WO2012080311A1

WO2012080311A1 - Method and control device for actuating a furniture drive

Info

Publication number: WO2012080311A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/072717
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Behnke
Original assignee: Hettich-Heinze Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2010-12-14
Filing date: 2011-12-14
Publication date: 2012-06-21
Also published as: DE102010061207A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for actuating a furniture drive, which comprises at least one drive unit (20) having an electric drive motor (21) for moving a movable furniture part (4). The method comprises the following steps: A sensor signal S of a sensor (30) for detecting a movement input of a user for the movable furniture part (4) is picked up and evaluated. Moreover, a generator signal G, which is generated by the drive motor (21) and supplied by the drive unit (20), is picked up and evaluated. The drive unit (20) is operated when the sensor signal S indicates a movement input and the generator signal G indicates a movement of the movable furniture part (4). The invention further relates to a control device (10) for a furniture drive, said control device being designed to carry out the method.

Description

The invention relates to a method for controlling a furniture drive, which has at least one drive unit with an electric drive motor for moving a movable furniture part. The invention further relates to a control device for such a furniture drive. Furniture drives are used to automatically move a furniture part, z. B. a drawer or a sliding door. An intuitive way of operating such a furniture drive can be realized by, for example, a caused by a user movement of the furniture part, also called release movement ,, is detected and then an automatic movement of the furniture part is initiated by the drive motor.

From the document DE 100 36 259 A1, such a furniture drive is known, in which for detecting the movement of a furniture part caused by the user, the drive unit connected to this furniture part is movably mounted. A movement of the furniture part leads to a movement of the drive unit, which detects middle limit switches becomes. However, this type of motion detection is mechanically complex due to the drive unit to be mounted in a mobile manner.

From the document DE 10 2008 031 462 A1 also a furniture drive of this kind is known .. Möbeltet! and drive unit are connected to each other so that a movement of the furniture part transmits to a movement of a drive motor of the drive unit. The generator voltage generated in the thus achieved movement of the drive motor is detected and triggers the automatic movement of the furniture part by the drive motor. It is further disclosed to provide a sensor for detecting a movement of the furniture part, wherein the drive of the drive motor is to take place when a movement of the furniture part is detected based on the generator voltage or via the motion sensor. The additional sensor increases the overall sensitivity of the motion detection. The disadvantage here is that an increased sensitivity in the movement often causes an increased susceptibility to electromagnetic interference fields. In addition, an increased sensitivity in the detection of motion may result in unintentional movements of the furniture part, for example vibration movements, unintentionally lead to actuation of the drive unit.

In order to reduce the susceptibility to failure of such motion sensors, which are based, for example, on the detection of capacitance changes, so far interference suppression measures are required, which require a considerable additional component expenditure.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for driving a furniture drive of the type mentioned above, which detects a movement request with high sensitivity and accuracy and provides high interference immunity. It is a further object to provide a control device suitable for carrying out the method.

This object is achieved by a method and a control device with the respective features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments are specified in the respective dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, the invention is achieved by a method for driving a furniture drive, wherein the furniture drive has at least one drive unit with a drive motor for moving a furniture part. The method comprises the following steps: A sensor signal of a sensor for detecting a movement request of a user for the movable furniture part is detected and evaluated. Further, a generator signal generated by the drive motor and provided by the drive unit is detected and evaluated. The drive unit is actuated when the sensor signal indicates a movement request by the user and the generator signal indicates a movement of the movable furniture part. According to the invention, so the generator signal and the sensor signal are evaluated, with a triggering of the movement of the drive unit only takes place when both signals indicate a trigger request of the user. Due to different operating principles, it is unlikely that disturbances, for example of an electromagnetic or mechanical type, would affect both the sensor and the drive motor used as a motion detector. The risk of an unwanted triggering of the automatic movement of a furniture part is thus effectively reduced. In an advantageous embodiment of the method, such a sensor is used, which is suitable for detecting a caused by a user movement of the movable furniture part. This is particularly preferably a positron and / or motion sensor. In a further advantageous embodiment of the method is a. Touch sensor used. The specified sensor types are particularly suitable for the method since they respond to a movement request of the user, which is accompanied by a movement of the furniture part, in particular a manually executed lifting movement, which then in turn in Generatorsigna! shows. In further advantageous embodiments of the method, the generator signal and / or the sensor signal is filtered for evaluation and compared with a predetermined threshold value. The filtering is used for smoothing. the signals and removes noise components. The threshold allows adjustment of the sensitivity. In this way, the susceptibility is further reduced.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the method, a trigger signal is generated based on a comparison of the filtered sensor signal with a further predetermined threshold value. A comparison of the sensor signal and the generator signal takes place only within a predetermined period of time after a change of the trigger signal to an active level. In this way, a permanent comparison of generator signal and sensor signal can be omitted, which is advantageous in particular in the case of a program-controlled implementation of the method. According to a second aspect, the invention is achieved by a control device for a furniture drive which has at least one drive unit with an electric drive motor for moving a movable furniture part and a sensor for detecting a movement request of a user for the movable furniture part. The control device is set up to carry out the method described above. The advantages are the same as in the first aspect.

