CN112526330A - Switch detection method and switch detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a switch position detection apparatus, a switch having M switch positions, and each switch position having a corresponding measurement value threshold range, the apparatus comprising: a measurement module configured to output measurement values belonging to different measurement value threshold ranges when the switch is in respective switch positions; a controller configured to: acquiring a measured value of a switch; determining the switch position of the switch according to the measured value and the measured value threshold range corresponding to each switch position in the M switch positions; and updating the measurement value threshold value range corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measurement value, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the measurement value threshold value ranges corresponding to different switch positions are not overlapped with each other, and the measurement value threshold value ranges comprise a high threshold value and a low threshold value.

Description

Switch detection method and switch detection device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of detection, and more particularly, to a switch detection method and a switch detection apparatus.

Background

At present, the application market of the switch is wider, and the market demand is continuously expanded. Switches are widely used in various fields, such as ignition switches, combination light switches (including light control switches, fog light switches, turn signal light switches), wiper and washer switches, air conditioner control switches, window control switches, and door control switches in the automotive field.

These switches typically have two or more shift positions (switch positions) and different operations can be controlled by switching the switch between switch positions, e.g., for an air conditioning control switch, the switch corresponds to different degrees of cooling/heating operation in different positions. Therefore, the switch position needs to be detected to determine the operation to be performed at that time.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a switch position detection method, the switch having M switch positions, and each switch position having a corresponding measurement value threshold range, the method comprising obtaining a measurement value of the switch; determining the switch position of the switch according to the measurement value and the measurement value threshold range corresponding to each switch position in the M switch positions; updating the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value; wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and measurement value threshold ranges for different switch positions, including a high threshold and a low threshold, do not overlap each other.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the switch is a sliding switch, the sliding switch includes a conductive slider and M pads, the conductive slider slides between different pads to perform switching, and the M pads correspond to the M switch positions.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, determining the switch position of the switch according to the measurement value and the measurement value threshold range corresponding to each of the M switch positions includes: for each of the M switch positions, comparing the measurement value to a measurement value threshold range corresponding to that switch position; and determining that the switch is in the switch position if the measurement is within a measurement threshold range of the switch position.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the degree of wear of the switch at each switch position increases gradually as the number of switching times of the switch increases, and for each of the M switch positions, the measured value when the switch is in that switch position also increases gradually as the degree of wear at that switch position increases; wherein updating the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value comprises: the high and low thresholds of the range of measurement values threshold for the determined switch position are dynamically updated according to increasing measurement values when the switch is in the determined switch position, such that the corresponding high and low thresholds increase with increasing degree of wear at the switch position.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the method further comprises storing the measurement values as historical measurement values of the determined switch position, wherein a measurement value fitting curve of the determined switch position is determined from the measurement values and other historical measurement values of the determined switch position; fitting a curve according to the measured values, and determining a measured value high threshold value curve and a measured value low threshold value curve of the determined switch position; and determining a high threshold and a low threshold of the updated measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position according to the measured value high threshold curve and the measured value low threshold curve so as to determine the updated measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein for each of the M switch positions, the measured value fitting curve of the switch position also has a gradually rising trend as the degree of wear at the switch position increases.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further comprises: reporting an error when the measurement value is outside of a measurement value threshold range corresponding to each of the M switch positions.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further comprises: comparing the measured value with a preset limit value; in the event that the measured value exceeds the preset limit value, it is determined that the switch wear is too great.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further comprises: after updating the determined measurement value threshold range of the switch position, determining the closeness degree of the updated measurement value threshold range and the measurement value threshold ranges of other switch positions; and determining that the switch is abraded to an excessive extent if the proximity is less than a preset proximity.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a switch position detection apparatus, the switch being switched between M positions and each switch position having a corresponding measurement value threshold range, the apparatus comprising: a measurement module configured to output measurement values belonging to different measurement value threshold ranges when the switch is in respective positions; a controller configured to perform the switch position detection method described above.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the claimed technology.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in more detail embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the attached drawings. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure and not to limit the disclosure. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally represent like parts or steps.

