Active material based haptic alert system
First Claim
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1. A haptic alert system adapted for alerting a person within a vehicle to a condition, said system comprising:
- an active material in operative communication with a vehicle surface, and operable to reversibly change at least one attribute in response to an applied activation signal, wherein the surface variously vibrates, displaces, changes stiffness, or exerts a force upon the person when the person is in contact with the surface, as a result of the change in the at least one attribute of the active material; and
a controller in communication with the active material, wherein the controller is operable to determine the condition, and includes instructions to selectively apply the activation signal, when the condition is determined.
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Abstract
A haptic alert system generally includes an active material based actuator for providing the haptic alert. The active material based actuators refer to the use of several different classes of active materials all of which exhibit a change in at least one attribute such as dimension, shape, and/or flexural modulus when subjected to at least one of many different types of applied activation signals, examples of such signals being thermal, electrical, magnetic, stress, and the like.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A haptic alert system adapted for alerting a person within a vehicle to a condition, said system comprising:
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an active material in operative communication with a vehicle surface, and operable to reversibly change at least one attribute in response to an applied activation signal, wherein the surface variously vibrates, displaces, changes stiffness, or exerts a force upon the person when the person is in contact with the surface, as a result of the change in the at least one attribute of the active material; and a controller in communication with the active material, wherein the controller is operable to determine the condition, and includes instructions to selectively apply the activation signal, when the condition is determined. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for alerting an occupant of a vehicle of a condition, the method comprising:
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determining the condition; producing an activation signal with an activation device; and applying the activation signal to an active material in operative communication with a vehicle surface and causing a change in at least one property of the active material, wherein the change in the at least one property is effective to vibrate, displace, or change a stiffness property to the vehicle surface, when the condition is determined. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification