CN114879864A - Touch control operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a touch operation device, which includes: the movable assembly comprises an upper cover and a shell for bearing the upper cover, the upper cover extends along a plane, and a touch sensor is arranged between the upper cover and the shell; a rear cover supporting the housing on an upper side thereof in a first direction perpendicular to a plane along which the upper cover extends, the movable assembly being movable relative to the rear cover between an initial position and a depressed position in the first direction; a printed circuit board to which the touch sensor is electrically connected; a counterbalance mechanism including a plurality of resilient elements pre-compressed between the housing and the back cover such that the housing is pre-loaded with a force and the movable assembly is movable relative to the back cover in the first direction between an initial position and a depressed position. The present disclosure also relates to a motor vehicle comprising such a touch-operated device.

Description

Touch control operation device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a touch-control operation device, such as a touch-control operation device installed inside a motor vehicle. The disclosure also relates to a motor vehicle comprising such a touch-control operating device

Background

People often control the functions and operations of electromechanical devices by means of switching devices. For example, motor vehicle interiors are often equipped with switching devices for activating or adjusting functions of various modules of the motor vehicle, such as lights, sounds, air conditioning, and the like.

Conventional switching devices are physical keys, such as microswitches or silicone keys, which provide only passive tactile feedback, manifested as a reaction force that varies with the stroke of the press. With the popularization of touch screens, touch control operation devices are introduced into the interior of many motor vehicles. The touch-operated device can provide active tactile feedback, such as vibratory feedback. However, the conventional touch operation device still has some problems.

Due to structural design and packaging limitations, existing touch-operated devices can only receive operational input and provide active feedback at predetermined fractional areas in the operating surface. Whereas operation inputs at other areas, for example at the position of the edge of the operation surface, may not be correctly detected. That is to say, most of the existing touch operation devices have a detection blind area.

In addition, the existing touch operation device is usually equipped with a plurality of pressure sensors to detect operation inputs at different areas of the operation surface.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure is directed to at least solving the above problems and providing a touch operating device with reliable performance and low cost.

The present disclosure provides a touch control device, which includes: the movable assembly comprises an upper cover and a shell for bearing the upper cover, the upper cover extends along a plane, and a touch sensor is arranged between the upper cover and the shell; a rear cover supporting the housing on an upper side thereof in a first direction perpendicular to a plane along which the upper cover extends, the movable assembly being movable relative to the rear cover between an initial position and a depressed position in the first direction; a printed circuit board to which the touch sensor is electrically connected; a counterbalance mechanism including a plurality of resilient elements pre-compressed between the housing and the back cover such that the housing is pre-loaded with a force and the movable assembly is movable relative to the back cover in the first direction between an initial position and a depressed position.

When the operation input is positioned at the edge position of the upper cover, the elastic element can slightly deflect along a third direction, and the third direction is parallel to the plane along which the upper cover extends and perpendicular to the first direction, so that the movable assembly is ensured to smoothly transit from the initial position to the pressing-down position without clamping stagnation.

Thus, the balance mechanism ensures that the operation input can be received at any position of the upper cover, and the movable assembly can smoothly move from the initial position to the depression position without jamming. That is, even if the user presses the edge position of the upper cover, causing the moving direction of the movable assembly to be at an angle to the first direction, the movable assembly can smoothly transit from the initial position to the pressed-down position, thereby normally detecting the operation input.

