DE102022126124A1 - Glass pane device and motor vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A glass pane device (2) for a motor vehicle is specified, which has a movable glass element (4) that can be moved from a first position to a second position relative to the glass pane device (2) and has an electrical consumer (10). The glass pane device (2) also has a gateway (12) via which the electrical consumer (10) is or can be connected to a control unit (14) of the motor vehicle; a first contact element (16a) which is electrically connected to the gateway (12) and a second contact element (16b) which is designed to correspond to the first contact element (16a) and which is electrically connected to the glass element (4), wherein in the first position the first contact element (16a) and the second contact element (16b) are galvanically coupled to one another so that an electrical connection is formed between the gateway (12) and the electrical consumer (10) and in the second position the first contact element (16a) and the second contact element (16b) are galvanically separated from one another so that the electrical connection between the gateway (12) and the electrical consumer (10) is interrupted.

Description

The invention relates to a glass pane device, in particular for a motor vehicle, and to a motor vehicle with a glass pane device.

Glass pane devices, for example glass sliding roofs, are increasingly used in motor vehicles in particular. Such glass pane devices usually have at least one movable glass element that is movable relative to the entire glass pane device in order to open an opening, preferably in the roof of the motor vehicle. For this purpose, the glass element can be moved from a first position to a second position. The first position corresponds to a closed position in which the glass pane device closes the roof. Analogously, the second position corresponds to an open position and thus an open state of the glass pane device, which is designed as a sliding roof, for example.

Furthermore, electrical consumers are nowadays also arranged or installed in the glass pane device and thus also in the movable glass element. Such electrical consumers can be, for example, LEDs that serve as ambient lighting. In order to control the electrical consumers mentioned and/or to supply them with electrical energy, so-called trailing cables are usually installed, which are "carried along" when the glass element is moved from the first to the second position and vice versa and permanently connect the glass element to, for example, a control unit. However, the designs with the trailing cables have the disadvantage that, on the one hand, more installation space is required and that the trailing cables are mechanically stressed and subject to wear due to the aforementioned carrying along during the opening and closing processes of the glass pane device. Furthermore, the electrical consumers are not automatically switched off by the permanent electrical connection, so that additional components are required for this. Such automatic switching off is desired, for example, when the glass element is in the second position, i.e. in the open state, and the ambient lighting is not necessary.

Based on the above, the invention is based on the object of specifying a glass pane device by means of which the disadvantages mentioned above are overcome.

The object is achieved according to the invention by a glass pane device having the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments, further developments and variants are the subject of the subclaims.

Specifically, the task directed at the glass pane device is solved by a glass pane device, in particular for a motor vehicle, which has a movable glass element (hereinafter referred to simply but not restrictively as just the glass element). The movable glass element can be moved from a first position to a second position relative to the glass pane device. The glass pane device is, for example, a glass sliding roof of the type mentioned at the beginning. The terms “first position” and “second position” can therefore be understood in the sense of this application to mean the “closed position” also mentioned at the beginning as the first position and the “open position” as the second position. It also goes without saying that the glass element can also be moved from the second position back to the first position.

The glass element also has an electrical consumer and a gateway, the electrical consumer being connected or connectable to a control unit of the motor vehicle via the gateway. This preferably bidirectional electrical connection makes it possible to transmit control signals from the control unit to the electrical consumer and vice versa, for example, to transmit sensor signals from the electrical consumer to the control unit. The control unit can be a so-called body control module, for example. A body control module is usually one or more combined control units in motor vehicles that directly or indirectly control or monitor electrical consumers or participants in the on-board network (such as lighting or windshield washer systems). The term “gateway” in the sense of this application can generally be understood to mean a component, in particular an electronic part, that can establish an electrical connection between two systems or other components for an exchange of signals.