In an advantageous embodiment, the control device has at least one filter for smoothing the generator signal and / or the sensor signal. The control device particularly preferably has at least one threshold value switch for generating a generator binary signal and / or a sensor binary signal from the generator signal and / or the sensor signal, wherein the generator binary signal and / or the sensor binary signal have a logically active level during a movement of the furniture part.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the control device comprises a further threshold value switch for generating a trigger signal from the sensor signal, the trigger signal having a logically active level during a movement of the furniture part. Particularly preferably, the further threshold value switch has a lower switching threshold than the threshold value switch for generating the sensor binary signal.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the control device has a sequence control (microcontroller) and program components (software). In this way, the control device as a whole or individual components thereof, such as the at least one filter and / or the at least one threshold value switch, can be flexibly implemented in software. In the following the invention will be explained in more detail by means of an exemplary embodiment with the aid of two figures,

The figures show: Fig. 1 is a furniture with a furniture drive in a schematic perspective drawing and

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a control device for a furniture drive.

Figure 1 shows a furniture 1 in a perspective, schematic representation, wherein the front, concealing furniture side panels are removed. The furniture 1, for example a kitchen fitted wardrobe, has side walls 2, of which only one is shown, and a rear wall 3. Between the side walls 2, a drawer 4 is arranged as a movable furniture part. The drawer 4 includes side frames 5, with which it is movably mounted on pullout guides, not shown, a rear panel 6, a bottom plate 7 and a front panel, not shown. The furniture 1 is equipped with a furniture drive for automatic insertion and / or extension of the drawer 4. The furniture drive comprises a control device 10, a drive unit 20 connected thereto, and a sensor 30 likewise connected to the control device 10. The drive unit 20 is arranged in the illustrated embodiment on the side wall 2 of the furniture 1 and acts on one of the frames 5 to move the drawer , For example, via a not visible in the illustration friction wheel. The type of drive unit 20 shown is merely exemplary and not limiting. A force transmission between the drive unit 20 and the drawer 4, or more generally the moving furniture part, can of course be done in a different manner than that shown, e.g. over a hoist! or a cable pull mechanism.

On the rear wall 3 of the furniture 1, the sensor 30 is attached, which in the example shown interacts with the rear panel 6 of the drawer 4, whereby it can detect its movement at least in a section of the movement area of the drawer 4. A detected movement of the drawer 4 is an indication of a movement request of a user, ie the request of a user to trigger the automatic movement of the drawer 4 by the furniture drive. The sensor 30 can be designed as a motion sensor and / or a position sensor. Known and suitable functional principles for the Sensor 30 are based on an inductive, capacitive, optical, acoustic, piezoelectric or mechanical interaction of the sensor 30 with the moving furniture part or attached to this furniture part sensor reference element. The latter can be, for example, a magnet or a mirror or the like, depending on the underlying sensor principle.

Alternatively or in addition to the mounting location shown, the sensor 30 or another sensor may also be arranged on the side wall 2 of the furniture 1. For example, as a sensor and a touch sensor can be used, the z. B. incorporated in the front panel or a handle of the movable furniture part and detects a movement request of the user by means of a touch.

In another embodiment as shown, a sliding door may be provided as a movable furniture part, in which case the furniture comprising the sliding door is equipped with a furniture drive for automatic sliding door operation, according to the invention a control device, a drive unit connected therewith and also with The sensor connected to the control device comprises.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the control device 10 and its connection to the drive unit 20 and the sensor 30. In FIG. 2, only relevant elements are shown in the context of the application. Of course, existing components of the drive unit, e.g. Power units and power supply lines to the individual elements are not reproduced.

The control device 10 comprises a control unit 110, a unit 120 for processing a generator signal G, which is provided by the drive unit 20, and a unit 130 for processing a sensor signal S, which is provided by the sensor 30.

