Behr-hella Thermocontrol Gmbh

Stefan Kirsch

Pasi Kemppinen

Harri Pankratz

Tobias Schwab

Bastian Bandlow

Dirk Nagel

Jan Henning Kessler

Sascha Langener

The operating unit comprises an operating element which is adapted to be mechanically excited by means of a piezo driver. The piezo driver comprises a piezo actuator made from a piezoelectric material. The longitudinal extension ends of the piezo actuator have mechanically coupled thereto a conversion gear for converting a length change of the piezo actuator occurring in the effective direction of the piezo actuator into a movement of an element, which is coupled to the conversion gear and to be moved, at an angle not equal to 0 degree relative to the longitudinal extension of the piezo actuator. The conversion gear comprises a first bracket which is of an elastic configuration and/or comprises an elastic material and which, in the area of the longitudinal extension ends of the piezo actuator, is mechanically coupled to the latter. The first bracket is provided with a first and a second end portion, where the first bracket is respectively mechanically coupled to the piezo actuator, and between the two end portions, is provided with an oblique first inclined portion and an oblique second inclined portion which is shorter as compared to the first inclined portion. These portions of the bracket extend like the sides of a triangle with an imaginary connecting line extending between the end portions of the bracket as a basis and are elastically connected to each other.

Vehicle operating unit with tactile feedback

The invention relates to a device for controlling armature solenoid provided with a DC voltage source (), at least one buffer capacitor (), which is connected in parallel to the DC voltage source () and has a known capacitance (C), and a first switch (), which is arranged between the DC voltage source () and the buffer capacitor (). The exciter coil () and a second switch () arranged in series therewith are connected in parallel to the buffer capacitor (). A control and evaluation unit (), when the buffer capacitor () is charged, opens the first switch () and closes the second switch () in order to determine, on the basis of the measurement voltage (), the frequency of the resonant circuit having the capacitance (C) of the buffer capacitor () and the inductance (L) of the armature solenoid (). The inductance (L) of the armature solenoid () is determined on the basis of the frequency, and the air gap width (h) of the armature solenoid () is determined on the basis of the inductance. The PWM control signal with which the armature solenoid () is operable in order to generate a predefined force to be applied by the armature solenoid () is applied to the second switch () on the basis of a look-up table or a mathematical modelling of the electromagnetic behavior of the armature solenoid ().

Method and device for controlling an armature solenoid

The operating unit for a vehicle is provided with a housing and an operating element elastically mounted in and/or on the housing, wherein the elastically mounted operating element forms a spring-mass system having a construction-related resonance frequency. The operating unit is further provided with an actuator for pulse-shaped mechanical excitation of the operating element, and a control unit for controlling the actuator when manually actuating the operating element. The resonance frequency is, due to construction, above the highest cut-off frequency that can typically still be detected by receptors for haptic feedback and/or for tactile sensation of a person. The frequency spectrum of the mechanical pulse at the resonance frequency and/or at one of the harmonics of the resonance frequency has no frequency components in that the power density spectrum above the cut-off frequency is energy-free or substantially energy-free.

Operating unit for a vehicle

The operating unit for a vehicle comprises a housing with an operating element on the front side, wherein the operating element has a display with a display surface and a cover plate, which defines an operating surface of the operating element, and has at least one projection region projecting laterally over the display, and is elastically laterally moveably mounted on and/or in the housing. An actuator is arranged below the cover plate, said actuator having a drive and a control element driven by the drive. The operating unit is also provided with an elastic actuation arm which protrudes from the cover plate and which is mechanically acted upon by the control element of the actuator at a force application point of the actuation arm. The actuation arm has a displacement portion, reaching between the cover plate and the force application point, for laterally shifting the cover plate, and is extended from the displacement portion thereof beyond the force application point, as well as being provided with an extension portion, within which the actuation arm is elastically and mechanically fixed.

Operating device for a vehicle

The operating unit comprises an actuator, which mechanically excites an operating element. The actuator comprises a support strip made of a resilient material. Piezo elements, which are connected to the support strip in a shear-resistant manner, are located on both outer surfaces of the support strip. As a result of the alternate arrangement of the piezo elements, the support strip assumes an undulating form when moving out of its inactivated state. One side of the support strip is mechanically connected to the operating element and the other side is mechanically connected to a counterbalance. The support strip itself is mechanically fixed in the housing. In its inactivated state, the operating element and the counterbalance are at a different distance from one another than in the undulating activated state, wherein they move in opposite directions and thus lead to a compensation of dynamic forces acting on the housing.

Operating unit for a device, in particular for a vehicle component

The operating unit () for a vehicle component is provided with a housing () having a frame () and a display () having a transparent cover pane () with an edge (). A plurality of actuators () for introducing flexural waves into the cover pane () is arranged along the edge () of the cover pane (). A contact surface () is assigned to each actuator () on the cover pane (), by means of which contact surface the actuator () acts on the cover pane () in order to introduce flexural waves into the cover pane (). The flexural waves introduced into the cover pane () by the actuators () are superposed in the cover pane () and give the cover pane () a tactilely sensible, locally resolved surface structure. The contact surfaces () are each arranged at a distance from the frame () of the housing (), and consequently the introduction of flexural waves into the cover pane () and/or the propagation of flexural waves in the cover pane () is damped for wavelengths or frequencies resulting from the magnitude of the distance. The distance is selected in such a way that flexural waves having frequencies in the audible frequency range are damped.

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Soest, Germany

Stefan Kirsch