Operating device with two-dimensional dialogue movement

An operating device with a two-dimensional dialogue movement for selecting and calling functions and groups of functions, especially for use in motor vehicles. The dialogue can be moved in a first dimension by rotating a rotary switch that is in a first axial position. The dialogue can be moved in a second dimension by turning the rotary switch which is in a second axial position. The selected functions or groups of functions can be called by another switch. A device feeds back the selected functions or groups of functions optically, acoustically, and/or haptically.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to an operating device with two-dimensional dialogue 
movement to select and call functions and groups of functions, especially 
for use in motor vehicles. 
It is known from the prior art to enter commands in data processing systems 
by using typewriter keyboards with additional control keys. Especially in 
personal computers (PCs), it is conventional to represent functions and 
groups of functions on a screen by appropriate icons and to select them by 
means of an indicating marker (cursor) that can be moved across the screen 
in the horizontal and/or vertical direction, and to call them by actuating 
a particular switch (carriage return or CR for example). In this case, the 
cursor can be moved horizontally and vertically across the screen by 
operating four arrow keys. This procedure is time-consuming and 
cumbersome, however. For this reason, a hand-held pointing device, a 
so-called mouse, is frequently employed. The movement of the cursor across 
the screen is produced by sliding the mouse on a flat surface in the 
desired direction that corresponds to the position on the screen. When the 
cursor is on the desired icon, the function represented by the icon can be 
selected by pressing a button and thereby executed. 
The use of a mouse, however, can only be recommended on flat, even 
surfaces. On uneven surfaces, considerable attention and skill are 
required on the part of the operator to align the cursor with the desired 
icon. In addition, the surface over which the mouse is moved must have a 
considerable area. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an input device for 
two-dimensional dialogue movement that is simple to operate and does not 
require a vibration-free base. 
This object is achieved by an operating device with a rotary switch in 
which the dialogue can be moved in a first dimension by rotating a rotary 
switch (DS) in a first axial position and can be moved in a second 
dimension by rotating the rotary switch in a second axial position. The 
selected function or group of functions can be called by an additional 
switch and displayed optically, acoustically, and/or haptically by a 
suitable device. 
It is advantageous in this regard for the rotary switch to require only a 
small amount of space and to be integrated readily into an electronic 
device or into a motor vehicle. Because of its small size, it is also 
advantageous in motor vehicles for an installation location to be found 
that can be reached easily by the driver, and thus adversely affects the 
driver to only a limited extent in guiding the motor vehicle. 
If the axial change of the rotary switch from the first axial position to 
the second axial position is accomplished by applying pressure, operation 
becomes especially simple for the operator since the operator is only 
required to add an additional load by applying the weight of his/her hand. 
Furthermore, an elastic element urges the rotary switch (DS) flexibly into 
a first axial position. 
The dialogue can be moved in the second dimension by pressing and 
simultaneously turning the rotary switch. 
By virtue of the fact that the additional switch can be operated by 
pressing or pulling the rotary switch, and the selected functions or 
groups of functions are called by a bi-directional actuation of the rotary 
switch in the axial direction, operability is further simplified since all 
of the inputs can be performed with one hand without changing the 
operating element, and the dimensional movement is changed by an axial 
change in the rotary switch. 
Provided the rotary switch outputs haptic feedback information, the 
operator can sense information about the position through the feedback 
that he would otherwise have to obtain optically from the screen or would 
have to obtain acoustically. The fact that the haptic feedback information 
differs as a function of the axial position and/or radial position of the 
rotary switch means that the user, without looking at a screen, can 
determine when the operating device switches from the first dimension to 
the second dimension. 
Likewise, depending on the functional value, function, or group of 
functions, the user can obtain different haptic feedback information 
through his fingers that operate the rotary switch, as to which function 
and group of functions he is currently selecting without having to pay 
attention to acoustic or optic information. 
By displaying the functional values, functions, or groups of functions that 
can be selected and called on a display, the operator obtains quick 
information about the functions that can be selected at the moment, and 
about the adjacent functions that can be selected and/or called. 
An optical highlighting of the selected functions or groups of functions 
further simplifies operation and increases clarity. 
There are further features, namely, the selected function or group of 
functions which can be displayed with highlighting. 
The selected function or groups of functions can be displayed optically 
highlighted. 
A map or a portion of a map can be shown on a display. 
Geographic points can be selected by means of a two-dimensional movable 
cursor. 
In order for the names of the selected or called geographic locations or 
points to be displayable on a map shown on a display, a clear 
representation is possible without the representation being overloaded 
with too much information that is not required. By using horizontal and 
vertical display bars that extend over the entire width and height of the 
map, and which can be adjusted vertically or horizontally, an exact input 
is possible with only one change of dimension, even without practice. 
The dimensional change in the dialogue movement is fed back optically. 
The dimensional change of the dialogue movement is fed back acoustically.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
In FIG. 1, the rotary switch is designed as a haptic rotary positioning 
device DS. In this case, a shaft 1 is connected nonrotationally with a 
handle 2 and a diametrically magnetized disk 3. Two Hall sensors 4 are 
positioned, offset by 90.degree. with respect to one another so that they 
produce different voltages depending on the radial position of the 
diametrically magnetized disk. The shaft 1 is located in a first axial 
position and in this position contacts a switch 5 of the handle 2 when the 
latter is not pressed. When the handle is pressed in the axial direction 
into its second axial position, the shaft is pushed downward at the same 
time into a second axial position and actuates the switch 5. When the 
pressure on the handle in the axial direction is released, a compression 
spring contained in the switch 5 presses on the switch and thus moves the 
shaft 1 and the handle 2 into the first axial position that corresponds to 
the position shown in FIG. 1 
From the voltages generated in the Hall sensors 4, an evaluation and 
control unit 6 determines the position of the diametrically magnetized 
disk and hence of the handle and, depending on the axial position of the 
handle 2, controls a horizontal indicating bar 8 or a vertical indicating 
bar 9 on a display 7. As a result, the respective display bar 8 or 9 is 
displaced vertically or horizontally, corresponding to the rotation of the 
handle. The switch between the individual bars is performed by a simple 
depression or release of the handle 2 of haptic rotary adjusting device 
DS, without an additional menu having to be selected or an additional 
switch having to be actuated. 