The touch-operated device according to the present disclosure may also have one or more of the following features, alone or in combination.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the distance of movement of different regions of the movable assembly in the first direction can be the same or different. Specifically, when the user presses the center position of the upper cover, the moving distances of the different regions of the movable assembly in the first direction are the same. When the user presses the edge position of the upper cover, the moving distance of different areas of the movable assembly along the first direction is different. For example, the moving distance of the area close to the user pressing position is larger, and the moving distance of the area far from the user pressing position is smaller.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the balancing mechanism further includes a plurality of jaws extending downward from the housing in the first direction, and a plurality of protrusions formed in the rear cover to be engaged with the plurality of jaws. In the initial position, the plurality of protrusions and the plurality of pawls are engaged with each other due to a resilient force of the plurality of elastic elements that are pre-compressed to lock the housing to the back cover in the first direction, and in the depressed position, at least one pawl is disengaged from at least one protrusion. In contrast to the locking engagement of a typical snap-fit arrangement, the engagement of the pawl and projection of the present disclosure floatingly locks the movable assembly to the rear cover, allowing the movable assembly to move between an initial position and a depressed position.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the printed circuit board is fixedly disposed with respect to the movable assembly and is movable with movement of the movable assembly.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch operation device includes a pressure sensor disposed on the printed circuit board, and the rear cover includes a pressure lever extending in the first direction. The pressing lever is provided at a position corresponding to the pressure sensor so as to apply pressure to the pressure sensor at a pressed-down position. Preferably, the pressure sensor is located at the center of the lower surface of the printed circuit board, and only one pressure sensor is arranged on the printed circuit board. Due to the presence of the balance mechanism, the touch operation device can receive an operation input at an arbitrary position, and the movable member smoothly transitions from the initial position to the depressed position. Therefore, the touch control operation device according to the present disclosure can realize the detection of the operation input of different areas only by equipping one pressure sensor at the center of the printed circuit board, thereby reducing the number of parts and the corresponding manufacturing cost.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch operation device further includes a protection member made of an elastic material, the protection member covering at least an upper end portion of the pressing rod. The protection component can provide buffer protection for the pressure sensor along the z-axis direction, and the pressure sensor is prevented from being damaged due to accidental impact.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch-operated device further includes a haptic feedback device mounted on the housing. The tactile feedback device is electrically connected to the printed circuit board and is capable of driving the movable assembly to vibrate to provide press feedback if the pressure detected by the pressure sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold. In this manner, the vibration of the haptic feedback device may be directly transmitted to the entire movable assembly without passing through any intermediate member, thereby increasing the efficiency of energy transmission and providing a better vibration feedback effect.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch sensor is capable of sensing a position of the pressure on the upper cover, and the predetermined threshold values of the pressure are different for different positions of the upper cover. In this way, the upper cover of the touch-control operation device can be partitioned. Different functions may be triggered by the user pressing different areas of the upper cover.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the haptic feedback device is a linear actuator configured to drive the movable assembly to vibrate in a direction parallel to a plane along which the upper cover extends.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch-operated device further comprises a support for a haptic feedback device. The holder includes a plurality of side walls and a bottom wall defining an interior space for housing the haptic feedback device. The bracket is fixedly connected to the housing by the plurality of side walls. The haptic feedback device is fixedly connected to the housing at an upper surface thereof, and the haptic feedback device is supported on a bottom wall of the holder via an elastically deformable material at a lower surface thereof. Optionally, the resiliently deformable material is a foam material or an elastic material.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch-operated device further includes one or more light-emitting devices disposed on the printed circuit board, the one or more light-emitting devices for illuminating a selected area of the upper cover. In this manner, different positions of the upper cover pressed by the user can illuminate different light emitting devices and selected areas of the upper cover. This may enable the user to determine that it triggered the selected function of the touch-operated device.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or more light emitting devices are disposed on a printed circuit board at a location separate from the pressure sensor. Thereby, light emitted by the light emitting device is not blocked by the pressure sensor. Furthermore, the one or more light emitting devices may be controlled in dependence of a pressure signal sensed by the same pressure sensor.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of resilient elements are made of silicone material, foam or other soft resilient material.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch sensor is a capacitive film, the upper cover includes an effective operation surface for receiving a touch input, and an edge of the capacitive film extends beyond an edge of the effective operation surface.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the capacitor film includes a terminal extending downward in the first direction, the terminal being electrically connected to the printed circuit board, the case is provided with a terminal protection wall extending downward in the first direction, the terminal protection wall at least partially covering a surface of the terminal facing an outside of the touch operation device.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the upper cover and the housing are coupled to each other. Preferably, the connection between the upper cover and the housing is achieved by ultrasonic welding. In this way, the upper cover and the housing can be more tightly combined, so that the movable assembly is more firm and reliable.

