Tactile sensing method and apparatus having grids as a means to detect a physical parameter
First Claim
1. Tactile sensing apparatus, comprising:
- a grid having a plurality of elongated linear input means positioned in spaced apart relation to each other over a surface area for conducting input power to selected locations on said surface area and a plurality of elongated output means positioned in spaced apart relation to each other over the surface area for conducting power from said selected locations on said surface area, said output means intersecting said input means at said selected locations;
input energy feeder means connectable to said input means for feeding energy into said input means;
output energy detection means for detecting and measuring energy in said output means;
a plurality of transducer means positioned at said intersecting locations, each transducer means being connected one of said input means and to one of said output means for transferring energy from the input means to the output means in such a manner that the amount of energy transferred by the transducer means from an input means to an output means is a function of force applied to said transducer means;
input control means connected to said input energy feeder means for causing said input energy feeder means to feed energy to only selected ones of said input means at a time; and
data processing means for correlating output energy detected by said output energy detection means with said input control means for determining magnitudes and locations of forces applied to said respective transducers.
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Abstract
Apparatus for sensing locations and magnitudes of forces applied on a surface includes a grid comprised of energy input devices running in one direction and energy output devices running another direction with the input and output devices crossing each other. Transducers that meter energy from the input devices to the output devices as a function of the magnitude of forces applied thereon are positioned at the intersections of the input devices with the output devices. Interrogation apparatus is also included, along with energy output detectors and measuring devices, for sensing and determining locations, as well as magnitudes, of forces applied on the grid. Several embodiments of energy input and energy output devices are shown and described, as well as several embodiments of transducers.
88 Citations
33 Claims
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1. Tactile sensing apparatus, comprising:
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a grid having a plurality of elongated linear input means positioned in spaced apart relation to each other over a surface area for conducting input power to selected locations on said surface area and a plurality of elongated output means positioned in spaced apart relation to each other over the surface area for conducting power from said selected locations on said surface area, said output means intersecting said input means at said selected locations; input energy feeder means connectable to said input means for feeding energy into said input means; output energy detection means for detecting and measuring energy in said output means; a plurality of transducer means positioned at said intersecting locations, each transducer means being connected one of said input means and to one of said output means for transferring energy from the input means to the output means in such a manner that the amount of energy transferred by the transducer means from an input means to an output means is a function of force applied to said transducer means; input control means connected to said input energy feeder means for causing said input energy feeder means to feed energy to only selected ones of said input means at a time; and data processing means for correlating output energy detected by said output energy detection means with said input control means for determining magnitudes and locations of forces applied to said respective transducers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of sensing and measuring forces applied on a plurality of locations on a surface area, comprising the steps of:
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forming a grid of energy input and energy output devices on the surface area, which grid includes a plurality of elongated energy input devices in spaced apart relation to each other and generally oriented to run in one direction on the surface and a plurality of elongated energy output devices in spaced apart relation to each other and generally oriented to run in another direction such that the energy input divides intersect the energy output devices; connecting the energy input devices to the energy output devices at the intersecting locations with transducers that allow energy to flow therethrough from the energy input devices to the energy output devices in amounts that vary as a function of the magnitude of forces applied on the respective transducers; feeding energy sequentially into selected input devices while isolating the other input devices from energy input and detecting and measuring energy sequentially in selected output devices while isolating the other output devices from energy output; correlating and processing data indicating the input device to which energy is being fed with data indicating the output device from which energy is being detected and measured at any selected time and determining location of the transducer in the grid through which the detected and measured energy is being transferred from an input device to an output device at such selected time and further determining the magnitude of the force applied on that transducer location as a function of the measured energy at that selected time. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification