519 results about "Inertial mass" patented technology

Method and apparatus for providing high strength, low frequency tactile sensations using an inertial actuator in a haptic feedback interface device, such as an actuator driving an oscillating inertial mass. A commanded low frequency is modulated or combined with a higher frequency at which the tactile sensations feel stronger, where the resulting signal is used to output a tactile sensation at the higher frequency and convey the commanded low frequency to the user. One embodiment provides higher frequency pulse bursts at the desired low frequency wherein the higher frequency pulse bursts are at or near a resonant frequency of the actuator; other embodiments modulate or otherwise vary the amplitude of the higher frequency signal according to the desired low frequency.

A low-cost tactile feedback mouse device for providing haptic feedback to a user for enhancing interactions and manipulations in a graphical environment provided by a computer. The mouse device includes a sensor device able to detect the movement of the mouse in the planar workspace. An actuator is coupled to the housing of the mouse and applies an inertial force in a particular degree of freedom, preferably along an axis perpendicular to the planar workspace, where the inertial force is transmitted through the housing to the user. The actuator outputs the inertial force preferably by linearly moving an inertial mass along the Z-axis. The output force is correlated with interaction of a controlled graphical object, such as a cursor, with other graphical objects in a graphical environment displayed by the host computer. The inertial force can be a pulse, vibration, texture force, or other type of force.

An injection device including a housing for containing a syringe having a bore extending from an end surface, a needle communicating with the bore through the end surface and a dispensing piston movable in said bore towards said end surface so as to expel the contents of the syringe through the needle, the housing having an opening at one end through which the needle may extend, a resilient member for biassing the syringe and the needle inwardly off the housing, a first coupling element moveable towards said one end so as to move the needle of the syringe out of the opening and to move the dispensing piston of the syringe towards the end surface, a mechanism operable to release the syringe such that the needle moves inwardly off the housing, a drive coupling for extending from said first coupling element to the dispensing piston of the syringe so as to transfer movement of said first coupling element to the dispensing piston wherein the mechanism is triggered to release the syringe and includes components to delay release of the syringe until a predetermined period after being triggered such that it can be ensured that the dispensing piston reaches the end surface before the syringe is released and / or the mechanism includes an inertial mass moveable with the first coupling element and drive coupling and a release member actuable by the inertial mass to release the syringe such that when the dispensing piston releases the end surface of the syringe and the first coupling element and drive coupling stop moving, the inertial mass continues to move so as to actuate the release member to release the syringe.

An angular velocity detector includes a disk-shaped inertial mass supported on a substrate via driving beams and a second mass connected to the inertial mass via detecting beams. The inertial mass is oscillated in its rotational direction around a center axis (z) by an electrostatic force. When an angular velocity around a detection axis (x), which is perpendicular to the center axis (z), is imposed on the second mass while the inertial mass is oscillating, the second mass displaces in the direction parallel to the center axis (z). A capacitance between the second mass and the substrate changes according to the displacement of the second mass. The angular velocity is detected based on the changes in the capacitance. Since the driving beams allow the inertial mass to oscillate only in the rotational direction, the driving beams can be easily designed and manufactured.

An interface device and method providing haptic sensations to a user. A user physically contacts a housing of the interface device, and a sensor device detects the manipulation of the interface device by the user. An actuator assembly includes an actuator that provides output forces to the user as haptic sensations. In one embodiment, the actuator outputs a rotary force, and a flexure coupled to the actuator moves an inertial mass and / or a contact member. The flexure can be a unitary member that includes flex joints allowing a portion of the flexure to be linearly moved. The flexure can converts rotary force output by the actuator to linear motion, where the linear motion causes a force that is transmitted to the user. In another embodiment, the actuator outputs a force, and a mechanism coupling the actuator to the device housing uses the force to move the actuator with respect to the device housing. The actuator acts as an inertial mass when in motion to provide an inertial force that can be transmitted to the user. The mechanism can be a flexure including at least one flex joint or a mechanism with bearings.