1A-1B schematically illustrate example structures of a switch detection system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of wear of the switch after a plurality of switching operations in the switch detection system shown in FIG. 1B;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a threshold range of measurement values and a variation curve of the measurement values at one switch position of the switch as the number of switching times of the switch increases in the switch detection system shown in FIG. 1B;

4A-4B schematically illustrate a flow chart of a switch detection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

5A-5B schematically illustrate graphs of measured value threshold ranges that increase with increasing switch switching times and the measured value threshold ranges for two switch positions are getting closer together when a switch detection method according to an embodiment of the disclosure is employed;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a measurement threshold range and a measurement variation curve at two switch positions as the number of switch toggles increases when a switch detection method according to an embodiment of the disclosure is employed; and

fig. 7A-7B schematically illustrate a measurement threshold range and a variation curve of the measurement at two switch positions as the number of switching times increases when a further switch detection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is employed.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely exemplary of some, and not all, of the present disclosure. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments disclosed herein without any inventive step, are intended to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1A-1B schematically illustrate the structure of a switch detection system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 schematically shows an example in which the switch is worn out after a plurality of switching operations in the switch detection system shown in fig. 1B. Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a measurement value threshold range and a change curve of the measurement value at one switching position of the switch as the number of switching times increases in the switch detection system shown in fig. 1A-1B.

As shown in fig. 1A, the switch detection system includes a switch S1 and a switch detection device 100, wherein the switch detection device 100 is composed of a measurement module 101 and a controller 102.

The switch S1 can be switched between a plurality of switch positions, and when the switch is in different switch positions, the measurement module 101 in the switch detection apparatus 100 outputs the measurement values belonging to different measurement value threshold ranges to the controller 102, and the controller 102 determines the different switch positions where the switch is located according to the measurement values belonging to the different measurement value threshold ranges. The controller includes, but is not limited to, a Micro Control Unit (MCU).

More specifically, the controller 102 first sets in advance a measurement value threshold range corresponding to each switch position of the switch, respectively, according to the structure of the measurement module and the parameter and empirical data, resulting in a plurality of measurement value threshold ranges, and the measurement value threshold ranges corresponding to different switch positions do not overlap each other with a predetermined gap. Each measurement threshold range includes a high threshold and a low threshold. The controller acquires the measured value after each switching operation of the switch, and since the controller formed by the MCU or other processing module can only process digital signals, the acquired measured value is usually converted into a digital measured value (hereinafter referred to as the measured value for convenience of description) by an analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) process. Then, the measured value is compared with a plurality of preset measured value threshold value ranges, so that the measured value is determined to be in the measured value threshold value range corresponding to the switch position, and the switch position of the switch is determined. Further, if it is determined that the obtained measurement value does not belong to any one of the preset threshold ranges of the plurality of measurement values, that is, the controller 102 cannot determine which position the switch is switched to based on the obtained measurement value, at this time, the controller 102 may determine that there is an error in the switch detection system, such as improper switching operation, short circuit of the switch, poor contact, external interference, and the like, and optionally perform a warning and/or stop the switch detection system.

Fig. 1B also schematically shows the specific structure of the switch S1 and the switch detection device 100 for the purpose of more clearly describing the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other configurations of the switch S1 and the switch detection device 100 are possible, as long as the switch S1 has multiple switch positions and the measurement module 101 in the switch detection device 100 is capable of outputting measurement values that fall within different measurement value threshold ranges when the switch is in different switch positions. As shown in fig. 1B, the switch S1 may include a conductive slider, a plurality of pads (two pads in the figure) physically separated from each other, and a common ground pad, one pad corresponding to one switch position, and the conductive slider may connect one pad with the ground pad when staying at the pad, wherein a path formed when the conductive slider is connected between the pad and the ground pad has a resistance (including a contact resistance of the conductive slider with the pad and an on-resistance of the conductive slider itself), and a surface of the pad has conductive grease to facilitate sliding of the conductive slider. The measurement module 101 in the switch detection apparatus 100 includes a series resistor branch and an analog-to-digital conversion module (an analog-to-digital conversion part is omitted in fig. 1B), one end of the series resistor branch is connected to a power supply, and the other end is grounded, except that a first node from top to bottom between resistors in the series resistor branch is used as an output end output measurement value of the measurement module 101, other nodes are respectively connected to two pads, and when the conductive slider slides to different pads, the measurement module 101 can output a measurement value belonging to one of two preset measurement value threshold ranges corresponding to the two pads (switch positions) to the controller. The controller can receive the measured values belonging to different measured value threshold ranges output from the measuring module 101 when the conductive slider slides to different pads, and determine different switch positions where the switch is located according to the measured values belonging to different measured value threshold ranges. It is to be understood that the number of pads (switch positions) is not limited to two as shown in fig. 1B, and may be set according to actual circumstances.