The glass pane device has a first contact element that is electrically connected to the gateway. In this context, the term “electrically connected” in the sense of this application can be understood to mean that the first contact element is either connected to the gateway via a wired electrical connection or is arranged (directly) on the gateway, so that the electrical connection is formed, for example, by means of a plug connector. Furthermore, the glass pane device has a formed second contact element which is connected to the glass element. In this context, the term "electrically connected" can be understood in an analogous manner to have the same definition as explained above with reference to the first contact element. As a result, in the first position of the glass element, the first contact element and the second contact element are galvanically coupled to one another, so that an electrical connection is formed between the gateway and the electrical consumer. In other words, in the first position of the glass element, the two contact elements are coupled to one another in the manner of a reversible plug or connector connection to form the electrical connection.

In the second position, the first contact element and the second contact element are galvanically separated from one another, so that the electrical connection between the gateway and the electrical consumer is interrupted. In other words, the electrical connection formed by the two contact elements in the first, i.e. closed, position of the glass element is interrupted when the glass element moves into the second and thus open position (in relation to the above-mentioned embodiment of the glass pane device as a sunroof) or is already in this position. Conversely, the electrical connection is restored when the glass element moves from the second position to the first position and the two contact elements thus make contact again. The term "galvanically separated" in the sense of this application can be understood as the electrotechnical definition of a potential separation between the gateway and the electrical consumer. In this state, there is therefore no electrical connection between these two components. Conversely, the term "galvanically coupled to one another" can be understood to mean exactly the opposite.

The design described above provides a glass pane device that is designed without a trailing cable. In this respect, mechanical damage and/or malfunctions of the type mentioned above are thus avoided. Furthermore, the interruption of the electrical connection during or after moving to the second position automatically switches off the electrical consumer, so that no additional components are required for this and at the same time legal requirements are met, for example the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations. This also simplifies the overall structure of the glass pane device.

According to one embodiment, the gateway is designed to generate a signal depending on the electrical connection to the electrical consumer, the signal containing information that the glass element is in the second position. In other words, this can be understood to mean that the gateway perceives the interrupted electrical connection as a signal that the glass element is in the second position and, in the case of a sunroof, therefore in the open position. This further simplifies the structure of the glass pane device, since, for example, a sensor that would only be designed to detect the second position can be dispensed with.

In a further development, the gateway has a LIN microcontroller. In this context, the electrical consumer is connected or can be connected to the control unit of the motor vehicle by a LIN bus via the LIN microcontroller. In the context of this application, the term "LIN" can be understood to mean a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) usually used in motor vehicles, via which control and information signals are sent from a control unit to the individual components of the motor vehicle and vice versa. This means that the glass pane device according to the invention can be easily adapted to different motor vehicle types and also meets applicable standards in the motor vehicle sector. The glass pane device according to the invention is therefore compatible with the control unit software for LIN buses usually present in a motor vehicle, so that no further adaptation is necessary. Furthermore, the gateway is permanently connected to the control unit, i.e. cannot be separated during operation.

In a further embodiment, two contacts of the LIN microcontroller are electrically connected to one another in order to avoid the output of an error message when the glass element is in the second, i.e. open, position. This embodiment is based on the idea that error messages are always output when contacts of a LIN bus are not contacted, since in this case, for example, the vehicle assumes that this interrupted contact represents an error. However, because the interrupted contact is caused according to the invention and intentionally by the open glass element, an error message is suppressed by the lack of electrical contact between the two contacts. The two contacts are preferably the readback input and the contact PIN of the LIN microcontroller.

In one embodiment, it can be provided that the LIN microcontroller or the gateway comprises a detection device. The detection device is connected to a readback contact of the LIN microcontroller. The detection device serves to detect a potential at the readback contact. For example, the detection device can recognize whether a certain voltage level is present at this contact and outputs an output signal accordingly. For this purpose, for example, a first contact element of the glass pane device is connected to either terminal 30 (positive potential of the vehicle electrical system) or terminal 31 (vehicle ground potential). A second contact element on the glass element is arranged or formed corresponding to this first contact element of terminal 30 or terminal 31 on the glass element and has an electrical connection to another second contact element of the glass element. This further second contact element is formed corresponding to another first contact element of the glass pane device. In the first position, the potential of terminal 30 or terminal 31 is thus transmitted to the glass element and finally transmitted to the readback contact via the bridge. If the glass element is in the second position, the potential of terminal 30 or terminal 31 cannot be transferred to the readback contact because the first and second contact elements are galvanically isolated. Based on the potential at the readback contact, the LIN microcontroller or the gateway can detect whether or not the glass element is in the first position.