The invention pertains to a mailpiece weight measuring apparatus for use with a high speed automatic mailpiece processing system. The weight measuring apparatus measures the inertial mass of the mailpiece as the weight equivalent. The apparatus includes a device for determining a first velocity of a mailpiece, a device for imparting a force to the mailpiece in a direction co-linear with the first velocity so that the mailpiece exits said force impacting device at a second velocity, a device for determining the second velocity of the mailpiece, a device for determining a change in a parameter proportional to the force imparted on the mailpiece, and a device for determining the weight of the mailpiece based upon the determined first velocity, second velocity and change in the parameter.

Apparatus and method for harvesting energy from the environment and / or other external sources and converting it to useful electrical energy. The harvester does not contain a permanent magnet or other local field source but instead relies on the earth's magnetic field of another source of a magnetic field that is external to the sensing device. One advantage of these new harvesters is that they can be made smaller and lighter than energy harvesters that contain a magnet and / or an inertial mass.

A haptic feedback interface device and actuator assembly providing inertial tactile sensations. An interface device includes a housing that is physically contacted by a user, a sensor device detecting said manipulation of the interface device by the user, and an actuator assembly of the present invention. The assembly includes an actuator operative to output a force and a mechanism coupling the actuator to the device housing. The mechanism allows the actuator to be moved and act as an inertial mass when in motion to provide an inertial force that is transmitted to the user. The mechanism includes at least two separated portions, each of the portions coupled to a different portion of the actuator. The mechanism is preferably a flexure having at least two flex joints.

An interface device providing haptic feedback to a user is in communication with a host computer. The device includes a housing, at least one sensor for detecting user input, and an actuator assembly. The actuator assembly includes a grounded flexure suspension coupled to an inertial mass which moves when the actuator assembly is energized to cause inertial sensations. The inertial mass includes a pole piece surrounding a magnet, and a grounded coil between magnet and pole piece causes the motion of the inertial mass when current is flowed therethrough. Another embodiment provides directional haptic feedback to a user and includes at least two actuator assemblies oriented such that the inertial masses oscillate substantially orthogonally, and can be controlled to output the inertial sensations approximately along a single axis having a desired orientation.

An interface device and method providing haptic sensations to a user. A user physically contacts a housing of the interface device, and a sensor device detects the manipulation of the interface device by the user. An actuator assembly includes an actuator that provides output forces to the user as haptic sensations. In one embodiment, the actuator outputs a rotary force, and a flexure coupled to the actuator moves an inertial mass and / or a contact member. The flexure can be a unitary member that includes flex joints allowing a portion of the flexure to be linearly moved. The flexure can converts rotary force output by the actuator to linear motion, where the linear motion causes a force that is transmitted to the user. In another embodiment, the actuator outputs a force, and a mechanism coupling the actuator to the device housing uses the force to move the actuator with respect to the device housing. The actuator acts as an inertial mass when in motion to provide an inertial force that can be transmitted to the user. The mechanism can be a flexure including at least one flex joint or a mechanism with bearings.

A golf putter improves a golfer's ability to consistently impart a smooth putting stroke on the ball. The putter has an elastomer insert extending over a ball striking surface formed on the head of the club head. An inertial mass or ballast is formed at a rear central portion of the club head, with center portions of the ballast mass aligned with the vertical center line of the ball striking surface. The shaft portion of the putter is connected to the club head so that the longitudinal axis of the shaft intersects the center line of the club head and the inertial mass. The club head also has a base plate portion to assist the golfer in club grip and alignment during "set up" before the actual putting stroke.

