Magnetic Haptic System with Adjustable Torque Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing haptic systems fail to provide nuanced and adjustable tactile feedback, limiting user experience in devices like smartwatches and volume knobs, as they rely on mechanical detents that offer binary feedback rather than continuous and customizable sensations.
Innovation Solution
A magnetic haptic system utilizing magnetic materials with adjustable parameters such as orientation, distance, and polarity to create varying haptic sensations by interacting magnetic moments, allowing for customizable torque profiles and force interactions that mimic sliding over hills or valleys, enhancing user feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If mechanical detents are used to provide haptic feedback, then the system structure is simple, but the haptic feedback is binary and not adjustable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical detent systems with a magnetic field-based haptic feedback system. Magnets are positioned on the rotor and stator to create magnetic moments that interact to produce adjustable haptic sensations. This substitution allows for continuous adjustment of haptic parameters (strength, frequency, pattern) through electronic control of magnetic field characteristics, eliminating the binary feedback limitation of mechanical detents while maintaining system simplicity through the use of standard motor components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables adjustment of haptic feedback parameters by changing the configuration and positioning of magnets on the rotor and stator. By varying magnet positions, sizes, and magnetic moment orientations, the system can continuously adjust haptic characteristics such as feedback strength, frequency, and temporal patterns. This parameter control is achieved through selective arrangement of magnets in different angular and radial positions, allowing customization of user experience without mechanical complexity.
2Force
If magnetic materials are positioned close together to create strong haptic sensations, then the haptic feedback intensity increases, but the risk of magnetic attraction causing unwanted movement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetric magnetic moment configurations where magnets on the rotor and stator are positioned and oriented to create non-uniform magnetic field distributions. By strategically placing magnets with different polarities and orientations at specific angular positions, the system generates strong localized haptic forces while maintaining overall rotational stability. The asymmetric arrangement ensures that magnetic attraction forces are directed primarily in the radial direction for haptic feedback, while tangential forces that could cause unwanted movement are minimized through careful polarity assignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates equipotential magnetic field regions by positioning magnets to establish balanced magnetic moments around the rotor-stator interface. By arranging magnets with alternating polarities in a symmetric pattern around the circumference, the system achieves a state where net magnetic forces are minimized at equilibrium positions, preventing unwanted movement while allowing strong localized haptic feedback when magnets are deliberately brought into interaction zones. This equipotential configuration ensures stable operation during non-haptic phases.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The magnetic haptic system provides a rich and adjustable tactile experience, offering continuous and customizable feedback that enhances user interaction, improving the usability and engagement of devices by simulating different textures and sensations through controlled magnetic interactions.
Implementation Method 1
A magnetic haptic system utilizes magnetic materials with adjustable parameters such as orientation, distance, and polarity to create varying haptic sensations by interacting magnetic moments
Implementation Method 2
allowing for customizable torque profiles and force interactions that mimic sliding over hills or valleys
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a body. At least a portion of the body includes one or more instances of magnetic material. The apparatus includes a moveable element coupled to the body and separated by a distance in a first dimension from the portion of the body. The moveable element includes one or more instances of magnetic material, and is configured to move in at least a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension while the distance between the moveable element and the portion of the body remains fixed by the apparatus. At least one instance of the magnetic material in the moveable element repels or attracts at least one instance of the magnetic material in the body.