Film haptic system having multiple operation points

• US 9,996,199 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2013
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Park, Suntak, Kyung, Ki-Uk, Yun, Sung Ryul, Kim, Young Sung, Lee, Jong-uk, Park, Bong Je
• Primary Examiner(s): Li, Lin
• Application Number:
  US13/866,750
• Publication Number:
  US 20140015777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,880 Days
• Field of Search: 257417, 310300, 310363, 310367, 318599, 345156, 345501, 359290, 359578, 36518518, 435 611, 438753, 73718, 349143
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

Provided is a thin film type actuator having multi-operation points, capable of various feels of touch or sounds. The film type actuator includes an upper plate and a lower plate, formed of a single plate. Between the upper plate and the lower plate, pairs of electrode parts capable of attracting one another via an electrostatic force. Since each of the pairs of electrode parts functions as an operation point and the upper plate and the lower plate are formed of the single plate, movements of the respective operation points in such a way that a new physical movement different from an original individual movement is generated to generate a haptic feel or a sound. It is possible to generate various haptic feels or sounds by modulating and combining amplitudes and frequencies of the respective operation points.

Claims

1. A touch feedback actuator comprising:

a first plurality of plate electrode parts including first and second plate electrode parts that are disposed coplanar on a first plate, the first and second plate electrode parts being spaced apart from each other, and the first plurality of plate electrode parts being electrically insulated from one another;

a second plurality of plate electrode parts including third and fourth plate electrode parts that are disposed coplanar on a second plate, the third and fourth electrode parts being spaced apart from each other, the second plate being separate from the first plate, and the second plurality of plate electrode parts facing the first plurality of plate electrode parts, respectively, to form a plurality of directly opposing pairs of electrode parts, the plurality of pairs of electrode parts each having a space therebetween, and the plurality of pairs of electrode parts including first and second pairs of electrode parts, the first pair of electrode parts having the first and third plate electrode parts, the second pair of electrode parts having the second and fourth electrode parts; and

a plurality of power supply units configured to respectively supply electric signals to the plurality of pairs of electrode parts to cause physical movements to independently occur in corresponding portions of the first plate and the second plate according to the electric signals input to the plurality of pairs of electrode parts, wherein the physical movements are generated in an area of the first plate when touched with a human body, thereby providing a local touch feedback for each of a plurality of movement areas;

wherein a first one of the electrical signals and a resulting first physical movement in a first portion of the first plate over the first pair of electrode parts have a first frequency, and a second one of the electrical signals and a resulting second physical movement in a second portion of the first plate over the second pair of electrode parts have a second frequency, the first and second physical movements being superimposed and a difference in the first and second frequencies being sufficiently small to generate a beat wave at the first plate perceptible as a part of the local touch feedback.

2. The actuator of claim 1, wherein, when the first plate is an upper plate, and the second plate is a lower plate, and

wherein the lower plate has a thickness that is substantially the same as or greater than a thickness of the upper plate, or the lower plate has a greater strength than a strength of the upper plate.

3. The actuator of claim 1, wherein the first and second plates and the first and second pluralities of plate electrode parts are formed of a substantially transparent material.

4. The actuator of claim 1, where in the first and second plates and the first and second pluralities of plate electrode parts are formed of a substantially flexible material.

5. The actuator of claim 1, wherein a movement amount of one of the first plate and the second plate is amplified by inputting the same electric signal to the plurality of pairs of electrode parts.

6. The actuator of claim 1, wherein an amplitude of a movement is generated by superposition of physical movements of one of the first plate and the second plate, or frequency properties cause a touch feedback or a sound playback by inputting different electric signals to the plurality of pairs of electrode parts.

7. The actuator of claim 1, wherein the first and second physical movements have the same amplitude.

8. The actuator of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pairs of electrode parts are configured to generate waveforms in a predetermined sequence to transfer a sense that a vibration occurs according to the sequence.

9. The actuator of claim 8, wherein each of the generated waveforms has an amplitude, the amplitude gradually increasing during a first time interval and gradually decreasing during a second time interval, consecutive ones of the generated waveforms having a specific time delay.

10. A touch feedback actuator comprising:

first and second plates having a thin-film shape, separate from each other by a distance and parallel to each other;

a first plurality of plate electrode parts including first and second plate electrodes that are disposed coplanar on one side of the first plate, the first and second plate electrode parts being spaced apart from each other, and the first plurality of plate electrode parts being electrically insulated from one another;

a second plurality of plate electrode parts including third and fourth plate electrode parts that are disposed coplanar on one side of the second plate, the third and fourth plate electrode parts being spaced apart from each other, and the second plurality of plate electrode parts facing the first plurality of plate electrode parts, respectively, to form a plurality of directly opposing pairs of electrode parts, the plurality of pairs of electrode parts each having a space without any solid layer being disposed therebetween, and the plurality of pairs of electrode parts including first and second pairs of electrode parts, the first pair of electrode parts having the first and third plate electrode parts, the second pair of electrode parts having the second and fourth electrode parts; and

a plurality of power supply units configured to respectively supply electric signals to the plurality of pairs of electrode parts to cause physical movements to independently occur in corresponding portions of the first plate and the second plate according to the electric signals input to the plurality of pairs of electrode parts, wherein the physical movements are generated in an area of the first plate when touched with a human body, thereby providing a local touch feedback for each of a plurality of movement areas;

wherein a first one of the electrical signals and a resulting first physical movement in a first portion of the first plate over the first pair of electrode parts have a first frequency, and a second one of the electrical signals and a resulting second physical movement in a second portion of the first plate over the second pair of electrode parts have a second frequency, the first and second physical movements being superimposed and a difference in the first and second frequencies being sufficiently small to generate a beat wave at the first plate perceptible as a part of the local touch feedback.

11. The actuator of claim 10, wherein the first and second pluralities of plate electrode parts are one of an application layer and an attachment layer that are formed of a conductive material forming a planar-polygonal shape.

12. The actuator of claim 10, further comprising a spacer formed of an elastic material, the spacer disposed on an edge part of the first plate and an edge part of the second plate and configured to provide a space between the first and second plates to prevent an occurrence of an electric short-circuit between the plurality of pairs of electrode parts during the physical movements.

13. The actuator of claim 11, wherein, when the first plate is an upper plate having 1 GPa or more of Young'"'"'s modulus, the second plate is a lower plate thicker than the upper plate.

14. The actuator of claim 10, wherein the first and second plates and the first and second pluralities of plate electrode parts are formed of a substantially transparent material.

15. The actuator of claim 14, wherein the first and second plates and the first and second pluralities of plate electrode parts are formed of a substantially flexible material.

16. The actuator of claim 10, wherein a movement amount of one of the first plate and the second plate is amplified by inputting the same electric signal to the plurality of pairs of the electrode parts.

17. The actuator of claim 10, wherein the first and second physical movements have the same amplitude.