The present disclosure also relates to a motor vehicle comprising a touch-operated device as described above.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. Together with the general description given above, and the detailed description of exemplary embodiments and methods given below, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. The objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent upon a study of the following specification in light of the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are given the same or similar reference numerals, and in which:

fig. 1 is an exploded view of a touch-operated device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a touch-operated device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a housing from the underside according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a perspective view of a rear cover according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as viewed from an upper side;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are side views of a touch device with a movable element in an initial position according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of the touch device of FIG. 5B along line A-A;

fig. 6A and 6B are side views of a touch device with a movable element in a depressed position according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

7A-7C are cross-sectional views of a touch-operated device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a touch-operated device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a touch-operated device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the various figures, identical or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments and methods of the present disclosure as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts. It should be noted, however, that the disclosure in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and methods, and illustrative examples shown and described in connection with the exemplary embodiments and methods.

This description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. In the description, relative terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "front," "back-right," as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., "downwardly," "upwardly," etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and are not intended to require a particular orientation. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the terms "connected," coupled, "and the like refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships. The term "operatively connected" is a connection that allows the associated structure to have the connection during operation or actual use.

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a touch-operated device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the touch operation device includes a movable member a and a rear cover 6. The movable assembly a and the back cover 6 are made of an insulating material, such as plastic. The printed circuit board 5 is arranged below the movable assembly A, and electronic elements such as a control unit and the like are distributed on the printed circuit board.

The movable assembly a comprises an upper cover 2 and a housing 4 carrying said upper cover 2. As shown in fig. 2, the printed circuit board 5 is fixed to the lower side of the housing 4 by screws 11. The upper cover 2 and the housing 4 are connected to each other, for example by ultrasonic welding. A touch sensor 3 is provided between the upper cover 2 and the housing 4. The upper cover 2 is configured to receive an operation input from a user. The touch sensor 3 is, for example, a capacitive film, and is configured to detect the operation input and provide positional information about the operation input. An xyz coordinate system is defined on the basis of the cover 2, wherein the cover 2 extends substantially parallel to the xy-plane and the x-axis and the y-axis are perpendicular to each other. The z-axis is the axis perpendicular to the upper cover 2. The direction along the z-axis is referred to as a first direction, the direction along the x-axis is referred to as a second direction, and the direction along the y-axis is referred to as a third direction. The terms "upper", "lower", "front" and "rear" as used in this disclosure are defined along the z-axis.

The rear cover 6 supports the movable assembly a floatingly on its upper side in the z-axis direction, that is, the movable assembly a is movable between an initial position and a depressed position in the z-axis direction with respect to the rear cover 6. The stroke of depression of the movable assembly a is defined by an uppermost initial position and a lowermost end position. The pressing position is any position below the initial position in the pressing stroke.

In some embodiments, in the initial position, the housing 4 and the rear cover 6 may have a predetermined first clearance C1 (see fig. 5A), such as 0.5mm, in the z-axis direction. The first clearance C1 may provide a moving space for a depression stroke of the housing 4. Alternatively, in the initial position, there may be no gap between the housing 4 and the back cover 6 in the z-axis direction, and the moving space for the depression stroke of the housing 4 may alternatively be provided by an elastic member interposed between the housing and the back cover.

It should be noted that "the movable assembly a can move between the initial position and the depressed position in the z-axis direction with respect to the rear cover 6" is not limited to the case where the movement locus of the movable assembly a is strictly in the z-axis direction. The movable assembly a can also move in a direction that forms an angle with the z-axis direction. "the movable assembly a is movable in the z-axis direction between the initial position and the depressed position" with respect to the back cover 6 is understood to mean that the movement of the movable assembly a contains a component in the z-axis direction.

