Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
  • G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
  • G06F3/0412—Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
  • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
  • G06F1/1601—Constructional details related to the housing of computer displays, e.g. of CRT monitors, of flat displays
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/00 - G06F3/048
  • G06F2203/041—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/041 - G06F3/045
  • G06F2203/04103—Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an interface module, in particular for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle and the control of functions of the latter, more particularly with a touch screen.
• an interface module for the control of the functions of a vehicle, such as the navigation assistant, the illumination of the passenger compartment, the air conditioning or the car radio, it is known to use interface modules using a sensor of the vehicle. support such as a touch screen.
• Said touch screen is advantageously coupled to a display screen visible through said touch screen to form an interface module known as a touch screen.
• the spacing between the touch screen and the display screen on which it is superimposed conditions the quality of the display module obtained. More said spacing is large, and the risk increases that during an observation at an oblique angle the selection areas to display on the screen no longer correspond with the effective control areas by pressing the touch screen. In addition, during said observation at an oblique angle, non-aesthetic technical parts are likely to be perceived by the user. With said spacing also increase undesirable effects of blurring of the image.
• an interface module comprising:
• a touch-sensitive, transparent panel capable of detecting a user's support
• a display screen disposed behind the touch screen and cooperating with said touch-sensitive panel to form a touch screen
• a front frame having an outer periphery and an internal rim, defining in the interior space of the front frame a front housing and a rear housing,
• the touch screen is disposed inside the front housing and the display screen is disposed within the rear housing. This arrangement allows in particular to control the space between said touch screen and said screen while assembling the touch screen into an easily manipulable element for the rest of the assembly.
• the interface module according to the invention may furthermore have one or more of the following characteristics, taken alone or in combination.
• the touch screen and the display screen are held by gluing against the inner rim.
• this gluing means may be a double-sided adhesive, glue reacts to ultraviolet or silicone-based glue.
• the bonding means will preferably be a silicone bead.
• the front frame can be made of magnesium.
• magnesium makes it possible to control well the critical dimensions which make it possible to obtain an interface presenting a good level of quality.
• the use of magnesium makes it possible to obtain an internal rim of very small thickness while providing sufficient rigidity for good mechanical cohesion of the assembly.
• the small thickness of the internal rim minimizes the spacing between the screen and the touch screen and thus increase the quality of the optical system formed by the touch screen and the screen.
• the thickness of the inner flange is in a range extending from 0.35 to 0.5 mm.
• the thickness of the inner rim is 0.4 mm.
• a free gap is between the outer circumference of the touch screen and the face inside the outer perimeter of the frame that receives it.
• magnesium also makes it possible to control the size of the outer periphery of the frame that receives the touch screen so that the free interval, located between the outer periphery of the frame and the touch screen, is as regular as possible.
• the length of this free range is in a range extending from 0.7 to 0.9 mm.
• the length of this free gap is 0.8 mm.
• magnesium still provides a very good surface quality at the outer portion of the frame visible to the user. Thus, at the free space between the frame and the touch screen, there will be no or very little apparent discontinuity when this area will be covered for example by a polarizing film.
• the use of magnesium thus makes it possible to obtain a "flush" control facade, that is to say smooth, with no apparent frame in relief to delimit the outline of the screen.
• the front frame is connected to the electrical ground.
• magnesium frame also provides good protection of the touch screen, screen and electronics against ESD type electrostatic discharge. For this, simply connect the front frame to the electrical ground of the interface module, a solution that is not possible in the case of a plastic frame.
• the magnesium frame will preferably be made by means of an injection molding process.
• the touch screen is covered by a polarizing film forming a front surface of the interface module, said polarizing film being further glued on the periphery of the front frame so as to close the front housing.
• the film thus closes the front housing, and forms a frontal surface that can also easily be decorated by serigraphy.
