Smart garnish for automobile

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021086617-A1
Application number	US-202016885971-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 28, 2020
Priority date	Sep 19, 2019
Publication date	Mar 25, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided is a smart garnish installed on an automobile interior material (a door trim, an instrument panel, a console, or the like), and to a smart garnish for an automobile which is driven when a capacitance change is sensed by a pressed deformation of an upper case through a capacitive touch sensor pad formed of a ground (GND) and capacitive touch sensors corresponding to symbols and capacitive force sensors distributed corresponding to the ground and thus the touch and force of the desired symbol are sensed without noise.

First claim

1 . A smart garnish for an automobile comprising:
a case; an upper case, in which a film having symbols printed therein is insert-injection-molded, being coupled to the case in front of the case; a capacitive touch sensor pad laminated on a rear surface of the upper case; a capacitive force sensor pad laminated on a front surface of the case; and a PCB (printed circuit board) mounted in the case, wherein LEDs (light emitting diodes) mounted on the PCB illuminate the symbols, wherein a gap is formed between the capacitive touch sensor pad and the capacitive force sensor pad, wherein the capacitive touch sensor pad includes capacitive touch sensors disposed corresponding to the symbols, and a ground (GND) disposed spaced apart from the capacitive touch sensor, and wherein the capacitive force sensor pad includes capacitive force sensors distributed corresponding to the ground (GND).

2 . The smart garnish for an automobile of claim 1 ,
wherein: a surface and the rear surface of the upper case are formed of a three-dimensional (3D) curved surface and a flat surface; the film is installed on the surface of the upper case; and the capacitive touch sensor pad is installed on the flat surface of the upper case.

3 . The smart garnish for an automobile of claim 2 ,
wherein the case includes: a case body in which the PCB is mounted; a cover configured to cover a back surface of the case body; and a case holder disposed on a front surface of the case body, wherein the upper case is assembled on the case holder, and wherein a haptic actuator configured to vibrate the case holder relative to the case body is mounted in the case.

4 . The smart garnish for an automobile of claim 3 , further comprising a restoring spring configured to elastically restore the case holder relative to the case body.

5 . The smart garnish for an automobile of claim 4 ,
wherein the restoring spring is a plate spring, wherein an end of the plate spring is coupled to the case body and another end of the plate spring is coupled to the case holder, and wherein the plate spring includes: a front horizontal plate spring installed at the case body; a back horizontal plate spring installed at the case holder; and a vertical plate spring configured to connect the front and back horizontal plate springs.

6 . The smart garnish for an automobile of claim 5 , further comprising a diffusion sheet disposed between the capacitive force sensor pad and the case holder.

7 . The smart garnish for an automobile of claim 6 ,
wherein: through-holes through which a light from the LEDs passes are formed on a front surface of the case holder; and light guide tubes configured to connect the LEDs and the through-holes are formed in the case holder.

Assignees

• Seoyon E Hwa Co Ltd
• Seoyon America Corp

Inventors

• Jeon Chong Hwan

Classifications

• H03K17/962 Primary

  Capacitive touch switches · CPC title

• B60K35/25

  using haptic output · CPC title

• B60K35/50

  Instruments characterised by their means of attachment to or integration in the vehicle (B60K35/231 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K35/60

  Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10) · CPC title

• B60K35/10

  Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor · CPC title