In some embodiments, the touch-operated device includes a balancing mechanism. The balance mechanism makes it possible to receive an operation input at an arbitrary position of the upper cover 2, i.e., the movable assembly a can be moved smoothly without jamming from the initial position to the depressed position. That is, even if the user presses the edge position of the upper cover 2, causing the moving direction of the movable assembly a to be at an angle to the z-axis direction, the movable assembly a can smoothly transit from the initial position to the pressed-down position, thereby normally detecting the operation input. Referring to fig. 1, the counterbalance mechanism may include a plurality of elastic elements 12 between the housing 4 and the rear cover 6 such that the movable assembly a can move between an initial position and a depressed position. The resilient member 12 is generally cylindrical. The number of the elastic elements 12 is, for example, three or more. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the balancing mechanism comprises four elastic elements 12. The elastic element 12 is, for example, a spring, or the elastic element 12 is made of a silicone material or a thermoplastic elastomer material.

The elastic element 12 is in a pre-compressed state, whereby the movable assembly a may automatically return to the initial position under the resilient force of the elastic element 12 when the movable assembly a is released from the depressed position. When the operation input is located at the edge position of the upper cover 2, the elastic member 12 can be slightly deflected in the direction of the xy plane, thereby ensuring that the movable assembly a smoothly transits from the initial position to the depressed position without the occurrence of the phenomenon of jamming. Further, when the operation input is located at the edge position of the upper cover 2, the moving distances of the different regions of the movable assembly a in the first direction z can be different by the deflection of the elastic member 12.

In some embodiments, the plurality of elastic elements 12 are arranged such that they are able to together provide an elastic force greater than 200N with the movable assembly a in the end position of its depression stroke. In this way, an excessive pressing force applied to the upper cover due to, for example, an erroneous operation does not damage the touch operation device.

With further reference to fig. 3, 7A and 7B, the elastic member 12 includes a guide groove 121, the guide groove 121 extending in the z-axis direction. The housing 4 comprises a guide pin 41 cooperating with said guide groove 121. The guide pin 41 protrudes downward in the z-axis direction from the lower side of the housing 4 and is configured to be received in the guide groove 121 of the elastic member 12. The guide pins 41 guide the movement of the housing 4 between the initial position and the depressed position to ensure that the movement is substantially in the z-axis direction, avoiding large deflections of the spring element 12 in the xy-plane. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the plurality of resilient elements 12 are formed as discrete components. While in other embodiments, not shown, at least two of the plurality of elastic elements 12 are connected together by a connecting arm. In this way, the assembly of the elastic element 12 with the housing 4 can be carried out in a more efficient manner, thereby simplifying the process and reducing the production costs.

The counterbalance mechanism may also include a plurality of pawls 14 extending downward from the housing 4 in the z-axis direction and a plurality of projections 15 formed in the back cover 6. In the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 3, the housing 4 comprises two claws 14 distributed on the rear side of the housing 4 and one claw 14 on each of the left and right sides. Correspondingly, the rear cover 6 also comprises four projections 15 cooperating with four claws 14.

As shown in fig. 3, each jaw 14 is provided with a window 141. When the movable assembly a is assembled to the rear cover 6, the projections 15 of the rear cover 6 project into the windows 141 of the respective jaws 14. Unlike the locking engagement of a typical snap-fit arrangement, the engagement of the pawl 14 and the projection 15 of the present disclosure floatingly locks the movable assembly a to the housing 4, allowing the movable assembly a to move between an initial position and a depressed position, as explained in detail below.

Fig. 5A-5B are side and rear views of the touch device with the movable element a in the initial position, and fig. 5C is a cross-sectional view taken along line a-a of fig. 5A. FIGS. 6A-6B are side and rear views of the touch device with the movable element A in the depressed position.

It will be appreciated that in the initial position shown in fig. 5A-5B, the resilient member 12 exerts an upward force on the housing 4 in the z-axis direction due to the fact that the resilient member 12 between the housing 4 and the rear cover 6 is in a pre-compressed state. This causes the surface of the window 141 of each claw 14 to engage with the corresponding projection 15, so that the housing 4 is locked to the rear cover 6 in the z-axis direction. Referring to fig. 5C, the jaw 14 is in direct contact with the protrusion 15.

