Patent Application
20090100955
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of hand controls for various apparatus, and more particularly, to hand controls that include hysteresis.
General hand controls for various types of machinery often require some type of drag or hysteresis. The purpose of such drag is to give the operator some feed back (kinesthetics) and to help insure that the control position remains constant despite being influenced by external factors, such as vibration or light contact. In other representative designs of such devices, compression packs (disks and coil springs) are typically employed to provide a clamping force on an axis of rotation for the control. However, such devices generally require adjustment and setting at the time of assembly and consist of multiple parts, such as, for example, washers and rub plates under compression that are clamped to a handle of the control.
Embodiments of the present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way of illustration embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments in accordance with the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Various operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments of the present invention; however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent.
The description may use perspective-based descriptions such as up/down, back/front, and top/bottom. Such descriptions are merely used to facilitate the discussion and are not intended to restrict the application of embodiments of the present invention.
For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “A/B” means A or B. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “A and/or B” means “(A), (B), or (A and B)”. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “at least one of A, B, and C” means “(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C)”. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “(A)B” means “(B) or (AB)” that is, A is an optional element.
The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “in embodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the present invention, are synonymous.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a rotary based hand control that provides hysteresis to an operator.
Referring to
In one embodiment, as illustrated in
In accordance with various embodiments, rotor 112 is positioned adjacent to the spring element and adapted to rest within body 102. A cover seal 116 may be provided between cover 110 and sensor 104. As may be seen in
In accordance with various embodiments, rotor 112 may be coupled to lever 106 via a cooperative mating structure, such that manipulation of lever 106 causes manipulation of rotor 112. As an example, in
Cover plate 110 may be coupled to body 102 via a suitable means such as, for example, retainers 124a and 124b. Additionally, sensor 104 may be coupled to cover 110 and/or body 102 via suitable means such as, for example, screws 126a and 126b. As previously mentioned, lever 106 may be coupled to rotor 112 via a suitable coupling device such as, for example, screw 118. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, a washer 128 and a seal 130 may be placed between lever 106 and screw 118.
In accordance with various embodiments, as may be seen in
Thus, during operation of hand control 100, rotation of rotor 112 causes substantially conical-shaped portion 134 to move within substantially conical-shaped cavity 132. As lever 106 rotates rotor 112, the pressure exerted by spring element 114 increases against rotor 112, thus causing substantially conical-shaped portion 134 to engage surface 130 with an increasing amount of force and thereby provide increased resistance to further rotation of rotor 112. This engagement may provide tactile “feedback” to the operator as lever 106 is being moved. The amount of feedback may be influenced by factors, such as, for example, the angle of substantially conical-shaped portion 134 and substantially conical-shaped cavity 132 and the axial spring force provided by spring element 114. The material of one or more of substantially conical-shaped portion and body 102 (at least surface 130) defining substantially conical-shaped cavity 132 may also influence the amount of tactile feedback provided to the operator due to, for example, the coefficient of friction of the material(s) and the glass transition temperature of the material(s).
Accordingly, in operation, lever 106 may be used to control at least one parameter of a device, such as, for example, an engine. In one embodiment, by moving lever 106, substantially conical-shaped portion 134 and substantially conical-shaped cavity 132 may be caused to move or rotate relative to one another. The engagement between substantially conical-shaped portion 134 and surface 130 may cause rotor 112 to hold a desired position, until lever 106 is further manipulated by an operator. Such movement may also cause the sensor to sense the amount of rotation of the rotor due to the cooperative mating structure coupling it to the rotor. The sensor then provides this information to a control system. The control system uses this to control at least one parameter. As an example, this information may be used to control the speed of an engine. Further, lever 106 may be any one of a variety of input controls, including, but not limited to, hand controls, foot controls and the like.
In accordance with various embodiments, engagement between substantially conical-shaped portion 134 of rotor 112 and surface 130 may cause enough holding resistance to resist further advancement or reverse movement of lever 106, even in light of external influences, such as vibration, inadvertent contact, and the like.
As noted, engagement between substantially conical-shaped portion 134 of rotor 112 and surface 130 helps generate feedback felt by an operator that is applying force to lever 106. This also helps to ensure a constant application of force to lever 106 despite external vibrations and other factors that may be occurring.
Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that embodiments in accordance with the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of ways. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments in accordance with the present invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