A three-axis accelerometer is provided for sensing acceleration in three orthogonal axes. The accelerometer includes a support substrate, fixed electrodes having fixed capacitive plates fixed to the support substrate, and a movable inertial mass having movable capacitive plates capacitively coupled to the fixed capacitive plates. The accelerometer includes banks of fixed and movable capacitive plates oriented to sense acceleration in orthogonal X- and Y-axes. Additionally, the accelerometer includes fixed and movable capacitive plates having a height variation between adjacent plates to sense acceleration in the vertical Z-axis. Input signals are applied to certain electrodes coupled to the fixed capacitive plates, and an output signal is generated on the inertial mass, which is indicative of acceleration in each of the sensing axes. The output signal may be further processed to generate individual acceleration outputs for each of the sensing axes.

A method for controlling a flying projectile which rotates during flight, comprising: determining an angle of rotation of an inertial mass spinning about an axis during flight; and controlling at least one actuator for altering at least a portion of an aerodynamic structure, selectively in dependence on the determined angle of rotation and a control input, to control aerodynamic forces during flight. An aerodynamic surface may rotate and interact with surrounding air during flight, to produce aerodynamic forces. A sensor determines an angular rotation of the spin during flight. A control system, responsive to the sensor, produces a control signal in dependence on the determined angular rotation. An actuator selectively alters an aerodynamic characteristic of the aerodynamic surface in response to the control signal.

An active tremor control system for stabilizing against alternating perturbations includes: an inertial sensor for sensing angular motion about a first axis of an object induced by alternating perturbations; an inertial mass independent of the object; and an actuator coupled to the object and the mass and responsive to the inertial sensor for selectively applying a torque to the object representative of the sensed angular motion such that the angular motion about the first axis induced by the perturbation is cancelled, the actuator concurrently applying a reactive torque, equal and opposite to the to the applied torque, to the mass.

The invention provides an underactuated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) adaptive trajectory tracking control device and a control method. The practical positions and the course angles of an AUV which are acquired to a measurement element (3) and reference positions and reference course angle information which are generated by a reference path generator (1) are converted through a diffeomorphism converter (6) to obtain new state variables, then the new state variables and speed and angular speed information which is acquired by a sensor (5) are transmitted to a parameter estimator (11) anda longitudinal thrust and course changing moment controller (14), and a control command is obtained through resolving to drive an actuating mechanism to adjust the longitudinal thrust and the course changing moment of the AUV. By using the underactuated AUV adaptive trajectory tracking control device, the inertial mass parameters of the AUV and hydrodynamic damping parameters are not required to be known and the goal of arriving at designated positions at designated time according to designated speed is realized. Since the AUV considered in the invention is underactuated, the energy consumption and the manufacturing cost of a system can be reduced, the weight of the system can be reduced and the propulsion efficiency can be improved.

Apparatus and method for harvesting energy from the environment and / or other external sources and converting it to useful electrical energy. The harvester does not contain a permanent magnet or other local field source but instead relies on the earth's magnetic field of another source of a magnetic field that is external to the sensing device. One advantage of these new harvesters is that they can be made smaller and lighter than energy harvesters that contain a magnet and / or an inertial mass. A small implantable stimulator(s) includes at least one passive magnetostrictive / electro-active (PME) magnetic-field sensor for delivering electrical stimulation to surrounding tissue. The PME is charged utilizing a changing magnetic field from an external alternating magnetic field source at a frequency particular to the PME. The small stimulator provides means of stimulating a nerve, tissue or internal organ with direct electrical current, such as relatively low-level direct current for temporary or as needed therapy. The field source may be a hand-held device or a small antenna affixed to the wearer's skin, clothing or accessories. The stimulator may be configured to be small enough to be implanted through a surgical needle. Open- and closed-loop systems are disclosed with measurement of current flow and therapy through PME sensor function.

A valve control apparatus for an internal combustion engine is provided which is capable of optimally setting the closing timing of an engine valve according to operating conditions of the engine while suppressing an increase in the inertial mass of the engine valve to the minimum, thereby attaining improvement of fuel economy, and realization of higher engine rotational speed and higher power output in a compatible fashion, and reducing costs and weight thereof. The valve control apparatus controls opening and closing operations of an engine valve. A cam-type valve actuating mechanism actuates the engine valve to open and close the engine valve, by a cam which is driven in synchronism with rotation of the engine. An actuator makes blocking engagement with the engine valve having been opened, to thereby hold the engine valve in an open state. An ECU controls operation of the actuator to thereby control closing timing of the engine valve.

