# US 2014/0197938 A1 · Operator control device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0197938 A1 - Document ID: US20140197938A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/239,008 - Filed: 2012-08-01 - Published: 2014-07-17 - Earliest claimed: 2011-08-17 - Assignees: Continental Automotive GmbH - Inventors: Alexander Thorsten Kern; Ingo Zoller - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140197938A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/016: {Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user} - G06F 3/03547: {Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract An operator control device has an operating element with haptic feedback. The operating element has a touch-sensitive operator control area and is operated through an input element. The device includes a first and a stationary second flat component that are composed of a ferromagnetic material and arranged to face each other in parallel by way of their large areas. The operator control device also includes a coil or an electrical conductor that is arranged between the first and second flat components and associated with a first pole shoe that is connected to the second flat component and projects in relation to the first flat component. A magnetic field can be generated by applying current to the coil or to the conductor, and the first flat component is driven by the magnetic field such that the first flat component can be displaced horizontally with respect to the stationary second flat component. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-13. (canceled) ### Claim 14 An operator control device having an operating element with haptic feedback, the operating element having a touch-sensitive operator control area and being operated by an operator through an input element, the operator control device comprising: a first flat component and a stationary second flat component that are composed of a ferromagnetic material and arranged to face each other in parallel by way of their large areas, wherein the first flat component can be driven to be displaced horizontally with respect to the stationary second flat component, and wherein the first flat component forms the operator control element or transmits movement of the operator control element entirely or partially to the operator control element; and a coil or an electrical conductor that is arranged between the first and second flat components and associated with a first pole shoe that is connected to the second flat component and projects in relation to the first flat component, wherein a magnetic field can be generated by applying current to the coil or to the conductor, wherein the first flat component is driven by the magnetic field such that the first flat component can be displaced horizontally with respect to the stationary second flat component from an inoperative position to a displacement position, wherein the first flat component is connected to a second pole shoe that projects toward the second flat component, and wherein the second pole shoe is laterally offset in relation to the first pole shoe in the direction of extent of the first and second flat components in the inoperative position of the first flat component. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein a plurality of first pole shoes are connected to the second flat component, and wherein each of the plurality of first pole shoes is associated with an electrical conductor and corresponding second pole shoes, which are connected to the first flat component. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein there exists an axial distance between the free end of the first pole shoe and the free end of the second pole shoe. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the end face of the first pole shoe faces the end face of the second pole shoes, wherein the end faces of the first and second pole shoes do not overlap or overlap by way of less than half of their extent in the direction of movement of the first flat component in the inoperative position of the first flat component, and overlap to a greater extent in the displacement position of the first flat component than in the inoperative position. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the first pole shoe projects by such an extent in relation to the first flat component and the second pole shoe projects by such an extent from the second flat component that the free end regions of the first pole shoe and of the second pole shoe are situated opposite to each other and at a distance in the direction of movement of the first flat component. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the end faces of the first and second pole shoes, which end faces are situated opposite to each other, extend parallel in relation to each other. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the end faces of the first and second pole shoes, which end faces are situated opposite to each other, extend parallel to the planes of the first and the second flat components. ### Claim 21 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the end faces of the first and second pole shoes, which end faces are situated opposite to each other, extend in an inclined manner in relation to the planes of the first and the second flat components. ### Claim 22 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the first flat component can be driven such that it can be displaced horizontally with respect to the stationary second flat component from the inoperative position to the displacement position against a spring force. ### Claim 23 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein a pair of first pole shoes are arranged at a distance from each other in the direction of movement of the first flat component, a second pole shoe or a pair of second pole shoes projecting between said first pole shoes, wherein the second pole shoe or the pair of second pole shoes are arranged between the pair of first pole shoes such that the second pole shoes can be moved between the inoperative position and the displacement position, and wherein two coils or electrical conductors to which current can be alternately applied are associated with each pair of first pole shoes. ### Claim 24 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the coil surrounds the first pole shoe. ### Claim 25 (depends on 14) The operator control device of claim 14, wherein the first and the second pole shoes extend transverse to the direction of movement and parallel to the first flat component, and wherein the electrical conductor is guided along the longitudinal extent of the first pole shoe. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The operator control device of claim 25, wherein a plurality of first pole shoes are designed in the manner of a comb with a connecting element which extends in the direction of movement of the first flat component and connects the one ends of the first pole shoes to one another, wherein the electrical conductor extends in a meandering manner through the interspaces between the first pole shoes, wherein a corresponding number of second pole shoes are associated with the first pole shoes, and wherein the second pole shoes are designed in the manner of a comb with a connecting element which extends in the direction of movement of the first flat component and connects the one ends of the second pole shoes to one another.