However, the switch is worn after a plurality of switching operations. Taking the structure of the switch S1 shown in fig. 1B as an example, as the switching times of the switch increase, as shown in fig. 2, the degree of wear of the conductive slider and the pad gradually increases, which results in the contact resistance between them gradually increasing, and the particles caused by the wear are mixed with the conductive grease on the surface of the pad, which also results in the contact resistance increasing. The increase in contact resistance causes the measured value of the switch at the same pad (switch position) of the conductive slider to gradually shift from the theoretical value, where the measured value of the switch at contact resistance 0 is present. Furthermore, if the acquisition process of the measured value also includes analog-to-digital conversion, factors such as the resistance and the accuracy of the analog-to-digital converter also cause analog-to-digital conversion/measurement errors (hereinafter referred to as measurement errors) and also interfere with the measured value acquired by the controller to a certain extent, so that the measured value of the contact resistance-invariant switch may fluctuate slightly even if the conductive slider is at the same pad, but the influence is relatively small and does not affect the overall tendency of the measured value to vary with the contact resistance. As shown in fig. 3, for each switch position, the measured values are also generally increasing with increasing switch wear (contact resistance) as the number of switching times increases, with only small fluctuations.

Thus, for each switch position, due to the effects of the progressively increasing degree of switch wear (contact resistance) and measurement error, the measured value obtained by the controller as shown in fig. 3 may deviate from the pre-set threshold range of measured values corresponding to that switch position (the high and low thresholds of the threshold range of measured values are denoted in fig. 3 as FTH and FTL), but the switch may still be usable at that time. Since the controller will determine that there is an error in the switch detection system in this case, as previously described, the life cycle of the switch detection system is shortened. Furthermore, the measured value may even erroneously fall within another measured value threshold range corresponding to other switch positions, which may result in incorrect switch positions detected by the controller, resulting in erroneous operation.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present disclosure proposes an improved switch detection method and apparatus capable of correctly detecting a switch position while extending a life cycle of a switch detection system in the presence of the influence of switch wear (contact resistance) and measurement error, which gradually increase with an increase in the number of switching times of the switch, and as a further improvement, also capable of detecting whether the switch wear is excessive, thereby optionally stopping the switch detection system.

A switch detection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to fig. 4A-4B. Fig. 4A-4B schematically illustrate a flow diagram of a switch detection method 400 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, where a switch has M switch positions, M being an integer greater than or equal to 2, and each switch position has a corresponding measurement value threshold range.

Alternatively, the switch detection method 400 may be performed using the controller 102 in the switch detection apparatus 100 as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B.

Alternatively, in the switch detection method 400, the description has been made taking as an example that at each switch position, the measurement value of the switch (if the fluctuation caused by the measurement error is not taken into consideration) becomes larger as the degree of wear at the switch position becomes larger. However, this is merely exemplary, and by appropriately configuring the measurement module, the measurement value of the switch may also be made smaller as the degree of wear at the switch position becomes larger, which is not limited by the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 4A, in step 401, a measurement of a switch is obtained.

In particular, the measured values of the switches are obtained by the measurement module, and the measured values of the switches output by the measurement module belong to different measured value threshold ranges for different switch positions.

Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the measured value of the switch at each switch position is also associated with the degree of wear of the switch at that switch position and the measurement error.

Optionally, the switch is a sliding switch comprising a conductive slider and M pads, the conductive slider sliding between different pads to perform switching, and the M pads corresponding to the M switch positions.

At step 402, the switch positions of the switches are determined based on the measurement and the measurement threshold ranges corresponding to each of the M switch positions.

Specifically, for each of the M switch positions, the measurement value is compared to a measurement value threshold range corresponding to the switch position, and the switch is determined to be in the switch position if the measurement value is within the measurement value threshold range corresponding to the switch position.

Optionally, after obtaining the measurement value, decoding and anti-shaking operations are first performed on the measurement value, so as to obtain a relatively stable value having a standard form.

