Patents Assigned to Behr-Hella Thermocontrol GmbH
  • Patent number: 12087519
    Abstract: The operating unit for a vehicle includes an operating element having an operating surface movable in an actuating direction from a rest position into a function-triggering position and from the function-triggering position back to the rest position by means of depressing. A parallel guiding device ensures that the operating surface moves in parallel. The parallel guiding device is provided with at least one pair of engaging first and second levers which are mounted in an articulated manner with play on support elements being in turn connected to the operating element. The support elements are axially guided on a carrier element. The levers are pivotably mounted on bearing blocks, substantially free of play, so that the operating element behaves substantially free of play in directions transverse to the depressing movement. The parallel guiding device is designed in compliance with tolerances that are comparatively easy to realize in terms of manufacture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Fust
  • Patent number: 12013289
    Abstract: A device for measuring the temperature in the interior of a vehicle is provided. The device includes an interior temperature sensor arranged at and/or in a plug-in end of a plug-in housing. The interior temperature sensor projects beyond the plug-in end of the plug-in housing. The plug-in housing is biased away from a cover element for assuming a defined plug-in position of the plug-in housing when the plug-in end of the plug-in housing is plugged into a receiving space of the latter and the interior temperature sensor is arranged in the through-going opening of the cover element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventor: Holger Kleine-Hollenhorst
  • Patent number: 11981204
    Abstract: The operating unit comprises an operating element which is adapted to be mechanically excited by means of a piezo driver. The piezo driver comprises a piezo actuator made from a piezoelectric material. The longitudinal extension ends of the piezo actuator have mechanically coupled thereto a conversion gear for converting a length change of the piezo actuator occurring in the effective direction of the piezo actuator into a movement of an element, which is coupled to the conversion gear and to be moved, at an angle not equal to 0 degree relative to the longitudinal extension of the piezo actuator. The conversion gear comprises a first bracket which is of an elastic configuration and/or comprises an elastic material and which, in the area of the longitudinal extension ends of the piezo actuator, is mechanically coupled to the latter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Pasi Kemppinen, Stefan Kirsch
  • Patent number: 11966253
    Abstract: The display device (12) for a vehicle is provided with a display (18) having a display surface (20) on a front side and having a rear side facing away from the latter and a cover screen (14) arranged in front of the display surface (20). Furthermore, the display device (12) has a decorative frame (16) which is connected to the edge of the cover screen (14) and protrudes on all sides over the edge of the display (18), and a rear-side housing shell (17) which has a rear wall (36) with an edge web (38) rising from the latter. The rear wall (36) of the housing shell (17) is arranged at a distance from the rear side of the display (18), wherein the edge web (38) of the housing shell (17) is connected to the decorative frame (16) by means of an adhesive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas Hagen, Winfried Fust
  • Patent number: 11961665
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for controlling armature solenoid provided with a DC voltage source (14), at least one buffer capacitor (18), which is connected in parallel to the DC voltage source (14) and has a known capacitance (C), and a first switch (28), which is arranged between the DC voltage source (14) and the buffer capacitor (18). The exciter coil (16) and a second switch (30) arranged in series therewith are connected in parallel to the buffer capacitor (18). A control and evaluation unit (22), when the buffer capacitor (18) is charged, opens the first switch (28) and closes the second switch (30) in order to determine, on the basis of the measurement voltage (20), the frequency of the resonant circuit having the capacitance (C) of the buffer capacitor (18) and the inductance (L) of the armature solenoid (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GmbH
    Inventors: Stefan Kirsch, Bastian Bandlow
  • Patent number: 11953770
    Abstract: The invention relates to a display device having an integrated, optically operating proximity sensor system (76) for detecting an object present within an observation space in front of the display device, such as a hand or a finger of a hand of a person. The display device is provided with a display unit (11) which has a front side (60) having an information-displaying display surface (62) and having an edge region (64), which adjoins said display surface and is not used for the display of information, and a rear side. The display device also has a proximity sensor system (76) having at least one transmitter (78) for emitting sensor radiation towards the observation space and having at least one receiver (74) for receiving sensor radiation reflected from the observation space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Alberto Sanchez Castillo, Tobias Schwab, Willem Hofman, Jeah-Sheng Wu, RĂ¼diger Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11888372
    Abstract: The operating unit for a vehicle is provided with a housing and an operating element elastically mounted in and/or on the housing, wherein the elastically mounted operating element forms a spring-mass system having a construction-related resonance frequency. The operating unit is further provided with an actuator for pulse-shaped mechanical excitation of the operating element, and a control unit for controlling the actuator when manually actuating the operating element. The resonance frequency is, due to construction, above the highest cut-off frequency that can typically still be detected by receptors for haptic feedback and/or for tactile sensation of a person. The frequency spectrum of the mechanical pulse at the resonance frequency and/or at one of the harmonics of the resonance frequency has no frequency components in that the power density spectrum above the cut-off frequency is energy-free or substantially energy-free.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Stefan Kirsch, Pasi Kemppinen
