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US 10,976,827 B2Granted
Input device and method of operating an input device
AssigneeINVENTUS Engineering GmbH
InventorStefan Battlogg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An input device, in particular joystick, with an operating device and a magnetorheological brake device and a controller for activating the brake device. The operating device includes a supporting structure and an operating lever, which is accommodated on the supporting structure for pivoting around at least one pivot axis. The brake device is coupled with the pivot axis for controlled damping of a pivoting motion of the operating lever by way of the controller.
Claims19
An input device, comprising:
- an operating device, said operating device including a supporting structure and an operating lever supported on said supporting structure for pivoting around at least one pivot axis;
- a magnetorheological brake device;
- and
- a controller for activating the brake device
- a sensor unit for detecting a pivot angle of said operating lever;
- wherein said brake device is coupled with said pivot axis, for controlled damping of a pivoting motion of said operating lever by way of said controller;
- and
- wherein said brake device is a magnetorheological transmission equipped with at least two components that are coupled to one another and wherein a coupling intensity can be influenced, wherein at least one channel is formed for influencing the coupling intensity, the channel containing a magnetorheological medium with magnetically polarizable particles, which can be influenced by a magnetic field;
- and
- wherein at least one magnetic field generating unit is provided for generating a magnetic field in the channel in order to influence the magnetorheological medium in the channel using the magnetic field;
- wherein one of said components is an outer component enclosing the other component being an inner component, in that at least one of said two components is mounted via at least one separate bearing, and in that a distance between said outer component and said inner component is at least ten times as great as a typical mean diameter of the magnetically polarizable particles in said magnetorheological medium, and the magnetic field of said magnetic field generating unit can be applied at least partially to the channel, in order to selectively chain together the particles or release a chaining of the particles.
8 more elements
A method for operating an input device, the method comprising:
- pivoting an operating lever of the input device, at least in part manually, about at least one pivot axis, to effect an input into an input receiving unit that is functionally connected with the input device;
- selectively damping and enabling at least one pivoting motion of the operating lever by at least one magnetorheological brake device coupled with the pivot axis;
- wherein the magnetorheological brake device has an outer component and an inner component having at least one channel therebetween containing a magnetorheological medium with magnetically polarizable particles, and wherein a distance between the outer component and the inner component is at least ten times as great as a typical mean diameter of the magnetically polarizable particles in the magnetorheological medium;
- and
- causing a controller to selectively drive the brake device depending on a pivoting angle of the operating lever and/or a time and/or of at least one operating state of the input receiving unit, to perform controlled modification of the damping;
- generating a magnetic field with a field generating unit to influence the magnetorheological medium in the channel, by subjecting the magnetorheological medium in the channel to the magnetic field in order to selectively chain together the particles for damping the pivoting motion of the operating lever or to release a chaining of the particles for enabling the pivoting motion of the operating lever.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.