In step 403, the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position is updated based on the measured value.

Specifically, since as described earlier, the degree of wear of the switch gradually increases as the number of times the switch is switched increases, and for each of the M switch positions, the measurement value output by the measurement module when the switch is in that switch position also gradually increases as the degree of wear at that switch position increases, the high and low thresholds of the measurement value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position are dynamically updated according to the gradually increasing measurement value when the switch is in the determined switch position, such that the corresponding high and low thresholds increase as the degree of wear at that switch position increases.

Further, storing the measurement as a historical measurement of the determined switch position; then, from this measured value, and other historical measured values of this switch position, a measured value fitting curve of the determined switch position is determined, wherein the measured value fitting curve of the switch position can be generated by means of, for example, an adaptive algorithm; fitting a curve according to the measured values, and determining a high threshold value curve and a low threshold value curve of the switch position; based on the high and low threshold curves, updated high and low thresholds for the switch position are determined to determine an updated measurement value threshold range for the switch position. Alternatively, the interval between the high threshold curve and the low threshold curve and the measurement fitting curve may be always maintained at half the absolute value of the difference of the high and low thresholds (e.g., fixed high and low thresholds FH1 and FL1 in fig. 3) of the preset threshold range. This is merely exemplary and other ways may be used by those skilled in the art to update the threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position based on the measured value, such that the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the switch position becomes larger as the measured value becomes larger.

By the switch detection method, for each switch position, the measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position is updated iteratively according to the measured value when the switch is switched to the switch position, so that the measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position is enlarged along with the enlargement of the measured value, and therefore, under the condition that the switch wear is gradually enlarged, normal switch switching operation and switch position detection operation can be continued, and the life cycle of the switch detection system is prolonged.

Further, in some embodiments, for each switch position, the measurement threshold range corresponding to the switch position becomes larger as the measurement value at the switch position becomes larger, so that the obtained measurement value almost falls within the measurement threshold range corresponding to the switch position, and thus there may be a case where the degree of wear of the switch at the switch position is already large but the switch detection system is still operating; in addition, the wear rates at the respective switch positions may be different, so that the variation range of the measurement value when the switch is at the respective switch positions is different, so that the threshold ranges of the measurement values corresponding to the respective switch positions may be closer and closer, and even the switch positions may not be distinguished or the respective switch positions may not be easily distinguished.

The switch detection system can be manually stopped and the switch replaced, usually depending on the application and experience, after the switch has been used for a period of time, or after the user has found a problem with the switch, or for some switches, by determining that the switch is worn too much through its appearance.

However, such methods are too user-dependent and may be replaced after a problem with the switch, with serious consequences, or the switch may be replaced while still in use, causing waste.

In this regard, the further switch detection method 400 of the disclosed embodiment may also include the following steps, as shown in fig. 4B, to replace the general manner described above.

After step 401, a step 4011 is added. In step 4011, the measured value is compared with a preset limit value, and in the event that the measured value exceeds the preset limit value, the method passes to step 404 to determine that the switch wear is excessive.

If, on the other hand, the measured value does not exceed the preset limit value, steps 402 and 403 continue as previously described.

Alternatively, the preset limit value may be set empirically or in the following manner: for a switch position of a measurement value threshold range having a maximum high threshold value and a maximum low threshold value when the measurement value threshold range is set in advance, a measurement value of the switch under the assumption that an allowable maximum degree of wear (for example, a known allowable maximum contact resistance) exists at the switch position is calculated in advance in accordance with various parameters of the switch detection system, and the preset limit value is set to a value not less than the calculated measurement value in advance.

After the updating of the measured value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position is performed at step 403, the proximity of the updated measured value threshold range to the measured value threshold ranges corresponding to other switch positions is then determined at step 405.

At step 406, the determined proximity is compared to a preset proximity. This step 405-406 is further described below with reference to FIGS. 5A-5B.

