JP2003211086A - Vibration generator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vibration generator which generates vibrations at an output level sensible to a holder with a configuration comprising a plurality of small type vibration generators, and which does not hinder the miniaturization of information terminals for portable use such as cellular phones, but is suitably applied to the information terminals. <P>SOLUTION: Small type vibration generators 1 are arranged at the upper end and the lower end of a cellular phone 10, respectively, and are made to vibrate in the opposite directions to the front face (f) and the back face (b). The vibration generator 1 is provided with a coil around a cylinder to make a mass body 4 of a permanent magnet reciprocally move in the cylinder, and thereby generates vibrations in the lengthwise direction of the cylinder. The upper vibration generator 1u and the lower vibration generator 1d are not driven to the same setting but the driving signals are set to be in the opposite phase to each other. When they are driven in receiving a call, the upper part and the lower part are made to generate vibrations in the opposite phase to each other, and a moment having to center of action C on the line of action connecting both of them is generated and this acts so as to shake the generator body, therefore, very large vibration force is generated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vibration generator, and more specifically, a plurality of vibration generators for generating vibration in a predetermined direction are arranged and combined in an information terminal for portable use such as a mobile phone. The present invention relates to the improvement of the basic configuration that obtains the vibrating force.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Recently, mobile phones, PDAs (Perso)
A portable device such as a digital assistant (Nal Digital Assistant) is widely used as a so-called information terminal. In addition, mobile phones and the like have a function (manner mode) of generating a vibration from a request such as public manners to notify of an incoming call.
A vibration generation function is provided for signal notification.

However, the notification by vibration cannot react to weak vibration because the sense of touch of the person who feels it is insensitive. On the other hand, strengthening the vibration for ensuring the detection requires the use of a high-power vibration generator, which increases power consumption and hinders downsizing and weight reduction as a portable device.

For example, a vibration motor is well known as a vibration generator. This is basically a configuration in which vibration is generated due to the weight imbalance of the rotating shaft. Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-18396, etc., a coil is arranged around a cylinder, and a mass body of permanent magnets is reciprocated in the cylinder to generate vibration in a predetermined direction. A vibration generator of the type that works is also proposed.

In any case, however, the conventional vibration generator is essentially an energy conversion device for converting the amount of electricity into the amount of momentum. Therefore, if the size of the device is reduced, the output becomes smaller and a large vibration force is generated. Therefore, it is not easy to generate vibration of a sufficient output level that can be sensed by the wearer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide an output level that can be sensed by a wearer by a configuration in which a plurality of small vibration generators are provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vibration generator that can exhibit the above vibration and does not hinder the miniaturization of portable information terminals such as mobile phones, and is preferably applied.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the vibration generator according to the present invention is a vibration generator for vibrating a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone. Then, a plurality of vibration generators that generate vibrations in a predetermined direction are arranged in the information terminal, the vibration generators are divided into at least two groups, and the phase and intensity of vibration between the groups are appropriately set, The information terminal is configured to generate a moment during the vibration operation.

It is preferable that the number of the vibration generators arranged is two and the phases of the vibrations between the groups are set to opposite phases. Furthermore, the action center of the moment may be changed by adjusting the phase and intensity of vibration between the groups, and for example, the action center of the moment may be made to coincide with the center of mass of the information terminal. Furthermore, the arrangement position of the vibration generator may be a corner angle of the information terminal body.

According to the present invention, the phase and intensity of vibration between the groups of vibration generators are appropriately set to generate a moment during the vibration operation, so that vibrations oscillating around the action center between the groups are generated. Since this is vibration due to a moment, it increases according to the line of action, that is, the length of the arm, and an extremely large vibration force is expressed. Therefore, a significantly larger vibration can be obtained as compared with the case where a plurality of vibration generators are simply driven.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. The vibration generator of this embodiment is applied to the mobile phone 10. The small vibration generators 1 are arranged at the upper end and the lower end of the mobile phone 10, respectively, and are configured to vibrate in a direction opposite to the display surface f and the back surface b of the main body when receiving a call.

