JP2008141380A - Vibration element using electroactive polymer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vibration element which is efficient and is highly flexible with respect to shape and use form by using an electroactive polymer. <P>SOLUTION: In the vibration element for converting an audio signal to vibrations, two electroactive polymers 121 and 131 having positive electrode terminals 124 and negative electrode terminals 125 are provided, and the electroactive polymers 121 and 131 are placed in parallel a prescribed distance apart from each other by a spacer 150, and the two electroactive polymers 121 and 131 have centers joined to each other and always keep a state of mutually pulling, and the negative electrode terminals 125 of the electroactive polymers 121 and 131 are connected to each other, and the positive electrode terminals 124 are provided independently of each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electroactive polymer made of a dielectric elastomer, and more particularly to a vibration element using an electroactive polymer.

In the past decade, most researches on electric field responsive polymers made of dielectric elastomers have focused on actuators. When placed in a strong electric field, the dielectric elastomer contracts in the direction of the electric field and expands in a direction perpendicular to the electric field. This is due to the Coulomb force. Therefore, a rubbery elastic capacitor is formed by sandwiching a dielectric elastomer between two charged compliant electrodes. When a voltage is applied to this, a positive charge is stored in one electrode and a negative charge is stored in the opposite electrode. As a result, an attractive force is generated between the electrodes, and the dielectric elastomer is crushed by this force and expands in the surface direction. The use of this change as an actuator for a robot or the like has attracted attention (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
US Pat. No. 6,781,284 U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,086

  However, it is not known that by configuring a vibration element using this electric field responsive polymer, a vibration element with high efficiency and a high degree of freedom in terms of shape and form of use can be obtained. A vibration element using a practical electric field responsive polymer has not been realized.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to develop a vibration element having a high degree of freedom in terms of shape and use form, using an electric field responsive polymer.

The invention according to claim 1 is an oscillating device using an electric field responsive polymer that converts an audio signal into vibration, and has two electric field responsive polymers each having a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal, and the electric field The responsive polymer is placed in parallel at a predetermined distance by a spacer, and the two electric field responsive polymers are bonded to each other at the center, and are always attracted to each other, and the two electric field responsiveness The polymer negative electrode terminals are connected to each other, and the positive electrode terminals are provided independently of each other, thereby solving the above-described problems.
Note that the audio signal in the present invention is not limited to a signal in the audible region, and the low frequency region covers a signal in a wide region from a direct current region of 1 Hz or less to a high frequency region of 60 Kz.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to claim 1, a central fixed shaft is vertically provided at the central joint portion of the two electric field responsive polymers, and a diaphragm is provided on the central fixed shaft. By connecting, the above-described problems are further solved.

  Here, the electric field responsive polymer in the present invention is a new material developed at SRI International, which is based in California, USA, and is a thin rubbery polymer made of acrylic resin or silicone resin. It has a structure in which (dielectric elastomer) is sandwiched between flexible electrodes that can be expanded and contracted, and is commercially available under the trade name EPAM (Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle).

  The vibration element using the electric field responsive polymer according to claim 1 has two electric field responsive polymers having a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal, and the electric field responsive polymer is separated by a predetermined distance by a spacer. The two electric field responsive polymers are joined to each other at the center and kept in an attracted state, and the negative terminals of the two electric field responsive polymers are connected to each other. The positive terminals are provided independently, so that the negative side of the audio signal is supplied to the common negative terminal connected to each other, while the positive side is the electric field response of the two sheets. Since the audio signal can efficiently vibrate the electric field responsive polymer by supplying the positive polarity terminal provided independently to each of the conductive polymers as an opposite phase, High degree of freedom in terms of shape and utilization form at a rate, yet can dynamic range constitute a large vibration element.

  According to the vibration element using the electric field responsive polymer according to claim 2, in addition to the effect exhibited by the vibration element using the electric field responsive polymer according to claim 1, two electric field responsive polymers are provided. Since the central fixed shaft is vertically suspended from the central joint of the two, and the diaphragm is connected to the central fixed shaft, the vibration of the electric field responsive polymer can be taken out according to various usage forms. A highly efficient vibration element having a high degree of freedom in terms of shape and usage can be configured.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a vibration element using an electric field responsive polymer (hereinafter referred to as EPAM) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an embodiment of a vibration element using the EPAM of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example of a waveform of a signal supplied to a vibration element using the EPAM of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a system schematic diagram when using a vibration element using the EPAM of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a signal converter applied to a vibration element using the EPAM of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an example of a usage pattern of a vibration element using the EPAM of the present invention.

  First, a configuration example of a vibration element using the EPAM of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a vibration element 100 using EPAM, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the first EPAM film 121 and the second EPAM film 131 are sandwiched and held by the frame 122 and the frame 123, and the frame 132 and the frame 133, respectively. The positive terminal 134, the negative terminal 125, and the negative terminal 135 are taken out from the frame to constitute the first EPAM unit 120 and the second EPAM unit 130.

  The first EPAM unit 120 and the second EPAM unit 130 are installed in parallel at a predetermined distance across the spacer 150, and are provided in the center of the first EPAM film 121 and the second EPAM film 131. The first EPAM film 121 and the second EPAM film 131 are bonded to each other at the central bonding portions 126 and 136, so that the attracted state is always maintained. A central fixing shaft 140 is suspended from the central joints 126 and 136.

