Piezo Tactile Operating Unit With Elastic Bracket Conversion Gear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing piezo drivers with conversion gears made from rigid materials suffer from material fatigue, leading to reduced functionality and short service life due to excessive deformation during electrical driving.
Innovation Solution
A piezo driver with a strand-shaped piezoelectric actuator and a conversion gear featuring elastic brackets with oblique inclined portions, which reduces material deformation zones and increases robustness by converting length changes into movements at an acute angle, thereby enhancing the device's longevity and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid brackets are used in the conversion gear, then the structural strength is improved, but the service life deteriorates due to material fatigue from excessive deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from rigid to elastic for the bracket, allowing it to deform elastically during operation and return to its original shape, thereby avoiding permanent deformation and fatigue failure while maintaining structural integrity throughout the device's service life
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction by combining the piezoelectric actuator with an elastic bracket system, where the elastic bracket acts as a flexible coupling element that absorbs mechanical stress and protects the rigid piezoelectric component from fatigue damage
2Length of moving object
If multiple stacked piezoelectric elements are used to increase length change, then the tactile feedback is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an oblique inclined portion with a specific angular geometry that mechanically amplifies the length change of the piezoelectric actuator. This geometric configuration converts small linear displacements into larger movement components at an acute angle, achieving enhanced tactile feedback without stacking multiple piezoelectric elements
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic bracket with oblique inclined portion serves as a mechanical intermediary between the piezoelectric actuator and the operating element. It transforms and amplifies the actuator's length change through its geometric configuration, providing enhanced tactile feedback while avoiding the complexity of multi-element stacks
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 solution provides a piezo driver with improved robustness and extended service life by minimizing material deformation and mechanical losses, ensuring effective tactile feedback with reduced production costs.
Implementation Method 1
a piezo actuator (24) made from a piezoelectric material, wherein the piezo actuator (24) is of a strand-shaped configuration and has a longitudinal extension between two ends and wherein the longitudinal extension of the piezo actuator (24) defines the effective direction of the latter along which the piezo actuator (24) expands and/or contracts when being driven
Implementation Method 2
the conversion gear comprises a first bracket (34) which is of an elastic configuration and/or comprises an elastic material and, in the area of the longitudinal extension ends of the piezo actuator (24), is mechanically coupled to the latter
Data Source
AI summary
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. The first bracket is provided with a first and a second end portion, where the first bracket is respectively mechanically coupled to the piezo actuator, and between the two end portions, is provided with an oblique first inclined portion and an oblique second inclined portion which is shorter as compared to the first inclined portion. These portions of the bracket extend like the sides of a triangle with an imaginary connecting line extending between the end portions of the bracket as a basis and are elastically connected to each other.