The vibration generator 1 corresponds to the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1.
This is substantially the same as that disclosed in the publication such as 8396, and as shown in FIG. 2, the coils 3 are arranged around the cylindrical body 2 and the mass body 4 by the permanent magnet is moved into the cylindrical body 2. It is configured so that it can be housed as much as possible, and the sealing bodies 5 and 5 made of permanent magnets are fixed to both ends of the tubular body 2. Then, the energization of these two coils 3 and 3 is controlled to reciprocate the mass body 4 by the change of the magnetic field, and the vibration is generated in the cylinder longitudinal direction. Of course, other configurations may be adopted.

The vibration generator 1 having the above configuration is used for the mobile phone 10.
For the arrangement, the cylinder length is arranged so as to face the display surface f and the back surface b of the mobile phone 10, and the cylinder is set to vibrate in the direction opposite to the display surface f and the back surface b. .
That is, since the outer shape of a portable information terminal such as the mobile phone 10 is a thin plate, the display surface f or the opposite back surface b comes into contact with the wearer when it is put in a pocket or the like. For this reason, it is preferable to set the vibration at the time of incoming call to vibrate in the thickness direction of the main body, and it is easier to recognize if the vibration vibrates in the direction opposite to the surface in contact with the wearer.

The upper vibration generator 1u and the lower vibration generator 1d do not drive to the same setting, but drive and control the upper and lower parts separately. Set to the opposite phase. That is, as shown in FIG.
The drive signal p is input to the drive circuit 6u connected to the upper vibration generator 1u, and the drive signal q whose phase is 180 degrees inverted from the drive signal p is input to the drive circuit 6d connected to the lower vibration generator 1d. Input and adopt settings that are in opposite phases.

Therefore, in response to an incoming call, the drive signals p, q
, Vibrations are generated in the upper and lower parts in opposite phases of 180 degrees, so that the upper and lower vibration generators 1u and 1d are generated.
A moment having a center of action C is generated on the line of action connecting the two, and this acts to swing the main body,
An extremely large vibration force will be generated.

Further, since the two vibration generators 1u and 1d are arranged at the upper end and the lower end, respectively, the distance between them becomes almost maximum, and the length of the arm becomes almost maximum. Increase the moment. Therefore, the two vibration generators 1
Compared with the case where u and 1d are simply driven, a significantly larger vibration can be obtained, and a vibration of an output level that can be easily sensed by the wearer can be expressed.

By the way, regarding the drive signals p and q for the upper and lower portions, the phase and intensity of the signals are appropriately set, and the phase and intensity of the vibration generated thereby are appropriately changed to obtain appropriate values. . That is, the action center C of the generated moment can be changed by adjusting the phase and intensity of the vibration between the upper and lower vibration generators 1u and 1d.

Therefore, by adjusting them to an appropriate value, the action center C of the moment generated during the vibration operation can be obtained.
Can be made to coincide with the center of mass G of the mobile phone 10, and a moment acts around the center of mass G, so that large vibration can be obtained. Alternatively, the action center C of the moment can be deviated from the center of mass G of the mobile phone 10 by a proper adjustment, and as a result, vibration optimized for the weight distribution of the applied information terminal can be generated.

In this way, a plurality of small vibration generators 1 are provided, and the generated vibrations are combined vibrations due to moments, so even if the vibrations of the vibration generators 1u and 1d alone are small, The output level vibration that can be sensed by the wearer can be expressed. Therefore, the present invention can be preferably applied to a device that requires large vibration without hindering miniaturization of portable information terminals such as the mobile phone 10.