Fig. 5A-5B schematically show schematic curves of measured value threshold ranges that increase with increasing switch switching times and the measured value threshold ranges for two switch positions get closer together, when a switch detection method according to an embodiment of the disclosure is employed.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 5A, the proximity to each other may be obtained by comparing the difference between the updated measurement value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position and the high threshold value of the measurement value threshold range corresponding to the adjacent switch position (the difference between the second high threshold value VH2 and the first high threshold value VH1 in fig. 5B) or the difference between the low threshold values (the difference between the second low threshold value VL2 and the first low threshold value VL 1) which has a greater high and low threshold value than the updated measurement value threshold range, and comparing the obtained proximity with the preset proximity. In this case, the preset proximity may be a predetermined proportion (e.g., 70%) of the difference between the high threshold and the low threshold of the preset measurement value threshold range therebetween.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5B, the proximity to each other may be obtained by comparing the difference between the determined switch position corresponding high threshold of the updated measurement value threshold range (e.g., first high threshold VH1 in FIG. 5B) and the adjacent switch position corresponding low threshold of the measurement value threshold range (e.g., second low threshold VL2 in FIG. 5B) having a greater high threshold than the updated measurement value threshold range. In this case, the preset proximity may be a predetermined proportion (e.g., 20%) of the interval between the preset threshold ranges of measurement values therebetween.

If it is determined at step 406 that the proximity is less than the preset proximity, the method proceeds to step 404 where the switch is determined to be worn to an excessive extent, and if it is determined at step 406 that the proximity is not less than the preset proximity, it is determined that the switch is still worn and the switch can still switch normally.

The process of performing the above-described switch detection method is described below by way of a detailed example.

Assuming that the switch is factory-new, where all M switch positions are considered as not worn, each of the M switch positions has an initial threshold range of measurement values (TH)₁₁,TL₁₁)、(TH₁₂,TL₁₂)…(TH_1M,TL_1M) Wherein each threshold range of measurement values is pre-calculated and set based on various parameters of the switch detection system (e.g., in fig. 1, the parameters may include the power supply voltage, the connection manner of the resistors, and the resistance value) and empirical data.

After the switch performs a first switching operation, a first measured value is obtained.

A measurement value threshold range (TH) for respectively corresponding the first measurement value to all M switch positions₁₁,TL₁₁)、(TH₁₂,TL₁₂)…(TH_1M,TL_1M) Comparing, and determining that the first measurement falls within a threshold range of M measurements (TH)₁₁,TL₁₁)、(TH₁₂,TL₁₂)…(TH_1M,TL_1M) And determining the switch position to which the switch is switched for the first time according to the corresponding relation between each measured value threshold range and the switch position in which measured value threshold range is. For example, it is determined that the first measurement falls within a first measurement threshold range (TH11, TL11), and the switch position to which the switch is first switched is the first switch position.

Then, based on the first measurement value, a measurement value threshold range (assumed to be (TH)) corresponding to the switch position to which the switch is switched for the first time₁₁,TL₁₁) Is updated to obtain (TH'₁₁,TL’₁₁) The measured value threshold value ranges corresponding to other switch positions are not changed, and an updated measured value threshold value range (TH ') corresponding to the switch position is obtained'₁₁,TL’₁₁) For use in the comparison process after the next switching operation.

Immediately or after a period of time, the switch switches for a second time, at which time a second measurement is taken.

Comparing the second measurement value to an inclusion measurement value threshold range (TH'₁₁,TL’₁₁) Are compared to determine the switch position to which the switch is switched this time. Likewise, an update operation is also performed on one of the current M measurement value threshold ranges based on the second measurement value.

And then, repeating the operation, and updating a measurement value threshold range every time for the comparison process after the next switching operation.

In addition, after each acquisition of a measured value, the measured value is compared with a preset limit value, and when a certain measured value exceeds the preset limit value, it is determined that the switch has been worn to an excessive extent, and optionally an alarm is given and/or the switch detection operation is further stopped.

In addition, each time a measurement value threshold range corresponding to a certain switch position is updated, the closeness of the updated measurement value threshold range to the measurement value threshold range corresponding to the adjacent switch position is also determined. If it is determined that two adjacent measurement threshold ranges are too close, this may indicate that the switch position has not been differentiated from the measurement and optionally an alarm may be issued and/or further switch detection operations may be stopped.

The following is a schematic diagram illustrating the effect of the switch detection method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure with reference to fig. 6 and 7.

Fig. 6 schematically shows a measurement value threshold range and a measurement value variation curve at two adjacent switch positions of a switch as the number of switching times increases when the switch detection method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is employed.