  • Patent number: 11756753
    Abstract: The operating device for a vehicle is provided with a housing having a front wall. At least one operating element is arranged on the front wall and can be manually actuated starting from a rest position for the purpose of entering a command or activating a function. The operating element is associated with a switch having a switching member on which the operating key acts during manual operation. Furthermore, a support element is arranged in the housing at a distance from the operating element, on which support element the switch associated with the operating element is arranged, the support element having a bending bar with an upper side facing the operating element and a lower side facing away from the upper side, and the switch being arranged on the bending bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Holger Kleine-Hollenhorst, Michael Arens
  • Patent number: 11740700
    Abstract: The operating unit for a vehicle comprises a housing with an operating element on the front side, wherein the operating element has a display with a display surface and a cover plate, which defines an operating surface of the operating element, and has at least one projection region projecting laterally over the display, and is elastically laterally moveably mounted on and/or in the housing. An actuator is arranged below the cover plate, said actuator having a drive and a control element driven by the drive. The operating unit is also provided with an elastic actuation arm which protrudes from the cover plate and which is mechanically acted upon by the control element of the actuator at a force application point of the actuation arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Stefan Kirsch, Pasi Kemppinen
  • Patent number: 11691513
    Abstract: The invention relates to an operating unit for a vehicle, provided with an operating element (12) having an operating interface (14) with multiple symbol fields (16), to which are assigned operating functions that can be triggered with the actuation of the operating element (12). The operating element (12) is arranged on a support structure (18) such that it can be pressed down in a resettable manner and by means of an actuation object, in particular by means of the finger of a hand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Matthias Stallein, Winfried Fust, Bastian Bandlow
  • Patent number: 11669188
    Abstract: The operating device for a vehicle is provided with a housing having a front face with a receiving opening being delimited by an opening edge, and having a rear wall, and with an operating element being arranged in the receiving opening at a distance from the opening edge thereof and having an operating surface, said operating element having a front face provided with the operating surface, a rear face, and a delimiting edge region. The operating device further comprises a holding element having a bottom wall and support parts which protrude from the bottom wall and end below the delimiting edge region of the operating element and are mechanically coupled to the operating element in the delimiting edge region. The bottom wall of the holding element has a central region which is spaced from the support parts and within which the bottom wall of the holding element is supported against the rear wall of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventor: Pasi Kemppinen
  • Publication number: 20230104023
    Abstract: The operating device (10,10?) intended to be installed in a vehicle is provided with a housing (12) and an operating element (14,14?) which is movably mounted in and/or on the housing (12) and can be manually transferred from a rest position to a function-triggering position. Furthermore, the operating device (10, 10?) is provided with a switch (22) which is adapted to be actuated by the operating element (14, 14?) when it is manually transferred to the function-triggering position, a holding-force generation unit (26, 26?) for generating a holding force with which the operating element (14, 14?) is held in its rest position, and a control unit (32) for electrically controlling the holding-force generation unit for the purpose of setting the holding force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2021
    Publication date: April 6, 2023
    Applicant: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Dirk NAGEL, Matthias STALLEIN
  • Patent number: 11604532
    Abstract: The invention relates to an operating device for a vehicle, comprising a display with a touch-sensor system for inputting a command and additionally a retaining device which retains the display. The retaining device has a base face and a free area which is defined by support elements protruding from the base face. The operating device is additionally provided with at least one actuation sensor for detecting a bend of the display upon being manually actuated and an analysis unit which is connected to the touch sensor system and the at least one actuation sensor for analyzing the signals of the touch sensor system and the at least one actuation sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Ralph Trapp, Michael Steinkamp
  • Publication number: 20220390784
    Abstract: The invention relates to a display device having an integrated, optically operating proximity sensor system (76) for detecting an object present within an observation space in front of the display device, such as a hand or a finger of a hand of a person. The display device is provided with a display unit (11) which has a front side (60) having an information-displaying display surface (62) and having an edge region (64), which adjoins said display surface and is not used for the display of information, and a rear side. The display device also has a proximity sensor system (76) having at least one transmitter (78) for emitting sensor radiation towards the observation space and having at least one receiver (74) for receiving sensor radiation reflected from the observation space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2020