Based on the potential at the read-back contact, the gateway or detection device detects that the glass element is in the second position or between the first and second, either directly or indirectly by not applying a certain potential. In the second position, however, the gateway is still connected to the Body Control Module, so that the gateway remains connected to the LIN bus. If, for example, the detection device does not detect a vehicle ground potential, the detection device and/or the gateway concludes that the glass element is in the second position or between the first and second positions and that the glass element is open. In the second position, the glass element and the consumer are disconnected from the LIN bus and other networks. In this case, the gateway can suppress the non-presence and non-connection of the glass element to the LIN bus and transmit corresponding feedback to the Body Control Module, so that, for example, an error message is not issued. A possible missing or faulty connection of the glass element to the LIN bus can be neglected/ignored with regard to an error message due to the open electrical connection.

According to one embodiment, the LIN microcontroller and the first contact element are arranged on a common circuit board. This enables a compact and simple structure with short cable paths. In addition, the LIN microcontroller, the first contact element and the circuit board can be surrounded by a common housing in order to protect the individual components.

According to an alternative embodiment, the LIN microcontroller is arranged in a housing and separately from the first contact element. The term "separate" can be understood here to mean that the LIN microcontroller and the first contact element are located separately from one another. In order to electrically contact the two components, they are connected to one another via an electrical line.

In connection with the two embodiments described above, the first and second contact elements are designed as LIN contact elements that correspond to one another. They therefore take into account the "LIN design" of the other components described above. The detection of the second position based on the interrupted electrical connection, which has also already been mentioned, can be made possible, for example, by a contactless pin of the second LIN contact element when the glass element is in the second position. The term "contactless" can be understood in the sense of this application to mean that the said pin, when the glass element is in the second position, is not electrically contacted with a corresponding pin of the first contact element. In other words, the gateway not only ignores the missing contact; it is actually an indicator that the glass element is currently in the second position.

In one embodiment, the gateway is further configured to supply the electrical consumer with electrical energy via the electrical connection. A separate supply line is therefore not required, which has an advantageous effect on the simple construction of the glass pane device.

According to a further development, the electrical consumer is designed as an LED module, in particular for ambient lighting. Such LED modules, which can be individual LEDs or an LED strip, are often found in today's motor vehicles in glass pane devices designed as sunroofs. ing, as they enable attractive ambient lighting in conjunction with the reflective properties of glass. It goes without saying that several electrical consumers within the meaning of this invention can also be arranged in the glass element. In one embodiment, the LIN microcontroller can also be programmed in such a way that customer-specific LED lighting patterns can be implemented with standard LED modules, so that special adaptation of the LED modules is not necessary.

Furthermore, within the scope of this application, a motor vehicle with a glass pane device of the type described above is disclosed and claimed.

The advantages and preferred embodiments listed with regard to the glass pane device are to be transferred analogously to the motor vehicle and vice versa.

• 1a ein Ausführungsbeispiel der erfindungsgemäßen Glasvorrichtung mit einem beweglichen Glaselement, das sich in einer ersten Position befindet;
• 1b das Ausführungsbeispiel der Glasvorrichtung gemäß 1a mit dem beweglichen Glaselement, das sich in einer zweiten Position befindet;
• 2 eine Detailansicht eines Gateways der erfindungsgemäßen Glasscheibenvorrichtung sowie
• 3 eine skizzierte Ansicht zweier miteinander über eine elektrische Verbindung kontaktierter Kontakte des LIN-Mikrocontrollers zur Vermeidung einer Fehlermeldung.