A vibration-based power generator has a variable stiffness oscillator connected to a base. The oscillator comprises an inertial mass moving relative to the base in response to vibrations. The oscillator has a neutral position corresponding to a position of the oscillator when no vibrations are transmitted to the base. The oscillator has a first position where the mass is at a first distance and a second position where the inertial mass is at a second distance from a position of the mass when the oscillator is in neutral position. The second distance is greater than the first distance. A stiffness of the oscillator at the second position is greater than a stiffness of the oscillator at the first position. A transducer generating electric power in response to movement of the inertial mass is associated with the oscillator. A method of optimizing a vibration-based power generator is also presented.

Directional haptic feedback provided in a haptic feedback interface device. An interface device includes at least two actuator assemblies, which each include a moving inertial mass. A single control signal provided to the actuator assemblies at different magnitudes provides directional inertial sensations felt by the user. A greater magnitude waveform can be applied to one actuator to provide a sensation having a direction approximately corresponding to a position of that actuator in the housing. In another embodiment, the actuator assemblies each include a rotary inertial mass and the control signals have different duty cycles to provide directional sensations. For power-consumption efficiency, the control signals can be interlaced or pulsed at a different frequency and duty cycle to reduce average power requirements.

The invention provides a robust self-adaptive track tracking control system for a dynamic positioning vessel. A position and angle sensor acquires and then sends actual positions and course angles, and reference positions and reference course angle information, which are generated by a reference path generator, to a neural network estimator and a second-order sliding mode observer and obtains a model unknown non-linear function estimation value and state estimation value and then transmits the state estimation value to a disturbance estimator and a diffeomorphism convertor at the same time and obtains an interference estimation value and a new state variant respectively. All of information obtained by the neural network estimator, the second-order sliding mode observer, the interference estimator, the diffeomorphism convertor and the position and angle sensor is transmitted to a controller and a control instruction is resolved to drive an execution mechanism and realize track tracking of a water-surface vessel. The robust self-adaptive track tracking control system for the dynamic positioning vessel does not need known precise hydrodynamic-force parameters of the water-surface vessel or precise identification of inertial mass parameters and realizes track tracking of the dynamic positioning vessel under a condition that interferences from an unknown environment exist.

A disc drive actuation system for precisely positioning a read / write head over a selected track of a rotatable disc. The actuation system comprises a flexure, a slider, and a read / write head firmly attached to the slider. A first drive unit is used to pivot the flexure to position the read / write head approximately over a selected track. A microactuator is mounted to the flexure and the slider is mounted to the microactuator. The microactuator comprises an inner inactive region, a first outer inactive region, a second outer inactive region, a first piezoelectric section mounted between the first outer inactive region and the inner inactive region, and a second piezoelectric section mounted between the second outer inactive region and the inner inactive region. The inner inactive region is firmly attached to either the flexure or the slider and both of the outer inactive regions are firmly attached to the other of the flexure or the slider. Also, there is an electrical circuit for energizing the first and the second piezoelectric sections to cause them to expand and contract in order to precisely position the read / write head over the selected track. The circuit and the piezoelectric sections are configured such that the first piezoelectric section expands when the second piezoelectric section contracts and the first piezoelectric section contracts when the second piezoelectric section expands. Since the microactuator has to only overcome the inertial mass of the slider and a portion of its own inertial mass, very precise control at high frequency is possible.

Apparatus and method for harvesting energy from the environment and / or other external sources and converting it to useful electrical energy. The harvester does not contain a permanent magnet or other local field source but instead relies on the earth's magnetic field of another source of a magnetic field that is external to the sensing device. One advantage of these new harvesters is that they can be made smaller and lighter than energy harvesters that contain a magnet and / or an inertial mass.