In some embodiments, as previously described, in the initial position, there is a certain clearance C1 (e.g., 0.5mm) between the housing 4 and the back cover 6 in the z-axis direction to provide a moving space for the depression stroke of the housing 4. Whereas in the depressed position shown in fig. 6A-6B, an operation input from the user causes the movable assembly a to move downward substantially in the z-axis direction, so that the gap between the movable assembly a and the rear cover 6 in the z-axis direction decreases. At least one pawl 14 is disengaged from the corresponding projection. With the upper cover 2 uniformly stressed, the clearance between the movable assembly a and the rear cover 6 is reduced to zero and all the jaws 14 are disengaged from the respective projections 15, so that a certain clearance C1 exists between the jaws 14 and the projections 15 in the z-axis direction.

It will be appreciated that the disengagement of the respective pawls 14 from the respective projections 15 may be different depending on the position of the user operation input. For example, in the case where the position of the user operation input is located on one side of the upper cover 2, the movable assembly a portion near this position is depressed to a large extent, so that the claw 14 near this position is disengaged from the projection 15. A smaller depression of the part of the movable assembly a remote from this position occurs and the jaws 14 close to this position may still engage the projections 15.

Of course, other forms of pawl and projection shapes and configurations are contemplated by those skilled in the art. Alternatively, the claws may be formed in the rear cover 6, and the projections formed in the housing 4. Alternatively, the pawl may be formed as a catch rather than the window structure described in the above embodiments.

Referring to fig. 7A-7C, the touch-operated device includes a pressure sensor 8 located in the center of the printed circuit board 5. The rear cover 6 includes a pressing rod 61 extending upward in the z-axis direction, the pressing rod 61 being disposed at a position corresponding to the pressure sensor 8 thereof and capable of applying pressure to the pressure sensor 8 at a pressed-down position. When the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 8 exceeds a predetermined threshold, the function corresponding to the operation input is triggered accordingly.

As described above, due to the presence of the balance mechanism, the touch operation device can receive an operation input at an arbitrary position, and the movable assembly a smoothly transitions from the initial position to the depressed position. Thus, the touch operation device according to the present disclosure can achieve detection of operation inputs to different areas only by providing one pressure sensor 8 at the center of the printed circuit board 5, thereby reducing the number of parts and corresponding manufacturing costs.

In addition, depending on the position of the user operation input, the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 8 may be varied when the housing 4 reaches its depression stroke. The position of the user operation input may be sensed by the touch sensor 3. Advantageously, the predetermined threshold values of pressure are different for different positions of the upper cover 2.

In addition, since the movable assembly a is floatingly supported with respect to the rear cover 6 and the housing 4 is recessed upward, mounting spaces are left on both the upper side of the printed circuit board 5 facing the housing 4 and the lower side facing the rear cover 6 (see fig. 7A), and electronic components can be arranged on both sides of the printed circuit board 5, thereby improving the flexibility of arrangement of the electronic components on the printed circuit board 5 and improving the utilization efficiency of the internal space of the touch operation device.

In some embodiments, the touch-operated device further comprises a protective element 13 made of an elastic material. The protective element 13 covers at least the upper end of the strut 61. The protective element 13 can provide buffering protection for the pressure sensor 8 along the z-axis direction, and prevent the pressure sensor 8 from being damaged by accidental impact.

In some embodiments, the touch-operated device further comprises a haptic feedback device 42. Referring to fig. 8, the haptic feedback device 42 may be mounted at the lower surface of the housing 4. The haptic feedback device 42 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 5. The tactile feedback device 42 is capable of driving the movable assembly a to vibrate to provide the compression feedback in case a certain pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 8. In some embodiments, the haptic feedback device 42 is a linear actuator that can drive the movable assembly A to vibrate at least along the x-axis.

In some embodiments, the touch-operated device may include a mount 43 for the haptic feedback device 42. The holder 43 includes a plurality of side walls 431 and a bottom wall 432, the plurality of side walls 431 and the bottom wall 432 defining an interior space for receiving the haptic feedback device 42. The plurality of side walls 431 are fixedly connected to the housing 4, for example by a snap connection.

