Bend sensor
First Claim
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1. A bend sensor, comprising:
- a flexible circuit substrate, including;
an insulating body, extending in a first direction;
a first circuit, disposed on the insulating body, including;
a first bus portion, disposed at one side of the insulating body, extending in the first direction; and
a plurality of first fingers, extending from the first bus portion in a second direction different to the first direction; and
a second circuit, disposed on the insulating body, including;
a second bus portion, disposed at another side of the insulating body by opposing to the first bus portion, extending in the first direction; and
a plurality of second fingers, extending from the second bus portion in a reverse direction of the second direction, alternately arranged with the plurality of first fingers;
an insulation pad, disposed at the insulating body, furnished with a central hollow portion for exposing therefrom the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers; and
a flexible conductive substrate, adhered to the insulation pad to sandwich the insulation pad in between with the flexible circuit substrate, furnished with a conductive layer,wherein a central empty space is formed mainly at the central hollow portion by having the insulation substrate and the flexible conductive substrate to sandwich the insulation pad, the central empty space has an exhaust pathway to connect spatially the central hollow portion with the atmosphere, and the conductive layer is exposed to the central empty space by facing the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers with predetermined spacing, andwherein, when the bend sensor is bent at both ends thereof by a bending moment to produce a bending deformation in the first direction, the insulating body and the insulation substrate are bent to enter the central empty space, such that all the plurality of first fingers, the plurality of second fingers and the conductive layer are squeezed toward the central empty space so as to have the conductive layer to contact and conduct with the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers, the conductive layer thus alters a total contact number of the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers with the conductive layer according to the bending deformation of the bend sensor, such that an equivalent resistance between the first circuit and the second circuit would vary accordingly, and the bending deformation can thus be realized by detecting the equivalent resistance.
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Abstract
A bend sensor includes a flexible circuit substrate, an insulation pad and a flexible conductive substrate. The flexible circuit substrate includes an insulating body, a first circuit and a second circuit. The first and second circuits are disposed on opposing sides of the insulating body. The first circuit has first fingers, while the second circuit has second fingers. The insulation pad disposed on the insulating body exposes the first and second fingers. The flexible conductive substrate disposed on the insulating pad has a conductive layer separated from the first fingers and the second fingers. While the bend sensor is bent, the conductive layer on the flexible conductive substrate would deform toward the flexible circuit substrate so as to form multiple contacts with the first and second fingers. Through these contacts, a number of resistors are formed to contribute a detectable resistance for the corresponding bending amplitude to be further realized.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A bend sensor, comprising:
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a flexible circuit substrate, including; an insulating body, extending in a first direction; a first circuit, disposed on the insulating body, including; a first bus portion, disposed at one side of the insulating body, extending in the first direction; and a plurality of first fingers, extending from the first bus portion in a second direction different to the first direction; and a second circuit, disposed on the insulating body, including; a second bus portion, disposed at another side of the insulating body by opposing to the first bus portion, extending in the first direction; and a plurality of second fingers, extending from the second bus portion in a reverse direction of the second direction, alternately arranged with the plurality of first fingers; an insulation pad, disposed at the insulating body, furnished with a central hollow portion for exposing therefrom the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers; and a flexible conductive substrate, adhered to the insulation pad to sandwich the insulation pad in between with the flexible circuit substrate, furnished with a conductive layer, wherein a central empty space is formed mainly at the central hollow portion by having the insulation substrate and the flexible conductive substrate to sandwich the insulation pad, the central empty space has an exhaust pathway to connect spatially the central hollow portion with the atmosphere, and the conductive layer is exposed to the central empty space by facing the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers with predetermined spacing, and wherein, when the bend sensor is bent at both ends thereof by a bending moment to produce a bending deformation in the first direction, the insulating body and the insulation substrate are bent to enter the central empty space, such that all the plurality of first fingers, the plurality of second fingers and the conductive layer are squeezed toward the central empty space so as to have the conductive layer to contact and conduct with the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers, the conductive layer thus alters a total contact number of the plurality of first fingers and the plurality of second fingers with the conductive layer according to the bending deformation of the bend sensor, such that an equivalent resistance between the first circuit and the second circuit would vary accordingly, and the bending deformation can thus be realized by detecting the equivalent resistance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeTaiwan Alpha Electronic Co Ltd
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Original AssigneeTaiwan Alpha Electronic Co Ltd
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InventorsHuang, Tzu-Hsuan, Liu, Wei-Liang, Chan, Huang-Chao
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Primary Examiner(s)McAndrew, Christopher P
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Application NumberUS15/707,260Publication NumberTime in Patent Office617 DaysField of Search324 7611US Class CurrentCPC Class CodesG01B 7/20 formed by printed-circuit t...G01D 5/16 by varying resistanceH05K 1/028 Bending or folding regions ...H05K 1/111 Pads for surface mounting, ...H05K 2201/10151 Sensor