As shown in fig. 6, for two adjacent switch positions of the switch, as the switching times increase, the increase of the switch wear (contact resistance) and the measurement error at each switch position tend to make the measured value gradually larger, and by adopting the switch detection method described with reference to fig. 4A-4B, the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to each switch position gradually increases accordingly to adapt to the gradually increasing switch wear (contact resistance) and measurement error, so that when the switch is switched to any one switch position, even if wear occurs and there is a measurement error, the measured value is within the updated threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the switch position, and the controller can detect the current switch position of the switch. Thus, the life cycle of the switch detection system may be increased.

Fig. 7A-7B schematically illustrate a measurement threshold range and a variation curve of the measurement at two adjacent switch positions as the number of switching times increases when a further switch detection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is employed.

As shown in fig. 7A-7B, for any two switch positions of the switch, as described above, as the switching times increase, the wear (contact resistance) of the switch at each switch position increases and the measurement error tends to change (e.g., become larger) gradually, and the wear rate at each switch position varies, so that the change of the measurement value at each switch position varies in magnitude, and the threshold ranges of the measurement values corresponding to each switch position may become closer to each other, and even the switch positions may not be distinguished.

By employing the switch detection method described with reference to fig. 4A-4B, as shown in fig. 7A, even if the measurement threshold range corresponding to each switch position is gradually increased to accommodate the gradually increased switch wear (contact resistance) and measurement error due to the setting of the preset limit value, it is possible to alarm and/or stop the switch detection operation as long as the measurement value of the switch exceeds the preset limit value, which indicates that the degree of wear of the switch (at the switch position corresponding to the measurement value) has been large.

In addition, by adopting the switch detection method described with reference to fig. 4A-4B, as shown in fig. 7B, the proximity of the threshold ranges of the measured values corresponding to the two adjacent switch positions is further compared, and in the case where the proximity is smaller than the preset proximity, it is demonstrated that the degrees of wear at the two adjacent positions are very different, one of the degrees of wear is already large, and the two switch positions cannot be distinguished, and it is possible to alarm and/or stop the switch detection operation. Therefore, the reliability of the switch detection system is further improved.

While the present subject matter has been described in detail with respect to various specific example embodiments thereof, each example is provided by way of explanation, not limitation, of the disclosure. Alterations, permutations, and equivalents of such embodiments may be readily made by those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Accordingly, the present invention does not preclude inclusion of such modifications, variations and/or additions to the present subject matter as would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment, can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover such modifications, variations, and equivalents.

In particular, although the figures of the present disclosure depict steps performed in a particular order for purposes of illustration and discussion, respectively, the methods of the present disclosure are not limited to the particular illustrated order or arrangement. The various steps of the above-described methods may be omitted, rearranged, combined, and/or adapted in various ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The foregoing is illustrative of the present disclosure and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. While several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims. It is to be understood that the foregoing is illustrative of the present disclosure and is not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (18)

1. A switch position detection apparatus, the switch having M switch positions, and each switch position having a corresponding measurement value threshold range, the apparatus comprising:

a measurement module configured to output measurement values belonging to different measurement value threshold ranges when the switch is in respective switch positions;

a controller configured to:

acquiring a measured value of the switch;

determining the switch position of the switch according to the measurement value and the measurement value threshold range corresponding to each switch position in the M switch positions; and

updating a measurement value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measurement value;

wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the measurement value threshold ranges corresponding to different switch positions do not overlap with each other, and the measurement value threshold ranges comprise a high threshold and a low threshold.

2. The switch detection device of claim 1, wherein the switch is a sliding switch including a conductive slider and M pads, the conductive slider slides between different pads to perform switch switching, and the M pads correspond to the M switch positions.

3. The switch detection device of claim 1, wherein determining the switch position of the switch based on the measurement value and a measurement value threshold range corresponding to each of the M switch positions comprises:

for each of the M switch positions,

comparing the measured value with a measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position; and

and determining that the switch is in the switch position when the measured value is within the measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position.

4. The switch detection device of claim 1, wherein the degree of wear of the switch increases progressively as the number of switching times of the switch increases, and for each of the M switch positions the measurement value output by the measurement module when the switch is in that switch position also increases progressively as the degree of wear at that switch position increases;

wherein updating the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value comprises: the high and low thresholds of the measurement value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position are dynamically updated according to increasing measurement values when the switch is in the determined switch position, such that the corresponding high and low thresholds increase with increasing degree of wear at the switch position.

