Patent Grant
10240385
This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/KR2015/011303, filed on Oct. 26, 2015, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0092554, filed on Jun. 29, 2015, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present disclosure in some embodiments relates to a method and an apparatus for controlling and confirming a window position.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and do not necessarily constitute prior art.
Vehicle side windows generally operate in an up-and-down direction by glass regulators, and are divided into a manual type and a power window type.
The window opens and closes with a motor by a switch provided on a door or a console box. When closing up the window glass in the door, a predetermined edge portion of the window glass is brought into tight contact with a sealing strip of rubber attached on an edge portion of the door window. The open/close switch is operated to actuate the window glass with the driving motor which starts and stops as signaled by an ECU.
However, in a typical vehicle window open/close system, one has to keep on pressing a window open/close switch until the window glass reaches a desired position. Further, this requirement to visually confirm when the opening or closing window finally reaches the target position tends to distract the otherwise forward-looking driver on the road from keeping eyes forward, which can direct the driver to a tragic incident.
Therefore, the present disclosure has been made in an effort to effectively resolving the above aspects, and at least one embodiment of the present invention seeks to provide an apparatus for controlling the window position, which obviates the need for continuously pressing the button or switch until the window glass reaches a desired position by using a jog dial or a wheel dial.
Further, at least another embodiment of the present invention seeks to provide a function of sensately confirming the current window position by using a jog dial or a wheel dial, and provide an apparatus for confirming the window position to liberate the user from the requirement to visually check the controlled window elevation.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus for controlling and confirming a window position includes an input dial, a window and a position confirming device. The input dial includes a jog dial or a wheel dial. The input dial is configured to input an input signal in response to a dialing operation by a user. The window is configured to be opened or closed by a magnitude of the input signal inputted by the input dial. The position confirming device is configured to inform the user of a current window position in a tactile manner.
Further, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus for controlling and confirming a window position of a vehicle includes an input dial, a window and a position confirming device. The input dial includes a jog dial or a wheel dial. The input dial is configured to input an input signal in response to a dialing operation by a user. The window is configured to be opened or closed by a magnitude of the input signal inputted by the input dial. The position confirming device is configured to inform the user of a current window position in a tactile manner.
Moreover, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method of controlling and confirming a window position is provided, which includes (A) rotating a jog dial by a user, (B) transmitting a changed displacement value of a dial displacement sensor to a control unit, (C) determining, by the control unit, a difference between a displacement value of the dial displacement sensor and a displacement value of a window displacement sensor, (D) moving a window glass, and (E) stopping movement of the window glass.
According to the present disclosure as described above, a user can operate opening and closing of the window of a vehicle with a single operation of a button or a switch, and hence the button or the switch does not need to be continuously depressed until the window glass reaches the desired position.
Further, according to the present disclosure, the user can confirm the current window position in a tactile manner when the window is opened or closed, and hence the driver can confirm the window position without distracting his or her view while driving the vehicle, which enhances the safety in driving the vehicle.
Hereinafter, at least one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, like reference numerals designate like elements, although the elements are shown in different drawings. Further, in the following description of the at least one embodiment, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted for the purpose of clarity and for brevity.
Additionally, various terms such as first, second, A, B, (i), (ii), (a), (b), etc., are used solely for the purpose of differentiating one component from the other but not to imply or suggest the substances, the order or sequence of the components. Throughout this specification, when a part “includes” or “comprises” a component, the part is meant to further include other components, not excluding thereof unless there is a particular description contrary thereto.
Exemplary method and apparatus for controlling and confirming a window position according to embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The input dial 100 is a type of a jog dial 200 or a type of a scroll wheel of a mouse (hereinafter, a “wheel dial 800”), which is used for a user to give an input to open or close a window. Unlike a conventional type of opening and closing the window based on an input by pressing a button, a dial 410 is rotated to a degree for opening or closing the window to a desired position.
Besides, for the sake of an additional function, the jog dial 200 may be capped with a button top 420 (see
The input through the jog dial 200 is effective to move the window to a desired position with a single operation without needing to continue the input operation until the window reaches that position. Details on the configuration of the jog dial 200 are described below.