The haptic feedback device 42 is fixedly connected to the housing 4 at an upper surface thereof. In some embodiments, the tactile feedback device 42 is adhered to the housing 4 at its upper surface, such as by tape or other adhesive material. In this manner, the vibration of the haptic feedback device 42 can be directly transmitted to the entire movable assembly a without passing through any intermediate member, thereby improving the efficiency of energy transmission and providing a better vibration feedback effect.

The haptic feedback device 42 is supported at its lower surface via the elastically deformable material 422 on the bottom wall 432 of the mount 43. In some embodiments, the elastically deformable material 422 is a foam or elastomeric material. Thus, noise generated by vibration of the haptic feedback device 42 may be reduced.

A gap is provided between the sidewall 421 of the haptic feedback device 42 and the sidewall 431 of the mount 43 to allow the haptic feedback device 42 to vibrate in the xy-plane. Furthermore, the jaws 14 can bend around their connection to the housing 4, so that the movable assembly a can be driven by a linear actuator to oscillate in the xy-plane. Alternatively, the jaws 14 may be provided with an elastic material on the side facing the back cover 6. The resilient material is resiliently deformable between the pawl and the back cover to allow the movable assembly to vibrate in the xy-plane.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 9, the upper cover 2 includes an effective operation surface 21 for receiving a touch input, and an edge of the touch sensor 3 extends beyond an edge of the effective operation surface 21. Thereby, an operation input close to the edge of the effective operation surface 21 can be effectively detected, thereby improving the touch sensitivity of the position of the edge of the effective operation surface 21.

Referring to fig. 2 and 9, the capacitive film of the touch sensor 3 may include a terminal 31 extending downward in the z-axis direction, the terminal 31 being electrically connected to the printed circuit board 5. The housing 4 may be provided with a terminal protection wall 44 extending downward in the z-axis direction. The terminal protection wall 44 is formed of an insulating material, for example, integral with the housing 4. The terminal protection wall 44 at least partially covers a surface of the terminal 31 facing the outside of the touch operation device, thereby providing electrostatic protection for the terminal 31.

Referring to fig. 7A, a light emitting device 51 is disposed at an upper surface of the printed circuit board 5. The housing 4 has a light guide wall 45 formed therein, which is formed in a cylindrical shape or a tapered shape tapering downward and extends downward in the z-axis direction. The light guide wall 45 surrounds the light emitting device 51 and guides light emitted from the light emitting device 51 toward the upper cover 2. Specifically, the effective operation surface 21 of the upper cover 2 may be divided into areas corresponding to different functions, and may be identified with figures or characters of the corresponding functions. Each corresponding to one light emitting device 51. When the user presses the corresponding area, the corresponding light emitting device 51 is illuminated to illuminate the figure or text of the logo, thereby giving visual feedback to the pressing operation of the user.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure has been presented for the purpose of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. The embodiments disclosed above were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated, as long as the principles described herein are followed. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Accordingly, changes may be made in the above disclosure without departing from the intent and scope of the disclosure. It is also intended that the scope of the disclosure be defined by the claims appended hereto.

Claims (19)

1. A touch control operation device is characterized by comprising:

the movable assembly (A) comprises an upper cover (2) and a shell (4) bearing the upper cover (2), the upper cover (2) extends along a plane, and a touch sensor (3) is arranged between the upper cover (2) and the shell (4);

a rear cover (6) supporting on its upper side the housing (4) along a first direction (z) perpendicular to a plane along which the upper cover (2) extends, the movable assembly (a) being movable with respect to the rear cover (6) along the first direction (z) between an initial position and a depressed position;

a printed circuit board (5), the touch sensor (3) being electrically connected to the printed circuit board (5);

a balancing mechanism comprising a plurality of elastic elements (12) pre-compressed between the housing (4) and the back cover (6) such that the housing (4) is pre-loaded with a force and the movable assembly (a) is movable in the first direction (z) relative to the back cover (6) between an initial position and a depressed position.

