Tactile Sensation Display Layer with Piezoelectric Actuation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current display devices only provide visual information and do not convey tactile sensations, limiting user experience in perceiving shape, color, and gradation information.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device with a pressure providing part using piezoelectric elements and hydrogen storage alloys, combined with a tactile sensation providing layer, converts image data into tactile sensation data, allowing users to feel shape, color, and gradation information through mechanical modifications and fluid pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If display devices only provide visual information through flat display panels, then the device structure remains simple and manufacturing is easy, but the user experience is limited as tactile sensations cannot be conveyed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines visual display functionality with tactile sensation delivery by integrating a tactile element array into the display structure. The flat display panel is merged with protrusion mechanisms that can physically interact with the user's sense of touch, creating a multi-sensory information delivery system that conveys both visual and tactile information simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The display device is transformed into a multi-functional system that not only displays visual information but also provides tactile feedback. The same display structure serves dual purposes: visual presentation through the flat panel and tactile communication through the integrated protrusion elements, enabling the device to convey information through multiple sensory channels.
2Adaptability or versatility
If tactile information is provided using individual chambers filled with incompressible fluid and actuators, then tactile sensations can be conveyed to users, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The tactile display is divided into an array of discrete tactile elements, each capable of independent protrusion. This segmentation allows for modular manufacturing where individual elements can be produced and assembled systematically, reducing the overall manufacturing complexity compared to creating a monolithic tactile system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent controls tactile element protrusion by changing physical parameters such as pressure application to fluid channels or electromagnetic field activation. By controlling the degree of protrusion through parameter adjustment rather than mechanical reconfiguration, the system achieves tactile variability without complex manufacturing requirements.
3Loss of information
If multiple tactile elements are used to convey shape, color, and gradation information, then comprehensive tactile information can be provided, but the device complexity and control system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tactile element array creates a physical copy or representation of the visual information displayed on the flat panel. By translating visual data into corresponding tactile protrusion patterns, the system conveys shape, color, and gradation information through touch without requiring a separate complex control system for each sensory modality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical control systems with field-based control mechanisms. Electromagnetic fields or pressure fields are used to control the protrusion of tactile elements, substituting intricate mechanical linkages and actuators with simpler field-based actuation that reduces overall system complexity while maintaining information fidelity.
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
Enables users to recognize tactile sensations corresponding to image data, enhancing the perception of shape, color, and gradation information by protrusions and textures on the tactile sensation providing layer.
Implementation Method 1
the pressure providing unit may include a plurality of piezoelectric elements disposed in the active regions, and each of the piezoelectric elements may be mechanically modified by the electrical signal
Implementation Method 2
the fluid may include: an inert gas which fills the first space. Hydrogen fills the second space or is stored in the hydrogen storage alloy
Data Source
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AI summary
An electronic device includes a pressure providing part, a fluid, and a tactile sensation providing layer. The pressure providing part generates an initial pressure by an electrical signal. The fluid generates a fluidic pressure by the initial pressure in each of a plurality of active regions partitioned from each other. The tactile sensation providing layer is configured to protrude by the fluidic pressure. The pressure providing layer may include piezoelectric elements mechanically modified by the electrical signal.