The window 140 and the window motor 130 are mechanically linked with each other by a chain, a belt or a gear so that the window 140 is opened or closed with an operation of the window motor 130. When a user rotates the input dial 100, the window motor 130 is driven by an instruction from the control unit 170 which will be described later, to open or close the window 140.
Even with a 1:1 ratio set between the movement range of the window and the rotation range of the input dial, when the jog dial is configured to rotate in a range of 180 degrees as shown in
However, as this is a mere example, the angular range can be set to 270 degrees, 360 degrees, 480 degrees, or the like.
A displacement sensor is a device that measures a distance between the sensor and a subject by detecting a physical change amount of the subject by various devices and converting the change amount into a distance. Some embodiments includes one displacement sensor located on the input dial (hereinafter, a “dial displacement sensor”) and another displacement sensor located on the window motor (hereinafter, a “window displacement sensor”). The displacement sensors may include various types such as a potentiometer, a rotary encoder, a rotary differential transformer, and the like as long as they perform the similar functions.
Therefore, the dial displacement sensor 110 generates changing displacement values in response to a rotation of the jog dial 200, and the window displacement sensor 120 generates changing displacement values or digital data values in response to driving of the window motor 130.
When potentiometers are used for the displacement sensors, a difference in the displacement value is determined based on a difference between variable resistance values. For example, when the dial displacement sensor 110 has a 5-volt default input at an AD (analog-to-digital) 10-bit resolution, the potentiometer output may be 0 volts to 5 volts with an AD conversion result of 0 to 1024. In addition, when the window displacement sensor 120 has the same 5-volt default input at the AD 10-bit resolution, the potentiometer output may be 0 volts to 5 volts with an AD result of 0 to 1024.
Therefore, when the input dial is halfway rotated so that the window moves to its midway position, a potential difference is expressed by 512−512=0 between potentials of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120.
Further, when rotary encoders are used for the dial and window displacement sensors 110, 120, the window position is controlled, for example, based on a difference in incrementing or decrementing encoder outputs between the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 by setting a reference point to 0 and adding +1 when rotating the encoder by angle 1 of a designated degree in the positive direction and adding −1 when rotating the encoder by angle 1 in the negative direction.
The position confirming device 160 is a device with which the user can confirm the degree of opening or closing the window 140 by the sense of touch when the window 140 is moved by an input from the user. The position confirming device 160 includes an external bump or protrusion 220 for the user to recognize by the sense of touch.
Therefore, when the window 140 moves, the protrusion 220 moves by a ratio of an actually traveled distance of the window 140 to the whole movable range thereof. Therefore, the user is informed of the traveled distance or the position to which the window has traveled in a tactile manner by touching the protrusion 220 with a hand.
The position confirming device 160 is driven by the servo motor 150. With an instruction from the control unit 170, the servo motor 150 is driven to move the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160.
The position confirming device 160 has its protrusion 220 located adjacent to the input dial 100 to be accessed by the hand of the dial user, in order to facilitate the dial user perceiving the window position immediately.
Therefore, when the input dial 100 is implemented by the jog dial 200, the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160 is allowed to move semicircularly in parallel with the outline of the jog dial 200. In the case of the wheel dial 800 (see
An entire moving range of the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160 has a 1:1 correspondence to an entire moving range of the window driven by the window motor 130. Therefore, as shown in
The servo motor 150, not only operates to move the position confirming device 160, but also serves to rotate the dial 410 of the jog dial 200 in response to the user stopping to drive the window motor by pressing the button top 420 (see
The servo motor 150 can be substituted with a different type of DC motor so long as the DC motor performs the same function to move the position confirming device 160 or to rotate the jog dial 200.
Further, the position confirming device 160 can be mechanically driven by a mechanism as shown in
The control unit 170 is electrically connected to the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120, and determines a difference or discrepancy between displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 based on potential difference values stored in the database 180. In some embodiments, as shown in
When there occurs a discrepancy between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 by an input from the jog dial 200, the control unit 170 drives the window motor 130 to eliminate the displacement discrepancy.
However, the displacement discrepancy is not necessarily zeroed between the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120. When the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 have default displacement values with non-zero discrepancies therebetween owing to their respective voltage or resistance ratings different from each other, the database 180 can prestore potential difference values at a discrepancy ratio of the displacement values of the two sensors, and the window motor 130 can be driven based on the stored potential difference values in the database 180.