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Alberto SANCHEZ CASTILLO, Tobias SCHWAB, Willem HOFMAN, Jeah-Sheng WU, RĂ¼diger SCHMIDT
  • Publication number: 20220344112
    Abstract: The operating device (10) for a vehicle is provided with a housing (12) having a front wall (14). At least one operating element (18) is arranged on the front wall (14) and can be manually actuated starting from a rest position for the purpose of entering a command or activating a function. The operating element (18) is associated with a switch (32) having a switching member (36) on which the operating key acts during manual operation. Furthermore, a support element (24) is arranged in the housing (12) at a distance from the operating element (18), on which support element (24) the switch (32) associated with the operating element (18) is arranged, the support element (24) having a bending bar (40) with an upper side (42) facing the operating element (18) and a lower side (44) facing away from the upper side (42), and the switch (32) being arranged on the bending bar.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Applicant: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Holger KLEINE-HOLLENHORST, Michael ARENS
  • Publication number: 20220293376
    Abstract: The invention relates to an operating unit for a vehicle, provided with an operating element (12) having an operating interface (14) with multiple symbol fields (16), to which are assigned operating functions that can be triggered with the actuation of the operating element (12). The operating element (12) is arranged on a support structure (18) such that it can be pressed down in a resettable manner and by means of an actuation object, in particular by means of the finger of a hand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Applicant: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Matthias STALLEIN, Winfried FUST, Bastian BANDLOW
  • Publication number: 20220229465
    Abstract: The display device (12) for a vehicle is provided with a display (18) having a display surface (20) on a front side and having a rear side facing away from the latter and a cover screen (14) arranged in front of the display surface (20). Furthermore, the display device (12) has a decorative frame (16) which is connected to the edge of the cover screen (14) and protrudes on all sides over the edge of the display (18), and a rear-side housing shell (17) which has a rear wall (36) with an edge web (38) rising from the latter. The rear wall (36) of the housing shell (17) is arranged at a distance from the rear side of the display (18), wherein the edge web (38) of the housing shell (17) is connected to the decorative frame (16) by means of an adhesive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Applicant: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas HAGEN, Winfried FUST
  • Publication number: 20220219540
    Abstract: The operating unit (10) for a vehicle is provided with a housing (12) with a front panel (14), which has a recess (16), a display (24) arranged in the housing (12) and having a display area (26), and a fastening device (36) for fastening the display (24) in the housing (12). The fastening device (36) has a holding part (28) for the display (24), which is arranged in the housing (12) so as to be pivotable between a preassembly position and an installation position. The housing (12) also has at least one bearing axle (40). The holding part (28) has at least one bearing shell assembly (32) having at least two gripping-around protrusions (48, 50) for mounting on the bearing axle (40). The bearing axle (40) has a circumferential area along the longitudinal extent and in at least one mounting portion (57) with an outer contour which deviates from a shape complementary to the bearing shell area (52) of the gripping-around protrusions (48, 50) of the at least one bearing shell assembly (32).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2020
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Applicant: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas HAGEN, Udo TREUGUTH
  • Patent number: 11320908
    Abstract: The invention relates to an operating unit for a vehicle, comprising a touchscreen, an actuator for mechanically exciting the touchscreen upon detection of a valid manual actuation of the touchscreen when an operating command is input, and a counterweight. The actuator is designed as a drive unit with a stator and a translator which move in opposite directions either away from each other or towards each other, namely into an end position, starting from a rest position when the drive unit is actuated and which move back into the rest position from the end position after the actuation has ended, in particular in an automatic manner. The stator is coupled to the touchscreen, and the translator is coupled to the counterweight or vice versa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: BEHR-HELLA THERMOCONTROL GMBH
    Inventors: Pasi Kemppinen, Vesa Teikari
  • Patent number: 11314331
    Abstract: The operating unit for a device, in particular for a vehicle component, is provided with a housing (10) that has a control panel (12) and is provided for attaching in an apparatus, in particular a vehicle dashboard or vehicle center console, the control panel (12) being elastically mounted on the housing (10). Furthermore provided is an actuator (16) for mechanically exciting exclusively the control panel (12) when use of the control panel (12) is detected, the control panel forming the front side of a touch-sensitive touch panel (13). Finally, the operating unit also comprises a vibration compensation mass (20) that is mechanically excitable by the or by an actuator (16) when use of the control panel (12) is detected and is elastically mounted in and/or on the housing (10) and is movable to essentially compensate for a movement of the housing (10) when activating the actuator (16) that can mechanically excite the control panel (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Behr-Hella Thermocontrol GmbH
    Inventors: Tobias Schwab, Harri Pankratz