In the above description, "the phase and the intensity are appropriately changed to obtain an appropriate value". However, in the present invention, it is not always necessary to change the value each time vibration is generated, and an appropriate value for the device ( Of course, it is also possible to set (phase and intensity) and fix the values. Further, of course, the magnitude of the generated vibration may be changed by fixing the phase to the opposite phase and appropriately changing only the strength.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is similar to the above-described first embodiment in that it is applied to the mobile phone 10, but the four vibration generators 1 are arranged at the corners of the main body of the mobile phone 10, respectively. , The upper and lower groups are vibrated separately.

Information terminals for portable use such as the mobile phone 10 tend to be mounted with a very high degree of integration of each component for downsizing, and it is difficult to secure a space for disposing the vibration generator 1. It is relatively easy to secure an arrangement space at the corners of. Therefore, in the present embodiment,
A small vibration generator 1 is arranged in the corner portion, and a vibration generator 1ur on the upper right side and a vibration generator 1ul on the upper left side are provided.
One is the upper group, and the other is the lower right vibration generator 1dr and the lower left vibration generator 1dl are the lower group. The upper group and the lower group are driven with the driving signals in opposite phases. To do.

Therefore, at the time of driving when an incoming call is received, a moment having the action center C is generated on the line of action connecting the upper and lower groups, which acts to oscillate the main body, and as a result, an extremely large vibration can be obtained. You can
Vibration of an output level that can be easily perceived by the wearer can be expressed.

Incidentally, the action center C of the generated moment can be changed by adjusting the phase and intensity of the vibration between the upper and lower groups.
As shown in (b), the action center C of the moment coincides with the mass center G. Alternatively, the center of action C of the moment can be deviated from the center of mass G of the mobile phone 10 by a proper adjustment as shown in FIG.
As a result, vibration optimized for the weight distribution of the applied information terminal can be generated.

[0024]

As described above, in the vibration generator according to the present invention, the phase and intensity of vibration between the groups of vibration generators are appropriately set to generate a moment during the vibration operation. A swaying vibration is generated around the action center of. Since this is vibration due to moment,
It increases according to the line of action, that is, the length of the arm, and an extremely large vibration force is expressed. Therefore, a significantly larger vibration can be obtained as compared with a case where a plurality of vibration generators are simply driven, and an output level vibration that can be easily sensed by the wearer can be expressed.

In this case, the plurality of individual vibration generators may be very small, and since they are supplemented by moments, vibrations at output levels that can be sensed by the wearer can be produced. It is preferable to apply it without hindering the miniaturization of portable information terminals.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone to which a vibration generator according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a vibration generator.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vibration generator.

FIG. 4A is a front view of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment. (B) is the side view.

FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the adjustment of the vibration generator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Vibration generator 2 cylinders 3 coils 4 mass 5 Sealed body 6 drive circuit 10 mobile phones C action center G center of mass b back f Display surface p, q drive signal

Continued front page    F term (reference) 5D107 AA04 AA07 BB08 CC09 CC12                       DD03 DD09 FF01                 5K023 AA07 BB03 DD06 EE02 HH05                       LL06 PP11                 5K027 AA11 BB14 CC08 EE15 FF21                       HH26                 5K067 BB04 EE02 FF28 KK17

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vibration generator for vibrating a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone, wherein a plurality of vibration generators that generate vibration in a predetermined direction are arranged in the information terminal, and at least the vibration generators are provided. A vibration generator characterized in that it is divided into two groups, and the phase and intensity of vibrations between the groups are appropriately set to generate a moment in the information terminal during a vibration operation. 2. The vibration generator according to claim 1, wherein the number of the vibration generators arranged is two, and the phases of the vibrations between the groups are set to opposite phases. 3. The vibration generator according to claim 1, wherein the action center of the moment is changed by adjusting the phase and intensity of vibration between the groups. 4. The vibration generator according to claim 3, wherein the center of action of the moment coincides with the center of mass of the information terminal. 5. The vibration generator according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generator is arranged at a corner angle of the information terminal body.