When the window is moved by driving the window motor 130, the control unit 170 controls to drive the servo motor 150 for moving the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160 in proportion to the window movement.
However, when the user presses the button top 420 of the jog dial 200 while the servo motor 150 is being driven, the driving of the window motor 130 is stopped, and the non-zero displacement discrepancy in this case between the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 is zeroed by engaging the control unit 170 in driving the servo motor 150 to rotate the dial 410 of the jog dial 200. In this case as well, the position confirming device 160 moves in proportion to the window movement.
As shown in
The dial 410 is a rotating circumferential surface of the input dial 100 in a cylindrical shape. The dial 410 is configured to rotate in a range of 180 degrees in the clockwise direction or in the counterclockwise direction by a user operation. The varying rotational degree determines the corresponding displacement value and in turn the input signal, and the dial 410 makes no automatic return but remains in position once moved by the user's rotation.
On top of the dial 410, the button top 420 is linked internally with the button switch 510 so that a depression by the user of the button top 420 is transferred to the button switch 510 which then transmits a signal to the control unit 170 for causing the control unit 170 to issue an instruction for stopping the window motor 130.
This is effective for the user to stop driving the window by pressing the button top 420 when the user so decides during the driving of the window such as at the time of emergency, or when the window 140 moves farther than desired by the user.
The dial 410 and the button top 420 are configured to be independent from each other, and hence even when the user rotates the dial 410, the button top 420 is not rotated.
The jog dial 200 includes the joint 530 disposed centrally thereof. The joint 530 recognizes a particular direction of pushing the jog dial 200, which can be used to control a specific window, which will be described below.
The jog dial 200 may further include one or more lamps 430. The lamp 430 is provided on the button top 420. The button top 420 includes a transparent planar portion incorporating an LED 520 which can be turned on under certain condition.
The lamp 430 is turned on or flashes when the jog dial 200 is moved or the window 140 is moved, to indicate the status of the jog dial 200 or the operational status of the window 140.
When controlling specific one of windows, a plurality of lamps is provided and the lamps are distinguished from each other by different colors.
With reference to
However, the left and right side areas of the position confirming device 160 and the dial displacement sensor 110 are not fixed, and hence the areas can be interchanged, and the areas can each occupy the entire 360-degree range set at one of two different elevations.
In the description of the wheel dial 800, the dial 410, the protrusion 220, and the like having similar functions to those in the jog dial 200 are assigned with the same reference numerals, as with other configurations described below.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
However, the jog dial 200 and the wheel dial 800 are commonly operated to generate angular displacements with the displacement differences providing a basis for operating the window motor 130. Therefore, in the similar manner to the jog dial 200, the wheel dial 800 rotates in a range between 0 degrees and 180 degrees.
In this case, the position confirming device 160 is provided in a linear shape, unlike the jog dial 200, and the protrusion 220 moves along the straight line to indicate the position of the window. The protrusion 220 moves back and forth as much as the ratio of travelled distance of the window in the up-and-down direction. This enables the user to determine the current window position by the sense of touch with the position confirming device 160.
The jog dial 200 shown in
Further, the jog dial 200 according to this embodiment of the present invention returns to its original position after the user rotated the dial by a predetermined angle, and hence the center protrusion always maintains its direction Q1 toward the center.
For example, rotating the center protrusion 910 to position Q2 moves the window from any current position to a 60% closed state, and then the center protrusion 910 returns to the position Q1. In the similar manner, a rotation to Q3 makes the window 80% closed, a rotation to Q5 makes the window 25% closed, a rotation to Q4 makes the window 100% closed, a rotation to Q6 makes the window 100% opened, and after each dial rotation, the center protrusion 910 returns to the position Q1.
Specifically, with a 5-volt default input at the AD 10-bit resolution, the potentiometer output becomes 0 volts to 5 volts, and the AD result becomes 0 to 1024. With the automatic return functionality, the value of the position Q1 is the default value of 512, and hence nonoperational values are set to range from 502 to 522, the operational range becomes 0 to 501 and 523 to 1024, and the value for when the window is at its midway position becomes 501 or 523.
In this manner, the user can reposition the window, and perform a fine adjustment with a degree of rotation of the dial.
