Touch Vibration Actuator With Strain Sensing and Elastic Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vibration presenting apparatuses face challenges in expressing vibrations that correspond to various touch operation feelings while ensuring high reliability and compactness, as strain bodies in displaced portions suffer from fatigue durability issues and require additional mounting space.
Innovation Solution
A vibration actuator with a movable part supported by elastic parts, incorporating a strain body and strain detection unit, which is electromagnetically driven to provide vibrations based on detected strain, integrated with a touch panel to ensure stable and reliable vibration feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the strain body is disposed in a portion having a large amount of displacement to detect pressing operation, then the detection accuracy is improved, but the fatigue durability of the strain body deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The movable part is divided into multiple portions: a first movable part that directly receives the pressing operation and a second movable part that is elastically supported by the first movable part. The strain body is disposed in the first movable part which has smaller displacement, while the second movable part handles the larger displacement. This segmentation allows the strain body to detect pressing operations accurately without suffering from excessive displacement that would cause fatigue.
2Measurement precision
If the strain body is disposed in a portion having a large amount of displacement, then the pressing operation detection is improved, but the mounting space requirement increases leading to increased thickness
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of placing the strain body in a portion with large displacement (which would require more space in the displacement direction), the invention uses elastic support parts to provide displacement amplification in a different dimensional approach. The strain body is mounted in a location with smaller displacement requirements, while the elastic support mechanism translates small strain body movements into larger overall actuator displacement, effectively solving the space constraint problem.
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 actuator effectively expresses varied touch operation feelings with high reliability and compactness, allowing for intuitive tactile feedback without increasing thickness or compromising durability.
Implementation Method 1
a strain body that is strained in accordance with the pressing operation on the vibration presenting unit
Implementation Method 2
the movable part is configured to vibrate by electromagnetic driving in accordance with the strain of the strain body
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
Provided is a vibration actuator that gives vibration to a vibration presenting unit that presents vibration depending on a pressing operation, the vibration actuator comprising: a fixing part; a movable part fixed to the vibration presenting unit; an elastic support part connected to the fixing part and the movable part, and movably supports the movable part with respect to the fixing part; and a support-part side fixing part fixed to the elastic support part in the movable part; wherein a strain body that is strained in accordance with the pressing operation on the vibration presenting unit and a strain detection unit configured to detect strain of the strain body are provided between the support-part side fixing part and a presenting-unit side fixing part fixed to the vibration presenting unit, and the movable part is configured to vibrate by electromagnetic driving in accordance with the strain of the strain body.