  Further, the negative terminal 125 of the first EPAM unit 120 and the negative terminal 135 of the second EPAM unit 130 are connected to each other to form a negative common terminal 160. On the other hand, the positive terminal 124 of the first EPAM unit 120 and the positive terminal 134 of the second EPAM unit 130 are provided independently.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the audio signal 320 is sent to the first EPAM unit of the EPAM vibration element 100 via a signal booster 210 including an audio transformer having two terminals on the primary side and three terminals on the secondary side. 120 and the second EPAM unit 130 are commonly supplied to the negative electrode side (negative electrode common terminal 160). On the other hand, the positive electrode side is separately supplied to the first EPAM unit 120 and the second EPAM unit 130, respectively. The respective EPAM units 120 and 130 change in tension according to the potential difference between the supplied signals. Thereby, according to the supplied signal, each EPAM unit 120,130 is displaced and it outputs as a vibration. In this embodiment, the signal boosting unit 210 is configured using an audio transformer, but may be configured using a semiconductor such as a transistor or FET without using a transformer.

  The signals supplied to the positive terminal 124 of the first EPAM unit 120 and the positive terminal 134 of the second EPAM unit 130 are the secondary central terminal 220 of the signal booster 210 and the negative common terminal of the EPAM vibration element 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the bias voltage is applied by being superposed on the bias voltage by the bias unit 230 provided between 160 and 160. The positive-side signals supplied to the first EPAM unit 120 and the second EPAM unit 130 have the same amplitude, but are supplied with signals of opposite phases. As a result, when the EPAM film 121 of the first EPAM unit 120 is tensioned, the EPAM film 131 of the second EPAM unit 130 is relaxed, and conversely, when the EPAM film 131 of the second EPAM unit 130 is tensioned, Since the EPAM film 121 of the first EPAM unit 120 is relaxed, a vibration element having a large dynamic range is obtained by the synergistic effect.

  FIG. 4 is a system schematic diagram in which the EPAM vibration element 100 of the present invention is actually connected to the sound source 300. The audio signal 310 output from the sound source 300 is amplified by the audio amplifier 400, and is converted into an audio signal 320 via the signal converter 200 having the signal boosting unit 210, the secondary side central terminal 220, and the bias unit 230. The vibration element 100 is supplied. In the present embodiment, as a preferred embodiment, it is assumed that an audio device such as a CD or a radio is used as the sound source 300 and the EPAM vibration element 100 is used as a speaker. The EPAM vibration element 100 outputs an output with an opposite phase such as vibration and noise using a pickup for detecting noise and a microphone for picking up noise, and can also be used as a silencer or a vibration damping device.

  Next, another embodiment of a vibration element using EPAM will be described with reference to FIG. Since the form, operation principle, and the like of the vibration element itself are the same as those in the first embodiment, the third digit of the reference symbol is set to 6, the lower two digits are the same as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description is omitted.

  FIG. 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the EPAM vibration element 600. As shown in FIG. 6, the first EPAM film 621 and the second EPAM film 631 are sandwiched and held by the frame 622 and the frame 623, and the frame 632 and the frame 633, respectively. The first EPAM unit 620 and the second EPAM unit 630 are configured by taking out the reference numeral 624 and the positive terminal 634 and the negative terminal 625 and the negative terminal 635 from the frame.

  The first EPAM unit 620 and the second EPAM unit 630 are installed at a predetermined distance with the spacer 650 interposed therebetween, and are provided in the center of the first EPAM film 621 and the second EPAM film 631. The first EPAM film 621 and the second EPAM film 631 are bonded to each other at the central bonding portions 626 and 636 so that the attracted state is always maintained. Further, a central fixed shaft 640 is vertically suspended from the central joints 626 and 636.

  Although this vibration element can be used alone, the efficiency of the EPAM vibration element 600 can be increased by fixing the vibration plate 700 to one end of the central fixed shaft 640. This diaphragm can be used for interiors and exteriors such as walls, ceilings, and windows, and can be used for various equipment cases.

  Since the vibration element using the electric field responsive polymer of the present invention has a simple configuration and is composed of a flexible polymer film, the degree of freedom in use is extremely high. For example, an audio device, a mobile phone, etc. It can be used as a flat speaker for electrical and electronic equipment, and it can be used to construct a structural speaker that uses walls, ceilings, windows, etc. as a vibration plate. Suppress vibration and improve quietness in the car, reduce the influence of external noise of earphones and headphones, phase reversal silencer, medical vibrator, detect vibration and vibrate in reverse phase Therefore, the industrial applicability of the vibration reducing device for reducing vibration is extremely high.

It is the perspective view which showed the external appearance of one Embodiment of the EPAM vibration element of this invention. It is sectional drawing when cut | disconnecting by the II-II line | wire of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the supply signal waveform to the EPAM vibration element of this invention. It is a system schematic at the time of using the EPAM vibration element of this invention. It is the schematic of the signal converter applied to the EPAM vibration element of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the usage condition of the EPAM vibration element of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100, 600 ... EPAM vibrating elements 120, 620 ... First EPAM units 121, 621 ... First EPAM films 122, 123, 622, 623 ... Frames 124, 134, 624, 634 .. Positive terminals 125, 135, 625, 635... Negative terminals 126, 136, 626, 636... Central junction 130, 630... Second EPAM units 131, 631. Membranes 132, 133, 632, 633 ... Frames 140, 640 ... Center fixed shafts 150, 650 ... Spacer 160 ... Negative electrode common terminal 700 ... Diaphragm

Claims (2)

In a vibration element that converts audio signals into vibration,
There are two electric field responsive polymers having a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal, and the electric field responsive polymers are arranged in parallel at a predetermined distance by a spacer, and the two electric field responsive polymers are It is joined to each other in the center and keeps attracted to each other, and the negative terminals of the two electric field responsive polymers are connected to each other, and the positive terminals are provided independently. A vibration element using an electric field responsive polymer. 2. The electric field responsive polymer according to claim 1, wherein a central fixed shaft is vertically provided at a central joint of the two electric field responsive polymers, and a diaphragm is connected to the central fixed shaft. The vibrating element.

Images