2. Touch-operated device according to claim 1, wherein the distance of movement of different areas of the movable element (a) in the first direction (z) can be the same or different.

3. Touch-operated device according to claim 1, wherein the counterbalancing means further comprises a plurality of pawls (14) extending downward from the housing (4) in the first direction (z), and a plurality of projections (15) formed in the rear cover (6) to cooperate with the plurality of pawls (14), wherein

In the initial position, the plurality of jaws (14) and the plurality of projections (15) are mutually engaged due to the resilient force of the pre-compressed plurality of elastic elements (12) to lock the housing (4) to the back cover (6) in the first direction (z), in the depressed position at least one jaw (14) is disengaged from at least one projection (15).

4. Touch-operated device according to claim 1, characterised in that the printed circuit board (5) is arranged fixedly with respect to the movable component (a) and can be moved in response to the movement of the movable component (a).

5. Touch-operated device according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises a pressure sensor (8) arranged on the printed circuit board (5), the back cover (6) comprising a pressure bar (61) extending upwards in the first direction (z), the pressure bar (61) being arranged at a position corresponding to the pressure sensor (8), the pressure bar (61) being capable of applying pressure to the pressure sensor (8) in a depressed position.

6. Touch-operated device according to claim 5, further comprising a protective element (13) made of an elastic material, the protective element (13) covering at least the upper end of the pressure bar (61).

7. Touch-operated device according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a tactile feedback device (42), said tactile feedback device (42) being mounted on said housing (4), said tactile feedback device (42) being electrically connected to said printed circuit board (5), said tactile feedback device (42) being able to drive said movable assembly (A) to vibrate to provide a pressure feedback if the pressure detected by said pressure sensor (8) exceeds a predetermined threshold.

8. Touch-operated device according to claim 7, wherein the touch sensor (3) is capable of sensing the position of the pressure on the cover (2), the predetermined threshold values of the pressure being different for different positions of the cover (2).

9. Touch-operated device according to claim 7, wherein the haptic feedback device (42) is a linear actuator configured to drive the movable assembly (a) to vibrate in a direction parallel to a plane along which the upper cover (2) extends.

10. Touch-operated device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a holder (43) for the haptic feedback device (42), the holder (43) comprising a plurality of side walls (431) and a bottom wall (432), the plurality of side walls (431) and the bottom wall (432) defining an interior space for accommodating the haptic feedback device (42), the holder (43) being fixedly connected to the housing (4) by the plurality of side walls (431), the haptic feedback device (42) being fixedly connected to the housing (4) at its upper surface, the haptic feedback device (42) being supported at its lower surface on the bottom wall (432) of the holder (43) via an elastically deformable material (422).

11. Touch-operated device according to claim 10, wherein the elastically deformable material (422) is a foam material or an elastic material.

12. Touch-operated device according to claim 5, further comprising one or more light-emitting devices (51) arranged on the printed circuit board (5), the one or more light-emitting devices (51) being adapted to illuminate selected areas of the cover (2).

13. Touch-operated device according to claim 12, characterized in that the one or more light-emitting means (51) are arranged on a printed circuit board (5) at a location separate from the pressure sensor (8).

14. Touch-operated device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of elastic elements (12) are made of silicone material, foam or other soft elastic material.

15. Touch-operated device according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensor (3) is a capacitive film, the cover (2) comprising an active operating surface (21) for receiving touch input, an edge of the capacitive film extending beyond an edge of the active operating surface (21).

16. Touch-operated device according to claim 15, wherein the capacitive film comprises terminals (31) extending downwards in the first direction (z), the terminals (31) being electrically connected to the printed circuit board (5), the housing (4) being provided with terminal protection walls extending downwards in the first direction (z), the terminal protection walls at least partially covering the surface of the terminals (31) facing the outside of the touch-operated device.

17. Touch-operated device according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper cover (2) and the housing (4) are connected to each other.

18. Touch-operated device according to claim 17, characterized in that the connection between the cover (2) and the housing (4) is realized by ultrasonic welding.

19. A motor vehicle comprising the touch-operated device according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

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