A micromechanical structure for a MEMS three-axis capacitive accelerometer is provided with: a substrate; a single inertial mass having a main extension in a plane and arranged suspended above the substrate; and a frame element, elastically coupled to the inertial mass by coupling elastic elements and to anchorages, which are fixed with respect to the substrate by anchorage elastic elements. The coupling elastic elements and the anchorage elastic elements are configured so as to enable a first inertial movement of the inertial mass in response to a first external acceleration acting in a direction lying in the plane and also a second inertial movement of the inertial mass in response to a second external acceleration acting in a direction transverse to the plane.

A method and an apparatus or apparatus system for vibration control, by harmonic optimization technology, of vibrations in the cantilever or barrel, portion of a device from which a projectile is fired or launched along the centerline of the cantilever. More particularly this invention relates to rifles, where the rifle barrel is a cantilever portion, and methods and apparatus for increasing the accuracy of firing projectiles. The invention is principally directed to a method and apparatus including a mass device affixed to a flexible cylinder extension at the muzzle end, inertial mass devices, having combustion pressure reduction features, affixed intermediate the muzzle end and the cartridge chamber, and a spring suspension system between barrel and rifle stock affixed proximal to the cartridge chamber. This system decreases the angular dispersion of barrel vibrations at the muzzle resulting from the firing of projectiles through such barrels.

A capsule contains fluid and a solid inertial mass that is free to move within the capsule. The capsule is embedded in a foam panel. A plurality of such foam panels are attached to the internal wall of a launch vehicle fairing. This device augments acoustic energy dissipation with damping the resonant frequency of the fairing to reduce the amount of energy that is transmitted into the acoustic volume contained within the wall. Incorporating a plurality of capsules respectively tuned to many frequencies provides broadband structural attenuation. This abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract, and is intended to allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

The invention discloses a universal gravitation search-based unmanned plane air route planning method, which comprises the following eight steps: 1, establishing an unmanned plane air route planning mathematical model; 2, setting initialization improved universal gravitation search algorithm parameters and battlefield environmental parameters; 3, randomly initializing N routes and initial positions and accelerated speeds of various particles, and establishing a rotating coordinate system; 4, calculating threat cost of each route according to threat information and the mathematical model; 5, updating inertial mass Mi(t) of the particles according to a weight-based rule; 6, calculating the sum of accelerated speeds of each particle in all directions according to a universal gravitation standard, and updating the speeds of the particles according to a group information speed updating rule; 7, updating the position of each particles according to the updated speed of each particle and the choice of survival of the fittest; and 8, if the number of iterations is greater than the maximum number of iterations, exiting a circulation, otherwise, returning to the step 4 for next iteration. The obtained optimal air route coordinate is subjected to coordinate inverse transformation and a result is output.

The invention provides an adjustable damping energy storage type tuned mass damper. A damping adjusting device of a damper of consists of a permanent magnet, coils, auxiliary rods, an energy storage battery, an adjustable resistor, a light-emitting diode (LED) pre-warning indicator light; in the reciprocating motion process that the damper absorbs the vibration energy of a main structure so as to generate inertial mass, a cylindrical spiral spring provides damping, the permanent magnet generates a variable magnetic field, induced electromotive force is generated in the coils so as to generate induction current, and the induction current generates electromagnetic damping to inhibit the movement of the permanent magnet; the adjustable resistor in the damping adjusting device is adjusted, so the magnitude of the electromagnetic damping is changed, and the damping ratio of a structure reaches the optimum damping ratio; and residual energy is recovered by using the energy storage battery, the LED pre-warning indicator light provides a pre-warning indication for a pedestrian and a vehicle, and multiple effects of vibration controlling, clean energy recovery, pre-warning and alarming of vibration conditions and the like.