The configuration of a wheel dial shown in
In the similar manner to the jog dial shown in
Similarly, rotating the center protrusion to position Q2 moves the window from any current position to a 60% closed state, and then the center protrusion 910 returns to the position Q1. In the similar manner, a rotation to Q3 makes the window 80% closed, a rotation to Q5 makes the window 25% closed, a rotation to Q4 makes the window 100% closed, Q6 makes the window 100% opened, and after each dial rotation, the center protrusion 910 returns to the position Q1.
An apparatus for controlling a plurality of windows by using the above-mentioned jog dial or wheel dial is described below.
In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in
The following describes an input device for controlling each window at a vehicle driver seat by using the apparatus for opening/closing the window and for confirming the window position according to some embodiments of the present invention.
As shown in
The single jog dial 200 for this controllability has such a small footprint as to be installed even in a narrow space which secures more driver's space.
In some embodiments of the present invention, controlling the front side windows is performed by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction W, and controlling the two right windows is performed by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction Z. In the similar manner, the two left windows can be controlled by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction Y, and the rear side windows can be controlled by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction X.
When controlling a single window, the front right window can be controlled by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction W and then in the direction Z, the rear right window can be controlled by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction X and then in the direction Z, and the rear left window can be controlled by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction X and then in the direction Y. In the similar manner, the front left window can be controlled by pushing the jog dial 200 in the direction W and then in the direction Y.
The driver's side window can be made easier to operate for its frequent use by the driver, and for a left-hand drive vehicle configuration, the front left window may be set to be exclusively controlled without initially pushing the jog dial in any direction. A right-hand drive vehicle may be configured in the similar manner that the front right window is set to be exclusively controlled unless the jog dial 200 is initially pushed in any direction.
Further, a centralized control of all the windows can be achieved by pushing the jog dial in the direction W two consecutive times to engage all windows, whereas the selection of all the windows is canceled by pushing the jog dial in the direction X two consecutive times or in the direction W three consecutive times, to reinstate the driver side window control.
The jog dial 200 further includes a controllable-window indicator. The controllable-window indicator is a device, including a lamp or a vibrator for indicating a specific window if it is controllable.
The controllability is notified to the user when the jog dial 200 is pushed to control one more windows as described above, by way of a particular local lamp turned on or a vibrator generating vibrations.
In the case of vibrator indication of the controllable window, an event of pushing the jog dial 200 to control two windows generates two short vibrations, and an event of pushing the jog dial 200 to control a single window generates one short vibration. Further, an event of pushing the jog dial 200 for a centralized control of all the windows generates one long vibration.
In the case of lamp indication, four lamps may be installed, such as a lamp M assigned to the left front window, a lamp N to the right front window, a lamp O to the left rear window, and a lamp P to the right rear window so that the respective windows controlled are highlighted by the corresponding lamps lit.
Therefore, when controlling two or more windows, the corresponding two or more lamps are turned on.
The user discerns the actual window or windows engaged by the indication of lamp lights or vibrations for subsequent control by the input of jog dial 200.
In a variation shown in
A method is described below for opening/closing the window and confirming the window position according to some embodiments of the present invention.
In the present embodiment of the method for controlling and confirming a window position, the initial condition has zero difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 (Step S100). This respresents a zero difference of displacement before the jog dial 200 is operated, where the displacement value of the dial displacement sensor 110 is the same as that of the window displacement sensor 120.
The user rotates the jog dial 200 (Step S200). The user rotates the jog dial 200 to open or close the window. The jog dial 200 can be rotated in the range between 0 degrees and 180 degrees. The user rotates the jog dial 200 by the amount corresponding to a desired position to move the window 140.
The changed displacement value of the dial displacement sensor is transferred to the control unit (Step S300). That is, as the displacement value of the dial displacement sensor 110 is changed with the rotation of the jog dial 200, the changed displacement value is transferred to the control unit 170.
In this case, the jog dial 200 has the rotatable range of 180 degrees, which is set proportionally equivalent to the whole movable range of the window 140 between the complete window closure where the position confirming device 160 is set to be at the 180-degree position and a full window opening where the position confirming device 160 is set to be at the 0-degree position.
