US 11,941,218 B2
Input device with a touchscreen or touchpad and input part with snap haptics located therein
Norbert Bauer, Bad Neustadt (DE); and Thomas Kleffel, Höchberg (DE)
Assigned to PREH GMBH, Bad Neustadt A. D. Saale (DE)
Appl. No. 17/269,309
Filed by PREH GMBH, Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale (DE)
PCT Filed Aug. 27, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/074003
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 18, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/069145, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 15, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2019 126 849.4 (DE), filed on Oct. 7, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0308706 A1, Sep. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. G06F 3/044 (2006.01); G06F 3/01 (2006.01); G06F 3/0362 (2013.01); G06F 3/041 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/0447 (2019.05) [G06F 3/016 (2013.01); G06F 3/0362 (2013.01); G06F 3/0416 (2013.01); G06F 2203/04106 (2013.01); G06F 2203/04108 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An input device, comprising:
a touch-sensitive input surface facing towards an operator (B);
a detection device for spatially resolved detection of an approach towards and touch on the touch-sensitive input surface having a sensor array for capacitive and/or inductive detection, which extends parallel to the input surface;
an input part, which is disposed on the input surface and mounted so as to be movable from a rest position (X0) into an actuation position (XE) along an actuating direction (B1) extending perpendicularly to the input surface, for enabling a performance of an operating input by the operator (B) through a manual displacement of the input part along the actuating direction (B1), the input part further being rotatably mounted so as to be able to rotate around an axis along the actuating direction (B1);
a position indicator for contactless position detection, which is fixed to the input part and cooperates with the detection device; and
restoring means for generating a restoring force (F) with snap haptics counteracting the manual shifting from the rest position (X0) for the input part, wherein the restoring force (F) has a force-path behavior with a local maximum (Fsnap) of the restoring force (F) in between the rest position (X0) and the actuation position (XE) and wherein a characteristic of the snap haptics is a snap time defined by a time interval required for traversing a snap deflection defined by a distance between a first deflection (X1) at which the local maximum (Fsnap) of the restoring force is achieved and a second deflection (X2) at which this maximum is reached again before reaching a maximum deflection of the input part;
wherein the detection device is designed for acquiring a course over time of an approach towards the touch-sensitive input surface by means of a course over time of a sensor signal (Z(t)) of the sensor array and to analyze the course over time of the sensor signal (Z(t)) and/or an associated frequency spectrum, and is further designed to assign a switching or controlling function exclusively if it was found in the preceding analysis that the course over time of the sensor signal (Z(t)) and/or the associated frequency spectrum has characteristics that are predefined by the snap time of the snap haptics.