.sub.1, S.sub.2 and the joint axis G of each lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ each form an angled lever, wherein the axes are disposed on the corners of an imaginary triangle, as is clear from FIG. 4. The relative distance between the first pivot axis S.sub.1 and the second pivot axis S.sub.2 of each lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ is no more than 1.5 cm, such as 0.5 cm, for example. Moreover, the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ are configured to be identical with respect to the dimension of the relative spacing of the second pivot axis S.sub.2 from the first pivot axis S.sub.1 and the associated joint axis G from the first pivot axis S.sub.1, so as to result in identical lever ratios for each lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′. The levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ of a pair are coupled to each other, by means of the coupling rod 7, 7′, in such a way that their directions of rotation of the pivoting movement in each case about the first pivot axis S.sub.1 are opposite. Moreover, the second pivot axes S.sub.2 of the levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′ of the pair, with respect to the first pivot axes S.sub.1, are each disposed outwardly offset in the direction perpendicular to the actuation direction R, whereby the tilting of the actuating part 2 is minimized due to the guidance at the outermost location.

[0043] In order to subject the coupling rod 7, 7′ and the associated first flexure joints 16 substantially, if possible, only to compressive and tensile loads in the rest position, it is provided that in the rest position, a shortest connecting line g connecting the joint axes G, which are respectively defined by the first flexure joint 16, of a pair in each case orthogonally intersects the plane E5 spanned by the first pivot axis S.sub.1 of a lever 5 of a pair and the closest joint axis G and the plane E4 spanned by the first pivot axis S.sub.1 of the other lever 6 of the same pair and the closest joint axis G. In order to further reduce to a minimum the displacement of the actuating part 2 during the actuation in the horizontal direction, it is further provided that in the rest position, the first pivot axis S.sub.1 and the second pivot axis S.sub.2 of each lever 5, 6 of the pair lie in mutually parallel planes E2, E3.

[0044] As becomes apparent from FIG. 4, the mounting means 11 are configured as a molded part which is manufactured by a thermal molding process in a molding tool. These mounting means 11 comprise a plate-shaped component 15 that serves for attachment to the actuating part 2 on the side thereof facing away from the actuating surface 10, and the guidance mechanism 4 including levers 5, 6; 5′, 6′, coupling rods 7, 7′, the second pivot joint 18, the pin 14 of the first pivot joint 13, 14 as well as the first flexure joints 16, all of which are formed from a thermoplastic material. The flexure joint 16 is in each case the result of a weakening of the material provided in the transitional region between the respective lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′ and the coupling rod 7, 7′, e.g., with respect to the cross section of the respective coupling rod 7, 7′, a constricted portion. Due to its location, the weakened-material portion provides for a locally pronounced elastic compliance with resetting properties, and thus a resetting flexibility of the coupling rod 7, 7′ in the region of the coupling rod 7, 7′ adjacent to the respective lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′. This also applies, mutatis mutandis, for the second pivot joints 18 configured as a second flexure joint, which are in each case provided between the component 15 and the associated lever 5, 6; 5′, 6′.