Operating panel for a household appliance with at least one user interface, household appliance, and method for producing the operating panel with user interface

• US 10,209,838 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2016
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schott AG (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung)
• Original Assignee: Schott AG (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung)
• Inventors: Gabriel, Annelie, Back, Franziska, Riethmuller, Franziska, Zenker, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Landis, Lisa L
• Application Number:
  US15/222,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20170031480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 15/4293 Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels; Indication of the selected programme, programme progress or other parameters of the programme, e.g. by using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 7/086 touch control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes

Abstract

An operating panel for a household appliance is provided with at least one user interface. The operating panel includes a planar support with an outer support surface facing an external region; a planar glass or glass-ceramic substrate with an outer substrate surface facing the external region and an opposite-lying inner substrate surface facing away from the external region and facing the outer support surface; a display element affixed to the support for luminous indication of information, which is preferably disposed on the outer support surface; and a sensor arrangement having at least two sensors, each of which comprises at least one electrode and is disposed on the inner substrate surface, for interaction with a user located in the external region.

Claims

1. An operating panel for a household appliance with at least one user interface, comprising:

a planar support with an outer support surface facing an external region;

a planar glass or glass-ceramic substrate with an outer substrate surface facing the external region and an opposite-lying inner substrate surface facing away from the external region and facing the outer support surface;

a display element affixed to the planar support for luminous indication of information on the outer support surface; and

a sensor arrangement having at least two sensors, each of the at least two sensors comprising at least one electrode, the at least two sensors being disposed directly on the inner substrate surface and being configured for interaction with a user located in the external region.

2. The operating panel according to claim 1, wherein the at least one electrode comprises a first electrode and a second electrode distanced laterally from the first electrode by a gap.

3. The operating panel according to claim 1, wherein the sensor arrangement comprises a first electrode common for all of the at least two sensors, and wherein the at least one electrode comprises a second electrode distanced laterally from the first electrode by a gap.

4. The operating panel according to claim 2, wherein the at least one user interface comprises two user interfaces and wherein at least two of the first electrodes of the two user interfaces are interconnected.

5. The operating panel according to claim 4, further comprising a detection device for detecting sensor signals, the detection device being configured to read out the at least two sensors of the two user interfaces intermittently over time.

6. The operating panel according to claim 4, further comprising a matrix interconnection with x first electrodes and n second electrodes, with x≥

1, n≥

2, and first and second electrodes are disposed at a distance to one another via non-conductive gaps, wherein the first and second electrodes are interconnected without crossing in precisely one electrically conductive layer plane, the conductive connections not passing through the non-conductive gaps.

13. The operating panel according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two sensors comprises a single electrode, the single electrode being disposed at an edge region of the display element or so as to overlap the display element in an overlapping region.

14. The operating panel according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two sensors comprises a single electrode, the single electrode being at least partially transparent or has an opening so that the display element is visible through the electrode.

15. The operating panel according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two sensors comprises a single electrode, the single electrode being a capacitive touch sensor.

16. The operating panel according to claim 1, wherein the electrodes are disposed in relation to the display element such that signals of spaced-apart sensors can be detected when an operator'"'"'s finger or stylus passes over a luminous region of the display element.

17. The operating panel according to claim 1, further comprising a detection device for detecting and evaluating sensor signals, the detection device being configured to adjust or changing a control value in response to a time delay between sensors.

7. An operating panel for a household appliance with at least one user interface, comprising:

a planar support with an outer support surface facing an external region;

a planar glass or glass-ceramic substrate with an outer substrate surface facing the external region and an opposite-lying inner substrate surface facing away from the external region and facing the outer support surface;

a display element affixed to the support for luminous indication of information on the outer support surface; and

a sensor arrangement having at least two sensors, each of the at least two sensors comprising at least one electrode, the at least two sensors being disposed on the inner substrate surface and being configured for interaction with a user located in the external region,

wherein the at least one electrode comprises a first electrode and a second electrode distanced laterally from the first electrode by a gap,

wherein the at least one user interface comprises two user interfaces and wherein at least two of the first electrodes of the two user interfaces are interconnected, and

wherein the electrodes of the sensors are disposed in a sensor matrix, which is formed as a bipartite graph, wherein the bipartite graph for one user interface is a 1;

N or 2;

N graph and for paired user interfaces (10) is a 2;

N graph, and the second electrodes form N second nodes of a second node set, and wherein the first electrodes form 2 nodes of a first node set, and wherein the edges of the graph are formed by the gaps between the first and second electrodes.

