Production of a graphic user and/or display surface for a motor vehicle

• US 8,850,336 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2006
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: Strenzl, Karl, Decke, Ralf, Ries, Klaus, Althoff, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu, Tadeese
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hope, Darrin
• Application Number:
  US11/491,131
• Publication Number:
  US 20070143695A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,990 Days
• Field of Search: 715/762, 715/764, 715/810, 715/835
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

A method for producing a graphic user and/or display surface on a display for a man/machine interface of a motor vehicle is provided, whereby the user surface includes graphic elements that are arranged in a menu-type manner. A main group and at least one subgroup below the main group is produced and every graphic element is associated with the main group, for example the domain “com.bmw” or one of the subgroups, for example “com.bmw.entertainment”, “com.bmw.enterainment.cd” or “com.bmwentertainment.radio”, and the main group and the at least one subgroup indicate respective properties of the graphic elements associated therewith, for example their color. A graphic element of a subgroup has, in addition to the properties indicated in the subgroup, at least one for the most part also the properties indicated in the main group.

Claims

1. A method of producing at least one of a graphic user and display surface on a display for a man/machine interface of a motor vehicle, the method comprising the acts of:

forming a hierarchically structured menu displayable on the display of the man/machine interface, wherein the menu comprises a main group and at least one subgroup below the main group or below a subgroup ranking below the main group;

assigning each of the graphic elements to the main group, or to one of the subgroups; and

passing one or more display properties of the graphical elements across the hierarchically structured menu'"'"'s subgroups of the man/machine interface to provide graphical changes to one or more corresponding display properties of each graphic element which is assigned to the hierarchically structured menu'"'"'s subgroups,

wherein the main group and the at least one subgroup each indicate properties of the graphic elements assigned thereto, a graphic element of a subgroup, in addition to the properties indicated in the subgroup, at least predominantly also having the properties indicated in the main group, and

wherein at least one property of the display properties indicated in the main group is indicated in a subgroup in a manner deviating from the main group, and a graphic element assigned to the corresponding subgroup has the deviating property.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a property of the graphic elements assigned to the main group and the at least one subgroup includes a color.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the display properties of the graphic element is indicated in the main group, including at least one of:

a size of the graphic element,

bit maps which the graphic element uses,

distances related to the graphic elements,

special element properties of the graphic elements,

texts related to the graphic element, and

a color of the graphics elements.

4. The method according to claim 3,

wherein the size of the graphic element comprises a height, a width, a radius or type size of a label of the graphic element, or a combination thereof;

wherein the bit maps which the graphic element uses comprise a background and foreground, each being focused, selected, deactivated, or a combination thereof, arrows for scrolling, or focus indications;

wherein the distances comprise individual bit maps with respect to one another, individual bit maps relative to origin, individual text relative to the origin, or a combination thereof;

wherein the special element properties comprise a contracting capacity of the graphic element when not focusing, whether the graphic element is selectable, focused, a scaling of bit maps, offsets of scrolling or offsets of scrolling parameters of the graphic element;

wherein the text comprises a text alignment, including one of whether the texts are right-aligned, left-aligned, and centered, or a font of the text; and

wherein the color comprises a background color, a focus color, a text color, a selection color, a focusing color or a deactivating color.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the graphic elements are formed on a basis of binary data elements describing the graphic elements, and each binary data element is provided with an assignment indication as to which main group or subgroup the graphic element is assigned.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the graphic elements are described by data elements in extensible markup language (XML);

and

the assignment of the binary data element takes place by indicating a domain as the main group and by indicating a subdomain as the subgroup, respectively.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the graphic elements are displayed by using an XML-data-processing browser.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the graphic elements are described by binary data elements in an object-oriented programming language.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the object-oriented programming language is Java or C++.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphic elements are assigned to the main group or to a particular one of the subgroups based at least in part on being functionally related to each other.

11. A display device for a man/machine interface in a motor vehicle, wherein the display device comprises a display and is configured to:

display a hierarchically structured menu on the display, wherein the hierarchically-structured menu comprises a main group and at least one subgroup below the main group or below a subgroup ranking below the main group;

assign each of the graphic elements to the main group, or to one of the subgroups; and

pass one or more display properties of the graphical elements across the hierarchically structured menu'"'"'s subgroups of the man/machine interface to provide graphical changes to one or more corresponding display properties of each graphic element which is assigned to the hierarchically structured menu'"'"'s subgroups,

wherein the main group and the at least one subgroup each indicate properties of the graphic elements assigned thereto, a graphic element of a subgroup, in addition to the properties indicated in the subgroup, at least predominantly also having the properties indicated in the main group, and

wherein at least one property of the display properties indicated in the main group is indicated in a subgroup in a manner deviating from the main group, and a graphic element assigned to the corresponding subgroup has the deviating property.

12. The display device of claim 11, wherein the graphic elements are assigned to the main group or to a particular one of the subgroups based at least in part on being functionally related to each other.