• It further comprises a housing bottom, closing the rear housing, and having protuberances on a bottom surface closing said rear housing. It comprises fasteners passing through the case bottom and cooperating with the periphery of the front frame to compress the protuberances by fixing the front frame and the case bottom. Under the effect of the clamping, the protuberances are compressed thus allowing the retrofit of mounting sets and the reduction of noise when the interface module is subjected to vibrations.
• the fasteners comprise, for example, self-drilling screws passing through the bottom of the casing and engaged with the periphery of the front frame.
• a printed circuit forming an electronic interface between the touch screen and the display screen, arranged in the rear housing,
• a plate arranged behind the display screen, and fixed to said display screen by second bindings
• said plate can be arranged between the display screen and the printed circuit.
• said plate comprises positioning means forming supports for the printed circuit.
• these positioning means are stamped pads from said plate.
• the metal plate allows in particular to position the screen in the interface module in a solid and compact manner.
• the plate can be engaged with fasteners of the case bottom and the front frame.
• the cooperation of the plate with the fasteners makes it possible to reinforce the structure of the interface module, in particular with respect to the vibrations.
• the plate can be a stamped and cut aluminum plate.
• Aluminum is a light metal and easily deformable, the process of stamping and cutting is fast and offers good geometric accuracy.
• the stamped pads can be arranged vis-a-vis the protuberances of the case bottom.
• the protuberances and the stamped pads pinch the printed circuit without exerting efforts that may deform or break said printed circuit.
• FIG. 1 schematically shows an interface module according to In a first embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows an interface module according to a second embodiment of the invention
• FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c show in greater detail a portion of the case bottom. for an interface module according to the invention.
• Figure 1 is shown schematically an interface module according to a particular embodiment of the invention.
• the interface module 1 here comprises a touch screen 3, transparent and placed in front of a display screen 5.
• the touch screen 3 is configured to detect a support of a user, in Particularly in the context of navigation in a menu displayed on the display screen 5, for example for the control of vehicle functions, such as air conditioning, car radio and / or navigation assistance.
• vehicle functions such as air conditioning, car radio and / or navigation assistance.
• the touch surface 3 and the display screen 5 thus cooperate to form a touch screen.
• the technology of the touch-sensitive panel 3 may for example be resistive or capacitive, and the display screen 5 may be in the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD) or light-emitting diode (TFT) screen.
• LCD liquid crystal display
• TFT light-emitting diode
• the interface module 1 comprises a front frame 7, comprising a periphery 7a forming an outer frame for the interface module 1.
• the inner surface of the front frame 7 carries an inner rim 7b delimiting in the interior space of the front frame 7 two housings, respectively before 8a and rear 8b.
• the touch screen 3 is disposed in the front housing 8a, and the display screen 5 is disposed in the rear housing 8b.
• the touch screen 3 and the display screen 5 may be glued to the inner rim 7b for example by means of a thin silicone bead 9 and further forming a seal.
• the spacing between the touch screen 3 and the display screen 5 is reduced to the thickness added to the internal rim 7b and the two silicone cords 9.
• the thickness of the silicone bead 9 adjusts during the assembly so as to absorb a part of the dimension variations of the parts of the interface module 1.
• the silicone used is indicated for this purpose in that it allows to seal the space between the rear surfaces of the touch screen 3 and the front surface of the display screen 5. This prevents the deposition of vapor on said surfaces, and thus the appearance of a blur of the elements displayed on the display screen 5.
• silicone has the advantage over, in particular, the Foams, that it can be compressed to a much lesser thickness without losing its adhesive properties, sealing and elasticity. This further reduces the spacing between the touch screen 3 and the underlying display screen 5.
• the touch screen 3 and the display screen 5 glued to the front frame 7 form an easily manipulable element when mounting the interface module 1.
• the front frame 7 is advantageously made of magnesium, which makes it possible in particular to obtain a thickness of the inner rim 7b which is very thin, that is to say within a value range which extends from 0.35 to 0, 5 mm.