8. The operating panel according to claim 7, wherein all conductive flat surface elements of the arrangement of sensors between the connection points of electronic components or between the contact points are crossing-free as a planar, bipartite graph K_m,n.

9. The operating panel according to claim 8, wherein all conductive flat surface elements of the arrangement of sensors between the connection points of components or between the contact points and including the shielding, screening, or potential surfaces, are crossing-free as a planar partite graph K_m,n or K_1,m,n.

10. The operating panel according to claim 9, wherein the first and second electrodes and are actuated in alternating manner as a single-electrode open capacitor sensor, the other electrode set in each case being actuated as an interconnected screen electrode.

11. The operating panel according to claim 9, wherein the second electrodes are actuated as a single-electrode open capacitor sensor and the first electrodes are actuated z-times in alternating manner as a y-times interconnected shield electrode or y-times interconnected as a shield electrode and (x-y) interconnected as a screen electrode.

12. The operating panel according to claim 9, wherein the second electrodes are actuated as a single-electrode open capacitor sensor and the first electrodes are actuated as interconnected shield electrodes, and in alternating manner y-times interconnected electrodes are actuated z-times in an alternating manner as a proximity open capacitor sensor.

18. A method for producing an operating panel for a household appliance with at least one user interface, comprising:

producing a structured, electrically conductive coating on a planar, transparent glass or glass-ceramic plate or panel, wherein the coating forms electrodes for at least two sensors each comprising at least one electrode, the at least one electrode comprises a first electrode and a second electrode distanced laterally from the first electrode by a gap;

affixing at least one display element onto an outer support surface of a support, the outer support surface facing an external region; and

fitting the support to the plate or panel on a side on which the electrodes are disposed, whereby contact elements of the support connect the electrodes to the support, wherein the electrodes are disposed and interconnected in a sensor matrix in such that the electrodes form nodes of a bipartite graph and the gaps between the first and second electrodes form edges of the bipartite graph.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the step of producing the structured, electrically conductive coating further comprises vapor depositing a transparent conductive coating by, the coating comprising a material selected from the group consisting of silver, copper, gold, transparent semiconductors, indium-gallium-zinc oxide, a transparent, conductive oxide layer, tin-doped indium oxide or In₂O₃:

Sn, fluorine-doped tin oxide, SnO₂;

F, antimony-doped tin oxide, SnO₂;

Sb, aluminum-doped zinc oxide, ZnO;

Al, and doped titanium oxide.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the step of producing the structured, electrically conductive coating further comprises printing an ink comprising an electrically conductive additive or an electrically conductive polymer and a solvent on the substrate and evaporating the solvent after applying the ink.

21. An operating panel for a household appliance with at least one user interface, comprising:

a planar support with an outer support surface facing an external region;

a display element affixed to the outer support surface of the planar support;

a planar glass or glass-ceramic substrate with an outer substrate surface facing the external region and an opposite-lying inner substrate surface facing away from the external region and facing the display element on the outer support surface; and

a sensor arrangement having a plurality of single-electrodes disposed directly on the inner substrate surface respect to one another to detect a swiping gesture of a user located in the external region,

wherein the plurality of single-electrodes are actuated, in an alternating manner, as either a single-electrode sensor or as a screen electrode so that spaces between a first set of the single-electrodes operated as single-electrode sensors are filled, at least partially, by a second set of the single-electrodes operated as screen electrodes.

22. The operating panel according to claim 21, wherein the first set of the single-electrodes are operated as near-field single-electrode sensors and the second set of the single-electrodes are operated as far-field single-electrode sensors.