OPERATING UNIT AND AGRICULTURAL WORKING MACHINE

Abstract

A control unit for an agricultural working machine is provided. The control unit may be in a cab of a tractor and/or may control at least part of the working machine. A housing has a front side, a rear side, and end faces that connect the front and rear sides to one another. The housing has on the front side a plurality of control elements, as well as a display. The control elements are arranged on one side of a straight line extending along an edge of the display in a plan view of the front side.

Claims

1. A control unit for an agricultural working machine, the control unit comprising: a housing that has a front side, a rear side, and end faces that connect the front side and the rear sides to one another, wherein the housing has on the front side a plurality of control elements as well as a display, wherein the control elements are arranged on one side of a straight line extending along an edge of the display in a plan view of the front side.

2. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the straight line extends along a longitudinal edge of the display.

3. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein an extent of the housing in a longitudinal direction of the display is greater than an extent of the housing in a transverse direction of the display.

4. The control unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein a width-to-length ratio of the display is in a range of 1:3+15% to 1:415%.

5. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control elements comprise at least one button, switch, at least one joystick and/or at least one rotary knob.

6. The control unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control elements comprise rotary knobs arranged on end faces that face away from one another.

7. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing has a recessed grip and/or grip bulge on the rear side of a part containing the control elements.

8. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display is touch-insensitive.

9. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display is angled towards a part of the front side containing the control elements.

10. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit is an ISOBUS control unit.

11. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit operates multiple parts of the agricultural machine or multiple parts of different agricultural machines.

12. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, further including an impact switch.

13. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit adjusts the display representation depending on an orientation of the control unit.

14. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing has a multi-part design and includes an insert that comprises the control elements present on the front side.

15. An agricultural machine comprising a control unit as claimed in claim 1.

16. The control unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of control elements are arranged at least partially in rows on at least one end face if the housing.

17. The control unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein the switch is at least one toggle switch, and the at least one rotary knob is a rotary push knob.

18. The control unit as claimed in claim 10, wherein the ISOBUS control unit is an ISOBUS-AUX-N control unit.

19. The control unit as claimed in claim 12, wherein the impact switch is housed on an end face of the housing.

20. The control unit as claimed in claim 13, wherein the control unit includes a gyroscope for detecting the orientation of the control unit and is designed to automatically adjust the assignment of the control elements depending on the orientation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference char-acters indicate the same parts throughout the views.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows an object according to the invention in a perspective view.

[0031] FIG. 2 shows the object according to FIG. 1 with the display turned on showing an exemplary assignment of the control elements.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows the object according to FIG. 1 in an end-face view.

[0033] FIG. 4 shows the object according to FIG. 1 in a bottom view.

[0034] FIG. 5 shows a perspective representation of another object according to the invention.

[0035] FIG. 6 shows the object according to FIG. 5 in an upright position for operation with the left hand.

[0036] FIG. 7 shows the object according to FIG. 5 in an upright position for operation with the right hand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] Individual technical features of the exemplary embodiments described below may also lead to developments according to the invention in combination with the features of the independent claim. Wherever appropriate, at least partially identical parts are provided with identical reference signs.

[0038] A control unit 2 for an agricultural machine according to the invention is provided with a housing comprising a front side 4, a rear side 6 and end faces 8 connecting the front side and rear side 4, 6 to one another. The housing on the front side 4 includes a display 5. Furthermore, control elements in the form of two joysticks 10 and a total of ten membrane switches 14 are arranged on the front side 4. In addition, rotary push-button switches 12 are arranged in recesses of the shorter end faces 8 (FIG. 1).

[0039] The control elements located on the front side are, moreover, part of an insert 20, which is inserted into a housing part of the housing forming the front side of the control unit 2 and is interchangeable as needed with other inserts containing different control elements or combinations of control elements. Other agricultural machines can therefore be equipped with an alternative control unit, for example the control unit shown in FIG. 5.

[0040] The control elements are arranged on one side of a straight line 9 extending along an edge 7 of the display 5 in a top view of the front side (FIG. 2). Due to this, particularly nearly halved division of the control unit 2, the control elements are located on one side for single-handed operation, particularly when the control unit is in an upright position (cf. FIGS. 6 and 7), meaning that they can be easily gripped to this extent without obstructing the display. It is also within the scope of the invention to mount the control unit depicted in FIG. 2 or FIG. 5, or another control unit according to the invention, in landscape orientation and rotated 180 with respect to the arrangement shown in FIG. 2. This is particularly appropriate when the insert 20 is fully equipped with membrane switches. In this case, the part of the control unit 2 containing the control elements has a surface that can be easily operated by finger pressure when the display is tilted at an angle suitable for reading.

[0041] An operator can support their palm on the upper end face 8 shown in FIG. 2 and, for example, when arranged on the left side of the driver's cab, where the display 5 is located to the right of the part containing the control elements, operate the control elements with the left hand.

[0042] Typically, during operation, the control unit 2 is located to the left or right of the centre of the operator's body. To make gripping the control unit 2 easier, on one hand, and at the same time to improve readability, particularly for arrangements in which the control unit 2 is arranged in portrait mode, i.e. vertically oriented, the part of the front side 4 containing the display 5 is angled towards the part of the front side 4 containing the control elements. Accordingly, a plane 22 resting on the top of the display 5 is angled towards a plane 24 defining the part of the front side 4 containing the control elements on the front side (FIG. 3). While the housing part located below the part containing the control elements of the front side in FIG. 3 has a maximum thickness, the housing becomes narrower towards the end face 8, which is arranged on the right side in the figure, so that space is saved.

[0043] On the rear side 6, which also represents the bottom of the display unit 2, a grip recess 18 is provided, via which the display unit (FIG. 4) can be gripped. Furthermore, there is a connector 28 there for an ISOBUS-compatible plug. At the edge of the lower end face 8 in FIG. 4, a receptacle 30 is also provided for fastening an impact switch. A bracket can be attached to mounting points 32 for mounting the control unit 2 on the tractor side.

[0044] In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 5, an insert 20 is arranged with control elements in the form of toggle switches 16 and membrane switches 14. Just as in the exemplary embodiment in FIGS. 1 to 3, the control elements of this exemplary embodiment are mirror-symmetrical to a mirror axis 34, resulting in an assignment of the control elements in which an identical sequence of functions from top to bottom is possible for an arrangement according to either FIG. 6 or FIG. 7. For example, the layer change button is located at the top left (FIG. 6) or top right (FIG. 7), wherein the representation on the display 5 is adjusted accordingly. The assignment of the control elements and the representation on the display can be adjusted accordingly.