5. The switch detection apparatus of claim 1, the controller further configured to:

storing the measurement as a historical measurement of the determined switch position,

wherein updating the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value comprises:

determining a measurement fit curve for the determined switch position based on the measurements and other historical measurements of the determined switch position;

fitting a curve according to the measured values, and determining a measured value high threshold value curve and a measured value low threshold value curve of the determined switch position;

and determining a high threshold and a low threshold of the updated measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position according to the measured value high threshold curve and the measured value low threshold curve so as to determine the updated measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position.

6. The switch detection device of claim 5 wherein, for each of the M switch positions, the curve fitted to the measurements for that switch position also has a gradually increasing trend as the degree of wear at that switch position increases.

7. The switch detection apparatus of claim 1, the controller further configured to:

reporting an error when the measurement value is outside of a measurement value threshold range corresponding to each of the M switch positions.

8. The switch detection apparatus of claim 1, the controller further configured to:

comparing the measured value with a preset limit value;

in the event that the measured value exceeds the preset limit value, it is determined that the switch wear is too great.

9. The switch detection apparatus of claim 8, the controller further configured to:

after updating the measured value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position, determining the closeness degree of the updated measured value threshold range and the measured value threshold ranges corresponding to other switch positions;

and determining that the switch is abraded to an excessive extent if the proximity is less than a preset proximity.

10. A switch position detection method, the switch having M switch positions, and each switch position having a corresponding measurement value threshold range, the method comprising:

acquiring a measured value of the switch;

determining the switch position of the switch according to the measurement value and the measurement value threshold range corresponding to each switch position in the M switch positions; and

updating a measurement value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measurement value;

wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the measurement value threshold ranges corresponding to different switch positions do not overlap with each other, and the measurement value threshold ranges comprise a high threshold and a low threshold.

11. The switch detection method of claim 10, wherein the switch is a sliding switch including a conductive slider and M pads, the conductive slider slides between different pads to perform switch switching, and the M pads correspond to the M switch positions.

12. The switch position detection method according to claim 10,

determining the switch position of the switch according to the measurement value and the measurement value threshold range corresponding to each switch position in the M switch positions, including:

for each of the M switch positions,

comparing the measured value with a measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position; and

and determining that the switch is in the switch position when the measured value is within the measured value threshold range corresponding to the switch position.

13. The switch detection method according to claim 10, wherein a degree of wear of the switch at each switch position gradually increases as the number of switching times of the switch increases, and for each of the M switch positions, the measurement value when the switch is at the switch position also gradually increases as the degree of wear at the switch position increases;

wherein updating the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value comprises: the high and low thresholds of the range of measurement values threshold for the determined switch position are dynamically updated according to increasing measurement values when the switch is in the determined switch position, such that the corresponding high and low thresholds increase with increasing degree of wear at the switch position.

14. The switch position detection method according to claim 10, further comprising:

storing the measurement as a historical measurement of the determined switch position,

wherein updating the threshold range of the measured value corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value comprises:

determining a measurement fit curve for the determined switch position based on the measurements and other historical measurements of the determined switch position;

fitting a curve according to the measured values, and determining a measured value high threshold value curve and a measured value low threshold value curve of the determined switch position;

and determining a high threshold and a low threshold of the updated measured value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position according to the measured value high threshold curve and the measured value low threshold curve so as to determine the updated measured value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position.

15. The switch position detection method of claim 14, wherein for each of the M switch positions, the curve fitted to the measurements for that switch position also has a gradually rising trend as the degree of wear at that switch position increases.

16. The switch position detection method according to claim 10, further comprising:

reporting an error when the measurement value is outside of a measurement value threshold range corresponding to each of the M switch positions.

17. The switch detection method of claim 10, further comprising:

comparing the measured value with a preset limit value;

in the event that the measured value exceeds the preset limit value, it is determined that the switch wear is too great.

18. The switch detection method of claim 17, further comprising:

after updating the measured value threshold range corresponding to the determined switch position, determining the closeness degree of the updated measured value threshold range and the measured value threshold ranges corresponding to other switch positions;

and determining that the switch is abraded to an excessive extent if the proximity is less than a preset proximity.

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