MINICOMPUTER WITH A ROTATING UNIT AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE MINICOMPUTER

• US 20170045958A1
• Filed: 07/01/2016
• Published: 02/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inventus Engineering GmbH
• Original Assignee: Inventus Engineering GmbH
• Inventors: BATTLOGG, STEFAN
• Granted Patent: US 10,429,959 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 2037/002 characterised by a single substantially axial gap in which the fluid or medium consisting of small particles is arranged
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 2300/0214 Oil or fluid cooling
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 2300/18 Sensors; Details or arrangements thereof
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 37/02 the particles being magnetisable
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 57/002 comprising a medium with electrically or magnetically controlled internal friction, e.g. electrorheological fluid, magnetic powder
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/08 Touch switches specially adapted for time-pieces
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 1/08 Controlling members for hand actuation by rotary movement, e.g. hand wheels
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 5/03 Means for enhancing the operator's awareness of arrival of the controlling member at a command or datum position; Providing feel, e.g. means for creating a counterforce arrangements for indicating the position of the controlling member G05G1/015
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser

Abstract

A minicomputer has a processor and a display unit and a communication unit and a haptic operating device. The haptic operating device has a rotatable rotating unit with a rotational resistance which can be changed by way of a control device. Selectable menu items are displayed on a display unit and a menu item is selected by rotating the rotating unit. A rotational resistance of the rotating unit is dynamically changed during a rotation of the rotating unit and the rotating unit is latched at a plurality of haptically perceptible latching points during the rotation of the rotating unit.

Claims

1. A minicomputer, comprising:

a processor, a display unit connected to said processor and a communication unit connected to said processor;

a haptic operating device including a rotatable rotating unit having a rotational resistance opposing a rotation thereof;

a controllable transmission apparatus operatively associated with said rotating unit and configured for dynamically changing a rotational resistance against a rotation of said rotating unit during the rotation thereof, said controllable transmission apparatus including a magnetic field generating unit and an amount of magnetorheological medium disposed to magnetically adhere to said rotating unit upon being subjected to a magnetic field generated by said magnetic field generating unit and to thereby vary the rotational resistance acting on said haptic operating device against a rotation thereof; and

a control device connected to said controllable transmission apparatus and configured for dynamically adjusting the rotational resistance of said haptic operating device.

2. The minicomputer according to claim 1, wherein said control device is configured to dynamically generate a haptic latching pattern during a rotation of said rotating unit.

3. The minicomputer according to claim 2, wherein said transmission apparatus comprises:

at least two components including a first component and a second component to be coupled with a given adjustable coupling intensity;

the magnetorheological medium to be influenced by a magnetic field for influencing the coupling intensity between said at least two components, said magnetorheological medium having magnetically polarizable particles disposed between said at least two components; and

the magnetic field generation device for generating the magnetic field disposed to influence the magnetorheological medium using the magnetic field;

wherein a basic body is coupled to said first component and said rotating unit is coupled to said second component.

4. The minicomputer according to claim 3, which further comprises a display unit, and wherein said rotating unit is rotatable with respect to said display unit and said display unit is connected to said basic body in a rotationally fixed manner.

5. The minicomputer according to claim 4, which comprises a sensor configured to sense an angle change and, optionally, an absolute angle position, between said rotating unit and said basic body.

6. The minicomputer according to claim 5, wherein said control device is configured to dynamically control said magnetic field generation device and to dynamically generate the magnetic field from said magnetic field generation device on a basis of a rotational angle in order to provide a dynamic and angle-dependent haptic latching pattern.

7. The minicomputer according to claim 1, which comprises at least one separate, elastic contact ring arranged between said two components.

8. The minicomputer according to claim 1, wherein a channel is formed between said two components, and a plurality of rotating bodies forming transfer elements are disposed in said channel.

9. The minicomputer according to claim 3, wherein said basic body comprises a base plate and a holding housing, a shaft is rotatably held on said holding housing, and said magnetorheological medium is held between said basic body and said shaft.

10. The minicomputer according to claim 9, wherein:

said rotating unit is connected to the shaft in a rotationally fixed manner;

the shaft is rotatably supported at one end on said base plate;

said basic body and said shaft each have a circumferential running surface for said rotating bodies adjacent said base plate;

at least one said running surface has at least one circumferential groove for said rotating bodies;

said running surface of said shaft is formed on a circumferential ring with an increased diameter;

said circumferential ring being separated, on an end face, from an end face of the holding housing by a gap, and a free axial distance in the gap is considerably shorter than a free radial distance at said channel.

11. The minicomputer according to claim 1, wherein said holding housing is formed with a holding space in which an electrical coil is arranged, and said electrical coil is arranged substantially axially adjacent said rotating bodies.

12. The minicomputer according to claim 1, wherein said holding housing and said circumferential ring consist of a material with better magnetic conductivity than said base plate.

13. The minicomputer according to claim 1, wherein a free distance between said rotating body and said component is at least twice as large as a typical average diameter of said magnetically polarizable particles in said magnetorheological medium, and at least one region containing said magnetorheological medium is provided between said rotating body and at least one component, and wherein the magnetic field from said magnetic field generation device is applied to said region in order to selectively concatenate said particles and/or to wedge said particles with said rotating body or release said particles.

14. The minicomputer according to claim 13, wherein said region between said rotating body and said one component tapers in a direction of the relative movement of said component relative to said rotating body.

15. A method of operating a minicomputer, the method comprising:

providing the minicomputer with a haptic operating device having a rotating unit and displaying selectable menu items on a display unit;

selecting a menu item by rotating the rotating unit;

dynamically changing a rotational resistance of the rotating unit during a rotation of the rotating unit; and

latching the rotating unit at a plurality of haptically perceptible latching points during the rotation of the rotating unit.

16. The method according to claim 15, which comprises dynamically changing a number of haptically perceptible latching points in dependence on an operation of the minicomputer, by deliberately generating a magnetic field at a channel at least partially filled with a magnetorheological medium.

17. The method according to claim 15, which comprises detecting an angular position of the rotating unit and setting the rotational resistance on a basis of the detected angular position.

18. The method according to claim 15, which comprises dynamically generating an end stop in at least one direction of rotation, and setting the rotational resistance at the end stop to be perceptively stronger than at a latching point.

19. The method according to claim 15, which comprises dynamically setting an angular distance between at least two adjacent latching points and enabling the rotating unit to be endlessly and freely rotatable in a switched-off state.

20. The method according to claim 15, which comprises setting the number of latching points to correspond to a number of currently available menu items or list entries.

21. The method according to claim 15, which comprises carrying out an associated method step or displaying an associated submenu and dynamically adapting the number of latching points to the selectable menu items in the submenu when a menu item is activated.