An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the figures. These show, in some cases in a highly simplified representation:

• 1a an embodiment of the glass device according to the invention with a movable glass element which is in a first position;
• 1b the embodiment of the glass device according to 1a with the movable glass element located in a second position;
• 2 a detailed view of a gateway of the glass pane device according to the invention and
• 3 a sketched view of two contacts of the LIN microcontroller connected to each other via an electrical connection to avoid an error message.

In the figures, components with the same function are always shown with the same reference symbols.

The 1a and 1b The glass pane device 2 shown is designed in particular for a motor vehicle and specifically as a glass sliding roof for a motor vehicle not separately shown.

The glass pane device 2 has a movable glass element 4 which is movable in and against a displacement direction V relative to the glass pane device 2 from a first position to a second position and vice versa. In 1a the glass element 4 is shown in the first position - closed with respect to the glass sliding roof - while 1b the glass element 4 in the second position - open with respect to the glass sliding roof. The glass element 4 is mounted for movement in guide rails 6, which are shown in a simplified manner only as a line.

Furthermore, the glass pane device 2 has a second glass element 8 which, in contrast to the glass element 4, is not movable.

The glass element 4 also has an electrical consumer 10, which in the embodiment according to the figures is designed as an LED strip, with two sides of the glass element 4 each having an LED strip, which are to be regarded as an electrical consumer 10 in the sense of the invention. In the present example, the electrical consumer 10 designed as an LED strip serves as ambient lighting for the glass pane device 2 designed as a glass sliding roof. Accordingly, the second glass element 8 also has an electrical consumer 10 of this type designed as an LED strip.

Furthermore, the glass pane device 2 has a gateway 12, via which the electrical consumer 10 is connected or can be connected to a control unit 14 of the motor vehicle, which is shown only as a rectangle. The control unit 14 can be, for example, a body control module (also abbreviated to BCM) of the motor vehicle. As can be seen from the 1a As can be seen, the second glass element 8 is also connected to the gateway 12 and thus also to the control unit 14. Both the electrical connection from the gateway 12 to the second glass element 8 and from the gateway 12 to the control unit 14, which is only shown as a line, is formed by means of a permanent LIN connection or by a LIN bus.

In contrast, the glass pane device 2 has at least one first contact element 16a (two shown) for reversibly forming an electrical connection with the glass element 4, which is electrically connected to the gateway 12. In the embodiment according to 1a the first contact elements 16a are connected to the gateway 12 via an electrical connection shown only as a line. Furthermore, however, as an alternative to this, at least one first contact element 16a can also be arranged on or at the gateway 12; or be integrated into it (cf. 2 ).

Furthermore, the glass pane device 2 has at least one second contact element 16b (two shown) which is designed to correspond to the first contact element 16a. The term "designed to correspond" can be understood as It can be seen that a first contact element 16a and a second contact element 16b can form an electrical plug-coupling connection, wherein a first contact element 16a can be designed as a plug and the corresponding second contact element 16b as a coupling or vice versa and/or can comprise a clamp contact. For clamp contact, for example, a first contact element 16a can have a spring contact and the corresponding second contact element 16b can have a pin or tongue contact, which is electrically and mechanically contacted by the spring contact. The second contact elements 16b are electrically connected to the glass element 4. Due to the two LED strips already mentioned above, which form the electrical consumer 10, two contact elements of the above-mentioned type are shown in each of the figures. It goes without saying, however, that this is in no way intended to limit the invention and thus an embodiment with just one contact element pair 16a, 16b or with more than two contact element pairs 16a, 16b can also be implemented. The first and/or second contact element 16a, 16b can be single-pole or multi-pole.

In the first position, which corresponds to a closed position of the glass element 4 (see state in 1a) , the first contact element 16a is galvanically coupled or connected to the corresponding second contact element 16b, so that an electrical connection is formed between the gateway 12 and the electrical consumer 10. This makes it possible to supply the electrical consumer 10, which is designed as LED ambient lighting, with electrical energy and control signals when the glass element 4 is closed.