• the thickness of the inner flange is 0.4 mm. This thin thickness of the internal rim is obtained because of the precision of the injection molding or magnesium machining processes.
• the surface of the front frame 7 is advantageously covered with a thin layer of dark varnish, allowing on the one hand to avoid corrosion of said front frame 7, and on the other hand to make said front frame 7 discreet or imperceptible when the Display screen 5 is off.
• Said thin layer is for example deposited by cataphoresis.
• the interface module 1 may comprise a polarizing film 11, which covers the upper surface of the touch screen 3 and is also bonded to the front face of the perimeter 7a of the front frame 7, so as to close the front housing 8a containing the 3.
• the polarizing film 11 thus isolates the touch screen 3 of external elements such as moisture and dust, while providing better visibility.
• the silicone bead 9 is compressed between the internal rim 7b and the touch-sensitive panel 9 until the upper part of the touch-sensitive panel and the upper part of the periphery 7a of the front frame 7 are on the same plan.
• the polarizing film 11 which covers both the touch screen and the upper part of the periphery 7a is then plane, and can easily and aesthetically be integrated in, for example, a vehicle interior.
• the polarizing film 11 may be decorated, in particular by screen printing, for example by printing a frame delimiting the touch screen obtained by the superposition of the touch screen 3 and the display screen 5. choosing for the front frame 7 and the screen-printed frame of the polarizing film 11 a black or more generally dark color corresponding to the color of the display screen 5 extinguished, said front frame 7 and the screen-printed frame are relatively indistinguishable from the screen display 5 when off, thus improving the integration of the interface module 1 in the passenger compartment.
• the interface module also comprises a housing bottom 13, forming the rear facade of the interface module 1 and closing the rear housing 8b.
• the case bottom 13 may in particular be made by molding a plastic, polymer or composite material, for example a polycarbonate / acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PC / ABS) mixture.
• Said housing bottom 13 in particular comprises protrusions, here in the form of spikes 15 elastically deformable, on its bottom surface vis-à-vis the rear housing 8b.
• pins 15 are, during assembly, compressed here against the display screen 5, and at least partially compensate for dimensional variations of the elements in the rear housing 8b.
• the compressed nubs further absorb some of the vibration to which the interface module components 1 may be subjected.
• the case bottom embodiment 13 of FIG. 1 here comprises a bottom periphery 13a and a bottom surface 13b.
• the interface module 1 comprises fasteners 17 of the bottom periphery 13a, here screws and pre-drills for the passage of said screws through the housing bottom 13, cooperating by power take-off with the front frame 7.
• the fasteners 17 may comprise for example rivets, riveted rods. These fasteners 17 make it possible to clamp the compression of the pins 15 against the display screen 5 situated in front of them, here the display screen 5, so as to compensate at least partially the dimensional variations of the elements placed in the rear housing 8b.
• the interface module 1 thus obtained is easily assembled, solid and at least part of the variations of the dimension chains is compensated. In particular, elements with more dimension variations, and therefore potentially less expensive to produce can be used without larger games result.
• the space 40 between the touch screen 3 and the display screen is reduced, which reduces the effects of blurring created by this spacing, and to increase the maximum viewing angle formed between the input field by pressing and the displayed field.
• the angle of observation a is here defined by the observation axis of an observer with the normal at the front surface of the interface module 1.
• FIG. 2 illustrates a second embodiment of interface module 1 according to the invention.
• This embodiment differs from that shown in FIG. 1 in that its interface module also comprises a printed circuit 19.
• Said printed circuit 19 is relatively flat, including in particular a flat resin body, on which are arranged electronic elements connected by metal conductive tracks thus forming the electronic circuit.
• the printed circuit 19, to remain invisible, is placed behind the display screen 5, in the rear housing 8b.
• Such a printed circuit 19 is used in particular to form an interface between the touch screen 3 and the screen 5, to allow their cooperation to obtain a touch screen.
