Apparatus panel

• US 6,219,035 B1
• Filed: 10/27/1998
• Issued: 04/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens Elema AB
• Original Assignee: Siemens Elema AB
• Inventors: Skog, Göran
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lesperance, Jean
• Application Number:
  US09/179,086
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• Field of Search: 345/161, 345/164, 345/165, 345/173, 345/174, 345/184, 200/5.R
• US Class Current: 345/161
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/975 using a capacitive movable element

Abstract

An apparatus panel for placement at least partially in front of a screen or display or over a printed surface, has at least two stacked, transparent panel plates, a mechanical user interface in the form of at least one mechanically actuated regulating arrangement and a corresponding contact arrangement. In order to reduce the risk of leakage into the panel, the panel is devised so that regulating arrangement and the contact arrangement are physically separated by at least one of the panel plates and can sense each other'"'"'s relative positions and, accordingly, the mechanical user interface'"'"'s setting, without touching.

Claims

1. An apparatus panel for at least partial placement in front of an indicia-carrying surface, said apparatus panel comprising:

at least two stacked, transparent panel plates;

a mechanical user interface comprising at least one mechanically operated regulating arrangement and a corresponding contact arrangement, said regulating arrangement and said contact arrangement being physically separated by one of said panel plates, and said regulating arrangement being settable into a position among a plurality of different positions; and

said regulating arrangement and said contact arrangement comprising means for sensing a position of said regulating arrangement without physical contact between said regulating arrangement and said contact arrangement for causing said contact arrangement to produce a contact corresponding to a setting of said mechanical user interface.

2. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said regulating arrangement is detachably connected to an exterior one of said panel plates, and wherein said contact arrangement comprises a plurality of groups of contact elements disposed at respectively different parts of another of said panel plates, said regulating arrangement being selectively positionable over any one of said group of contact elements.

3. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said regulating arrangement comprises an indicator and a knob for mechanically changing a position of said indicator, and wherein said contact arrangement comprises a surface capacitively coupled to said indicator for sensing the position of said indicator.

4. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 3 wherein said contact arrangement comprises a plurality of uniformly sized surfaces respectively capacitively coupleable to said indicator, and wherein said indicator has a surface which is a same size as said surfaces of said contact arrangement, said surfaces of said contact arrangement incrementally sensing the position of said indicator.

5. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 3 wherein said contact arrangement comprises two uniformly sized and shaped surfaces capacitively coupleable to said indicator, and wherein said indicator has a size and shape equal to the size and shape of said two surfaces of said contact arrangement, said contact arrangement differentially and capacitively sensing the position of said indicator.

6. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said regulating arrangement comprises an indicator composed of magnetic material and a knob for mechanically changing a position of said indicator, and wherein said contact arrangement comprises means magnetically coupled to said indicator for sensing the position of said indicator.

7. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said regulating arrangement comprises an indicator and a knob for mechanically changing a position of said indicator, and wherein said contact arrangement comprises at least one surface optically coupled to said indicator for sensing the position of said indicator.

8. An apparatus panel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said regulating arrangement comprises an indicator and a knob for mechanically changing a position of said indicator, and wherein said contact arrangement comprises at least one surface acoustically coupled to said indicator for sensing the position of said indicator.