When the desired point on the display 7 corresponds to the intersection of 
the two display bars 8, 9, the point can be entered or selected by 
pressing again and then releasing or reducing the axial pressure on the 
handle 2. This requires a minimum expenditure of time and also does not 
require any significant gripping of the handle. It is also possible, when 
"input"="call" for the selected point, to design the rotary switch so that 
it can assume a third axial position that can be reached by pulling on the 
handle 2 in the axial direction and thus for example to design switch 5 so 
that in the third axial position it sends a corresponding signal to the 
evaluation and control unit 6 and also calls the selected point. The use 
of display bars 8, 9 is not limited exclusively to selecting points on 
maps. It is also possible to use the display bars 8, 9 to select letters 
from an alphanumeric menu for example, or to select a desired menu when 
several menus are displayed on a screen 7 by displacing the two display 
bars 8, 9 relative to the corresponding menu. Of course, it is also 
possible, for example, to use a cruciform cursor to indicate the selected 
point on the display 7. However, this requires more concentration and 
practice on the part of the user of the operating device. 
By means of the coils 10, 11, depending on the radial and axial positions 
of the handle 2 and/or of the function or group of functions to be 
selected, a force can be exerted on the diametrically magnetized disk 3 
depending on the radial and axial positions of handle 2 and/or the 
selected function or group of functions. Thereby the feeling of latching 
steps, which can be overcome by different amounts of force being expended, 
or a uniformly easy or difficult operating mode can be conveyed to the 
user. For this purpose, the evaluation and control device 6 controls the 
corresponding required current through the coils 10, 11. Feedback can also 
be provided acoustically to the user through a loudspeaker 12 by using a 
speech module, not shown, or the evaluation and control device 6. 
In the routine shown in FIG. 2, the event, in other words the information 
from the rotary switch DS, is checked initially in block 20. If it was 
only turned, in block 21 the command is sent to the display 7 to move the 
dialogue horizontally, in other words, the vertical display bar 9 is 
displaced horizontally corresponding to the rotational angle determined If 
the switch is then pressed, block 22 waits for an additional event. If 
block 22 determines that the event was "rotated," the command is sent in 
block 23 to the display 7 to move the dialogue vertically, i.e. the 
horizontal display bar 8 is displaced vertically as a function of the 
rotational angle of the handle 2 that was determined. If it is then 
released, a new event that arrives is checked in block 20. If the event is 
determined to have been "pressed," block 22 waits for another event 
As soon as the event "released" is determined to have occurred, the 
function or group of functions previously selected by the horizontal and 
vertical dialogue movement is called in block 24. In the example shown in 
the figure therefore, the point or the location is determined by the 
intersection of the display bars 8, 9 on the map of the display 7. If the 
event "rotated and pressed" is determined in block 20 to have occurred, 
the function or group of functions that has just been selected is 
determined in block 24. 
In the example shown in FIG. 3, the handle 25 of the rotary switch and the 
display 26 are accommodated in a common housing 27. An alphanumeric menu 
for selection of letters and numbers is displayed in the lower area of the 
display 26. A name is input as follows: 
The letters of the desired name are selected by moving the rectangular 
cursor by turning and pressing the handle 25 and called by pressing and 
releasing the handle 25. The horizontal displacement is produced by 
turning the rotary switch while the vertical displacement is produced by 
turning and pressing the rotary switch. As soon as a letter has been 
called it is displayed in the upper area of the screen 26, beginning at 
the left. The arrow 29 jumps to the next position to the right for 
entering the next letter after the previous entry has been completed. If 
the desired name is written out in full, the cursor 28 can be moved to the 
"save" field. Then the name can be called by pressing and releasing the 
handle; in other words, it can be entered. If a letter has been entered 
incorrectly, the arrow 29 can be shifted to the desired position by 
selecting and calling the "back" field and deleted either by selecting and 
calling the "delete" field or it can be overwritten by selecting and 
calling the correct letter 
In FIG. 4, the two menus "radio" and "climate" are displayed on the display 
30. The margin 31 of the radio menu is intended to show that this menu is 
emphasized optically, since it has been called. This optical emphasis can 
be in the form of a margin, as shown, a change in color, or a reversal of 
the display mode, for example a change from positive to negative display. 
The radio transmitter HR3 is selected by using the cursor 32. Since the 
menus are shown stacked in FIGS. 4a, 4b, it is possible to switch to the 
other menu by simultaneously rotating and pressing the handle of the 
rotary switch. In FIG. 4b, the function "auto" (=automatic) on the climate 
control menu is then selected, as can be seen from the cursor 33. 
Finally, the operating device according to the invention can be improved in 
such fashion that a menu window can be displaced by simultaneously turning 
and pressing the handle, as shown in FIGS. 5a, 5b. This is especially 
advantageous when additional information, that has been received regarding 
a traffic situation, for example, is displayed in display 34, and covers 
another menu as shown in FIG. 5a.