• the interface module 1 of Figure 2 also differs from that shown in Figure 1 in that it comprises a plate 21 forming a support, placed in the rear housing 8b.
• Said plate 21 is advantageously metallic and in particular an aluminum plate, stamped and cut. To avoid galvanic corrosion with magnesium, the plate is made of "noble aluminum".
• the plate 21 is disposed between the screen 5 and the housing bottom 13.
• the plate 21 has second fasteners 23, here screws, fixing the display screen 5 to the metal plate 21.
• the metal plate 21 further comprises stamped pads 25, directed rearward and pressing the circuit board 19.
• the stamped pads 25 may advantageously be placed opposite the pins 15, so as to pinch the printed circuit 19 with said pins 15, to cancel efforts that could lead to bending or the rupture of said printed circuit 19.
• the plate 21 is arranged and dimensioned so as to be taken between the periphery 7a of the outer frame 7 and the bottom periphery 13a of the case bottom 13.
• the fasteners 17 holding the front frame 7 and the case bottom 13 can compress these to hold said plate 21 in position.
• said fasteners 17 comprise screws or other equivalent elongated element, said screws may advantageously pass through the plate 21, which may then include pre-drills for this purpose.
• the plate 21 allows, when made of metal, to dissipate heat produced by the elements of the rear housing 8b.
• metal such as magnesium
• the heat is dispersed by radiation effect on a larger surface.
• the touch screen 3 is positioned in the front housing 8a formed in the outer periphery 7a of the front frame 7.
• the touch screen is positioned centrally in this housing 8a so that a A regular free interval 50 is made between the outer periphery 52 of the touch screen and the inner face 51 of the outer periphery 7a delimiting the housing 8a.
• the polarizing film 11 covers this free gap 50, it must not be too large.
• FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c show in more detail particular embodiments of pins 15 for the case bottom 13 of an interface module 1 according to the invention.
• FIG 3a, 3b, 3c is shown a portion of the bottom surface 13b with a pin 15.
• the bottom surface 13b has a pin 27 protruding from the bottom surface 13 towards the front.
• the pin 15 is then overmolded on the pin 27, for example by injection of an elastomeric thermoplastic (TPE).
• TPE elastomeric thermoplastic
• the pin 27 then increases the contact area between the thermoplastic and the bottom surface 13b.
• the bottom surface 13b has a rib 29, and the pin 15 is again obtained by overmolding, in particular by injection of an elastomeric thermoplastic.
• the rib 29 also increases the contact area between the thermoplastic and the bottom surface 13b.
• FIG 3c a pin similar to that of Figure 3a.
• Said pin 15 further comprises flat areas 31 at the periphery of its base.
• These flat areas 31 are relatively thin layers of thermoplastic elastomer obtained by overmolding. Again, the flat areas 31 make it possible to increase the contact area between the thermoplastic and the bottom surface 13b.
• the pins 15 are of trapezoidal section shape, for a better distribution of compression forces, and in particular to avoid folding or twisting of said pins 15.
• the architecture of the interface module 1 according to the invention makes it possible to make up for variations in the rib chains, in particular with the fasteners 17 which compress the elements against the elastically deformable pins 15.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Position Input By Displaying (AREA)
• Switches That Are Operated By Magnetic Or Electric Fields (AREA)
• Switch Cases, Indication, And Locking (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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• 2013
  • 2013-03-29 FR FR1300735A patent/FR3003963B1/fr active Active
• 2014
  • 2014-03-28 EP EP14726669.6A patent/EP2979153A2/de not_active Ceased
  • 2014-03-28 JP JP2016504718A patent/JP6524062B2/ja active Active
  • 2014-03-28 US US14/781,062 patent/US9939939B2/en active Active
  • 2014-03-28 CN CN201480027804.9A patent/CN105992982A/zh active Pending
  • 2014-03-28 WO PCT/FR2014/000067 patent/WO2014154956A2/fr not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (2)

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