As in 1b , which for the sake of simplicity only shows the glass element 4 as well as the gateway 12 and the control unit 14, in the second position - which corresponds to an open glass sliding roof - the first contact element 16a and the second contact element 16b are galvanically separated from one another, so that the electrical connection between the gateway 12 and the electrical consumer 10 is interrupted. This embodiment is based on the idea that the electrical consumer 10, here in particular the LED ambient lighting, does not have to be supplied with electrical energy or control signals in the open position of the glass pane device 2 designed as a glass sliding roof, since in particular the ambient lighting would not be visible when the glass element 4 is open.

2 shows a detailed view of the gateway 12 of the glass pane device 2 according to the embodiment described above. The gateway 12 has a LIN microcontroller 18, which is arranged together with the first contact element 16a on a common circuit board 20 of the gateway 12. In the embodiment according to 2 the first contact element 16a, the LIN microcontroller 18 and the circuit board 20 are surrounded by a merely indicated common housing 22 and are preferably enclosed by it.

In the 3 a sketched view of two interconnected contacts of the LIN microcontroller 18 is shown. The two contacts are preferably the readback input designated "contact" and the PIN of the LIN microcontroller designated "KL31". The idea behind this design is that no error message is output by the LIN microcontroller when the glass pane element 4 is open.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Rather, other variants of the invention can also be derived from this by the person skilled in the art without departing from the subject matter of the invention. In particular, all of the individual features described in connection with the embodiment can also be combined with one another in other ways without departing from the subject matter of the invention.

List of reference symbols

2

Glass pane device

4

Glass element

6

Running rails

8th

second glass element

10

electrical consumer

12

Gateway

14

Control unit

16a

first contact element

16b

second contact element

18

LIN microcontroller

20

Gateway circuit board

22

Housing

24

electrical connection

V

Shift direction

Claims (11)

Glass pane device (2) for a motor vehicle, comprising: - a movable glass element (4) which is movable relative to the glass pane device (2) from a first position to a second position and has an electrical consumer (10); - a gateway (12) via which the electrical consumer (10) is or can be connected to a control unit (14) of the motor vehicle; - a first contact element (16a) which is electrically connected to the gateway (12) and - a second contact element (16b) designed to correspond to the first contact element (16a) and which is electrically connected to the glass element (4), wherein - in the first position, the first contact element (16a) and the second contact element (16b) are galvanically coupled to one another so that an electrical connection is formed between the gateway (12) and the electrical consumer (10) and - in the second position, the first contact element (16a) and the second contact element (16b) are galvanically separated from one another so that the electrical connection between the gateway (12) and the electrical consumer (10) is interrupted. Glass pane device (2) according to Claim 1 , wherein the gateway (12) is arranged to generate a signal depending on the electrical connection to the electrical consumer (10), wherein the signal contains information that the glass element (4) is in the second position. Glass pane device (2) according to Claim 1 or 2 , wherein the gateway (12) has a LIN microcontroller (18) and the electrical consumer (10) is or can be connected to the control unit (14) of the motor vehicle by a LIN bus via the LIN microcontroller (18). Glass pane device (2) according to Claim 3 , wherein two contacts of the LIN microcontroller (18) are electrically connected to each other to avoid an error message when the glass pane element (4) is in the second position. Glass pane device (2) according to Claim 3 or 4 , wherein the LIN microcontroller (18) and the first contact element (16a) are arranged on a common circuit board (20). Glass pane device (2) according to Claim 5 , wherein the LIN microcontroller (18), the first contact element (16a) and the circuit board (20) are surrounded by a common housing (22). Glass pane device (2) according to Claim 3 or 4 , wherein the LIN microcontroller (18) is arranged in a housing (22) and separately from the first contact element (16a) and is connected to the first contact element (16a) via an electrical line. Glass pane device (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and the second contact element (16a, 16b) are designed as mutually corresponding LIN contact elements. Glass pane device (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the gateway (12) is further configured to supply the electrical consumer (10) with electrical energy. Glass pane device (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the electrical consumer (10) is designed as an LED module. Motor vehicle with a glass pane device (2) according to one of the Claims 1 until 8th .

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