The unit 120 for processing the generator signal G has a filter 122 for filtering the generator signal G, which is supplied to an input 121 of the control device 10 on. The filter 122 is used to filter out unwanted desired components from the generator signal G. Such unwanted components may be high-frequency components or components at the mains frequency of 50 or 60 hertz. The filter 122 can be designed, for example, as a low-pass filter and thus have a smoothing effect. In addition to a purely passive filter function, the filter 122 can also serve to amplify the generator signal G. Downstream of the filter is a threshold generator 123 for the filtered generator signal G, at the output of which a logic signal with two switching levels is output. This logic signal is referred to below as Generatorbinärsignal G '. Its logic level is dependent on whether the height of the generator signal G is below or above a predetermined switching threshold. Preferably, the threshold value switch 123 is provided with a switching hysteresis, by which a safe switching is achieved with switching states defined at any time.

The drive unit 20 has an electric drive motor 21 and a motor control 22, which is connected to a control output 111 of the control unit 110. Control signals for operating the drive motor 21 can be transmitted to the motor control 22 via this control output 111. These control signals may relate to, for example, a direction of rotation and a rotational speed or a braking behavior. Furthermore, the drive unit 20 can be set to an operating state in which the terminals of the drive motor 21 are connected to the input 121 of the control device 10. A caused by a user movement of the drawer 4 leads to a rotation of the drive motor 21 and for generating a generator voltage by the drive motor 21, which is supplied in this operating state as the generator signal G of the unit 120. If the height of the generator signal G exceeds the

Threshold of the threshold switch 123 corresponding value, this sets the Generatorbinärsignal G 'at its output to an active level, eg to logic "1". In addition, a movement of the drawer 4 leads to a change in a sensor signal S emitted by the sensor 30. This sensor signal S is fed via an input 131 to the unit 130 for processing the sensor signal S. The unit 130 comprises a filter 132 for the sensor signal S which, in a manner similar to the filter 122 for the generator signal G, has undesired frequency components. components out of the sensor signal S and is preferably designed as a smoothing low-pass filter. The output of the filter 132 is fed to a threshold switch 123 for the sensor signal S and to another threshold switch 134 for the sensor signal S. Both threshold value switches 133, 134 basically operate in a manner comparable to the threshold value switch 123 for the generator signal G. Depending on the size of the sensor signal S, they provide a logic signal at their output which is further processed by the control unit 110. The signal at the output of the threshold switch 133 is referred to below as the sensor binary signal S 'and the output of the further threshold value switch 134 is referred to below as the trigger signal T. The two Schwelienwertschalter 133 and 134 differ in the level of their switching threshold. The further threshold value switch 134 has a lower switching threshold than the threshold value switch 133. Both threshold value switches 133, 134 are preferably provided with a switching hysteresis for the reasons stated above.

It should be noted that the assignment of individual components to the control device 10, drive unit 20 or the sensor 30 does not necessarily have to take place as indicated in the illustrated embodiment. For example, in alternative embodiments, the engine controller 22 may be part of the controller 10 and not the drive unit 20. Conversely, it is conceivable that, for example, the filter 122 for the generator signal G and / or the Schwelienwertschalter 123 for the generator signal G is part of the drive unit 20 and not the control device 10. Furthermore, it is possible, for example, that the sensor 30 has an integrated evaluation electronics and the filter 132 for the sensor signal S is not provided in the control device 10 but in the sensor 30.

The task of the control unit 110 is to evaluate the sensor binary signal S ', the generator binary signal G' and the trigger signal T and to actuate the drive motor 21 of the drive unit 20 in response to these signals via the control output 111 and the motor controller 22.

For this purpose, first the trigger signal T is taken into account. Only when this signal is active, an evaluation and processing of the signals S 'and G' takes place. This is in particular for a realization of the control unit 110 by a program-controlled flow control, for. B, a Mikrocontrolier, of importance, Such a sequence control can be used to control several furniture drives. If the sequential control can not handle the tasks presented at the same time with high time resolution, it is advantageous in a main routine for event processing to first only regularly check the status of the event

Triggersignals T query, and only in the presence of an active level of this signal in a subroutine for event processing: to branch, in which for a given period, the signals S 'and G' are read in and processed. In this subroutine, a logical AND is made between the sensor binary signal S 'and the generator binary signal G'. Only when both signals are simultaneously at an active level, the control unit 110 outputs a corresponding signal for actuating the drive motor 21 of the drive unit 20 via the control output 111. If, within the predetermined time period, such a situation in which the sensor binary signal S 'and the generator binary signal G' are active has not arrived, the program control returns to the main routine of event processing without the drive unit 20 being triggered. The motor controller 22 is preferably configured so that the voltage applied to the terminals of the drive motor 21 during operation of the engine is not output as a generator signal G. After a completed automatic movement of the drawer 4, a time delay is advantageously provided until the control unit sets the engine control unit 22 back into the operating state in which the generator signal G is output. Alternatively or additionally, a reaction of the control unit 110 to an active trigger signal T can also be suppressed during this time delay. The time delay is preferably chosen to be sufficiently long that all moving elements can completely come to rest again after a completed automatic movement.

