CA2049281A1 - Automated control device having a multi-element knob - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A control device including a knob made of at least two independently rotatable elements, including a manually operable element and a driven element, the driven element having a position marker, a driver for rotating the further element, a reader for reading an amount which the manually operable element is rotated, and a processor for controlling the driver based upon the reading of the reader.

Description

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~3ACKGROUND OF THF. I`IVENTI.ON~_ In recent years, many electronic appliances, ~oth consumer and pro~essional, have been automated. This means that many functions that are controlled by the use can also be controlled by an'internal program of the appliance. In older non-automated appliances, rotary potentiometers were used to control many functions. Automation o~ a unit requires the use o~ knobs or buttons that allow an automated change of parameters and would also work as manual controls.
Traditional potentiomcters usually cannot be used because they can be set only by an operator. Users are accustomed to a traditional form of a knob as a control device. By turning a knob, a user can increase or decrease the setting of a parameter. An automated control device should work in a ~imilar way, There are several solutions presently being used, all of which have various disadvantages. '~
,.~, One automated design is an array o~' "up and down"
push-buttons, The basic disadvantage o~ the present automated solutions is the inability to indicate the current ~ ' position of the control as is possible with potentiometers.
In traditional potentiometers, the actual position o~ the knob is shown by a marker. This allows the user to determine ' ' how the control is set. Nothing similar is possible with push-buttons, unless an ~d~liti nal display i9 provided, . , '~;~

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` 2049281 ~ Another example o~ an automated control is a motorized potentiometers. A motorized potentio~eter has the disadvantage that a driving mo~or is mechanically coupled with the potentiometer shaft. Therefore, there are two ~-factors determining knob position, namely, the user and the motor. This complicates the additional circuitry and makes the whole product very unreliable and expensive.

A third known design of automated control is a ; ~
rotary multipositioned switch with no mechanical stop, ~: -surrounded by light emitting diodes (~ED). With this control, the user turns the switch and the position of the switch is shown by one of the LEDs, which is activated by associated electronics. This construction has the disadvantages of high cost and inconvenient and unclear reading.
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SUM~1ARY OF THE INVENTION:
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Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control which combines advantages of a traditional knob with an easy automated setting of knob position.

Pursuant to this object, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present inventlon resldes in a control device having a knob made up . ' ; ;.

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- ~ '''' ~ ` 20~9~81 of at least two independently rotatable elements, namely, a knob body and a knob cap. The device further includes a reader and a driver that have coaxial independently revolving shafts, similar to a double-shafted potentiometer. The reader shaft is mechanically coupled to the knob body, while ;
the driver shaft is coupled to the knob cap. ;~

The shafts are freely movable independently o~ each other without mechanical interference therebetween, as are the knob cap and ~nob body.
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The knob body is manually set by an operator, and ; -~
the knob cap has a position marker which shows the operator the "subjective" position of the kno~. The reader reads the actual position or movement of the knob body and sends this data to an electronic circuit. The circuit puts out corresponding data which is read by the driver, which in turn sets the position of the knob cap.

The cap and body have no mechanical stop, i.e., they can revolve without restraint. Data outgoing from the reader is processed by the electronic circuit and may differ rom data incoming to the driver. This means that the movement of cap does not necessarily have to follow the movement of the knob body. It is only the electronic circuit that determines the cap position setting, and it is only the operator who can move the knob body. This separation of '' ~

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funetions of the knob body and the Xnob cap is es~ential for the invention.

The novel features which are considered as ~-characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular :~
in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and adva~tages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

~PIE~ DESC13IPTION 01' THE DF~AWII~GS:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view o~ a control device pursuant to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section along the line II-II of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an exploded vlew of the device of Fig. l;
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Fig. 4 schematically illustrates the flow of data in the devlce;

Figs. 5 - 6b shows various embodiments of the knob and cap; and .
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I Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1, of an additional embodiment of the control device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: ~

Figs. 1 - ~ illustrate a control device having a ~-plastic knob body 2 with an independent cap 1, a reader 3, and a driver 4. The reader 3 is an optical encoder having a ~;
radially striped disk with an opto-electronic device capable o~ reading the movement of the disk and its direction. The knob body 2 is connected with the reader 3 by a shaft 5, and the disk is attached to the shaft 5 so that the reader 3 reads the movement of the ~nob body 2.

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The driver 4 is a miniature stepper motor attached to the cap 1 by a shat 6. A circuit 7 is provided between the reader 3 and the driver 4. The circuit 7 receives data from the reader 3 and feeds corresponding data to the driver 4.

The two element knob can be used for a wide variety of applications, and can be designed in several ways. For example, the cap 1 does not have to be the element moved by the driver 4. As shown in Fig. 6, a ring 8 at the bottom of the knob body 2 can take the place of the cap 1. The ring 8 ~ -can also be situated at any other point along the knob body 2.

20~9281 ~ As Figs. 5 - 5c, 6a and 6b show, a marker 9 is provided on the cap 1 or ring 8 to show position of the knob -:~
capl or ~ing B.

Fig. 7 shows an embodiment having additional knob 10 and additional cap 11 which are respectively connected to a reader 13 and a driver 12 by independent shafts coaxial with shafts 5, 6. Such a multiple arrangement operates on the same principal as that of Fig. 1. ~ :

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: While the lnvention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a control device, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Wlthout further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omltting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention. ;

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected .:
~: by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims, ~

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Claims (4)

1. A control device, comprising:

a knob having at least two independently revolvable elements, including a manually operable element and a driven element, the driven element having a position marker:

reading means for reading an amount which the manually operable element is rotated;

driving means for rotating the driven element; and processor means for controlling said driving means based upon readings of said reading means.

2. A control device as defined in claim 1, wherein the processor means is an electronic circuit.

3. A control device as defined in claim 1, wherein the manually operable element is a knob body, and the driven element is a knob cap.

4. A control device as defined in claim 1, wherein the rotating elements rotate with no mechanical stop.