The control unit 170 determines the difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 (Step S400). The control unit 170 utilizes potential difference values stored in the database as a basis for the determining of the difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120. This is to figure out a moving range of the window 140 from the displacement value difference.
The window is operated (Step S500). In response to a difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120, the window motor 130 is driven to operate the window 140. The window motor 130 is driven while changing the displacement value of the window displacement sensor 120 until there is no difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120.
The window 140 is stopped (Step S600). When there is zero difference between the displacement value resulting from driving the window motor 130 and measured by the window displacement sensor 120 and the displacement value measured by the dial displacement sensor 110, the window motor 130 and thus the window is stopped.
With the above-mentioned steps, the user does not need to keep on pressing the input switch button until the window 140 moves to a desired position, which provides the user with the operating convenience of the window.
The position confirming device 160 moves in Step S700. Following an instruction from the control unit 170, the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160 moves by the proportion the window actually moved to its full range of operation. The position confirming device 160 is driven by a servo motor 440, and the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160 moves semicircularly or linearly in parallel with the input dial 100.
The position confirming device 160 can move after or concurrently with the movement of the window 140.
Therefore, the user can figure out the degree of opening the window 140 requiring no visual aid but just the sense of touching the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160, keeping the driver's view unobstructed to secure a safety driving.
The method of opening/closing the window and confirming the window position with further pressing the button top according to some embodiments of the present invention includes pressing the button top 420 while the window motor is being driven (Step S800). When the window 140 is caused to move more than desired, the user can press the button top 420 to stop the window motor 130 immediately without needing to wait until the window 140 completes its operation before restarting to rotate the jog dial 200.
The window is stopped in Step S900. The user can press the button top 420 of the jog dial 200 to override further operation of the window motor 130 in response to the difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120, which stops the window motor 130 and thus the window.
Thereafter, the control unit 170 determines whether or not there is a difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 (Step S1000). This step is needed to determine if the displacement value difference is “0” because the window motor 130 was stopped while the displacement value of the window displacement sensor 120 is changed.
A rotation of the jog dial 200 is performed in Step S1100. When the difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 is not “0”, it needs to be zeroed.
The stopped window motor 130 fixes the displacement value of the window displacement sensor 120, and therefore the jog dial 200 is rotated to change the displacement value of the dial displacement sensor 110 until the displacement value difference becomes zero. In this case, the jog dial 200 is rotated by driving the servo motor 440.
The position confirming device 160 is moved in Step S700. When the difference between the displacement values of the dial displacement sensor 110 and the window displacement sensor 120 becomes “0”, the protrusion 220 of the position confirming device 160 moves by the ratio of the actual movement in the whole movable range of the window by an instruction from the control unit 170.
The position confirming device 160 is driven by the servo motor 440, through which the user can figure out the moved position of the window 140.
The method of opening/closing the window and confirming the window position with an additional designation of a window by the jog dial 200 may include specifying a specific window (Step S120). A window to be moved is determined by pushing the jog dial 200 rather than rotating the dial 410 of the jog dial 200.
The window 140 can be determined in the same way as in the embodiments described above.
Thereafter, in some embodiments, the method includes confirming the specified window (Step S140). This can be confirmed by using lamps and a vibrating unit. When the user slides the jog dial 200 to determine a window to be controlled, the vibrating unit provides a vibration or a lamp oriented to the specified window is turned on to inform the user of the specific window ready to be controlled.
In some embodiments, the method further includes moving the position confirming device 160 (Step S160). With every window having different opening/closing status, the user can be informed in this step of the state of the window specified to control.
The position confirming device moves by the opening amount of the specified window to inform the user of the current window position of the specified window.
As shown in
Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the idea and scope of the claimed invention. It should be understood that the scope of the invention is interpreted by the claims, and that all technical ideas identical or equal to the claims and equivalents thereof are within the scope of the present invention.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C § 119(a) of Patent Application No. 10-2015-0092554, filed on Jun. 29, 2015 in Korea, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition, this non-provisional application claims priority in countries, other than the U.S., with the same reason based on the Korean patent application, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2015-0092554 | Jun 2015 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2015/011303 | 10/26/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017/003035 | 1/5/2017 | WO | A |
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| 2000-0006704 | Apr 2000 | KR |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170268281 A1 | Sep 2017 | US |