The drive motor 21 acting as a generator for detecting movement has sufficient sensitivity to detect a movement, however, due to the increased sensitivity of a movement detection by the sensor. When compared with the drive motor 21, the sensor signal S is higher resolution than the generator signal G, for example, several bits wide in the case of a digital signal, and thus allows a detailed evaluation due to the larger information content, for example, the path change. At the same time, however, the sensor 30 or its sensor signal S is more sensitive to electromagnetic interference than the drive motor 21 or its generator signal G functioning as a generator. Such disturbances can arise, for example, due to the operation of devices that are not sufficiently shielded and / or interference-suppressed. Furthermore, the sensor 30 is sensitive to unwanted movements of the movable furniture part, eg. B. Vibratory movements that were not made by a user to initiate an automatic movement. Both the trigger signal T and the sensor binary signal S 'can easily assume an active level, without any movement of the movable furniture part intended by the user.

According to the invention, however, a triggering of the movement of the drive unit 20 takes place only when simultaneously with the sensor binary signal S 'and the generator generator signal G' indicates a movement intent. An unwanted triggering of a movement is thus prevented.

In an alternative embodiment of the control device, only a threshold value switch 133 for the sensor signal S is provided. A trigger signal T is not generated. In such a case, the sensor binary signal S 'is AND'd continuously with the generator binary signal G' and not only for a certain period of time started by the triggering signal T.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 furniture

2 side wall

3 rear wall

4 movable furniture part (eg 8th drawer or sliding door) 5 frame

6 flashback

7 soil

10 control device

20 drive unit

21 drive motor

22 engine control

30 sensor G generator signal

G 'generator binary signal

S sensorsigna]

S 'sensor binary signal

T trigger signal

110 control unit

120 unit for processing the generator signal G

121 input for the generator signal G

122 filters for the generator signal G

123 threshold switch for the generator signal G

130 unit for processing the sensor signal S

131 input for the sensor signal S

132 filter for the sensor signal S

133 threshold switch for the sensor signal S

134 further threshold value switch for sensor signal S.

Claims

claims

1. A method for driving a furniture drive having at least one drive unit (20) with an electric drive motor (21) for moving a movable furniture part (4), comprising the steps of:

- Detecting and evaluating a sensor signal S of a sensor (30) for detecting a movement request of a user for the movable furniture part (4);

- Detecting and evaluating a generator signal G, which is generated by the drive motor (21) and provided by the drive unit (20) and

- Triggering an actuation of the drive unit (20) when the sensor signal S indicates a movement request and the generator signal

G indicates a movement of the movable furniture part (4).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor (30) for detecting a caused by a user movement of the movable furniture part (4) is suitable.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sensor (30) is a position and / or motion sensor.

4. Method according to. Claim 1, wherein the sensor (30) is a touch sensor.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein for the evaluation of the generator signal (G) is filtered and compared with a predetermined threshold value.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein for the evaluation, the sensor signal (S) is filtered and compared with a predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein based on a comparison of the filtered sensor signal (S) with another predetermined threshold, a trigger signal (T) is generated, and in which a comparison of the sensor signal S and the generator signal (G) only within a predetermined period of time is performed after a change of the trigger signal (T) to an active level.

8. control device (10) for a furniture drive, the at least one drive unit (20) with an electric drive motor (21) for moving a movable furniture part (4) and a sensor (30) for detecting a movement request of a user for the movable furniture part (4), characterized in that the control device (10) for implementing the method according to one of claims 1 to 7 is set up.

9. Control device (10) according to claim 8, comprising at least one filter (122, 132) for smoothing the generator signal (G) and / or the sensor signal (S).

10. Control device (10) according to claim 8 or 9, comprising at least one threshold value switch (123, 133) for generating a generator binary signal (G ') and / or a sensor binary signal (S') from the generator signal (G) and / or the sensor signal ( S), wherein the generator binary signal (G ') and / or the sensor binary signal (S') during a movement of the movable furniture part (4) have a logically active level.

11. Control device (10) according to any one of claims 8 to 10, comprising a further threshold value switch (134) for generating a

Trigger signal (T) from the sensor signal (S), wherein the trigger signal (T) during a movement of the furniture part (4) has a logically active level.

12. Control device (10) according to claims 10 and 11, wherein the further threshold value switch (134) has a lower switching threshold as the threshold switch (133) for generating the sensor binary signal (S ').

13. Control device (10) according to any one of claims 8 to 12, comprising a sequence control and program components.