CN216748116U

CN216748116U - Flexible electrode, electronic skin, shell and mechanical arm

Info

Publication number: CN216748116U
Application number: CN202121125208.8U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄睿; 郎需林; 刘主福; 刘培超; 张俊鹏; 庄勇斌
Original assignee: Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-22
Filing date: 2021-05-22
Publication date: 2022-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 2031-05-22

Abstract

The utility model discloses a flexible electrode, an electronic skin, a shell and a mechanical arm. In one embodiment, a flexible electrode includes: the substrate layer is made of a flexible material; and the electrode is formed on the base material layer. The flexible electrode is prefabricated, so that when the flexible electrode is applied to a self-capacitance type electronic skin electrode, the flexible electrode is easy to arrange at a desired position or on a shell of the device, is easy to replace and maintain, has the advantage of high stability, can be arranged along with the shape, and can be arranged on a complex surface or in an environment in an attached manner.

Description

Flexible electrode, electronic skin, shell and mechanical arm

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of electronic skins, in particular to an electrode, an electronic skin, a shell and a mechanical arm of a flexible electronic skin.

Background

Currently, the main method for mechanical devices to detect an approaching object is through physical contact between the housing and the object. Taking a contact type resistance-type shell as an example, the resistance-type shell causes the deformation of the shell after depending on a proximity object to contact with the robot, and sends a contact signal representing the deformation. However, if the approaching object does not directly contact the electronic skin, the mechanical device cannot detect the distance of the approaching object in a non-contact manner, and when the mechanical device is in a moving state, the mechanical device and the object are in contact, which may easily damage the object.

The method comprises the following steps: 201980041854.5, and a sensing circuit, a logic circuit board, a joint control board, a main control board and a robot disclosed in 201980041894.X, wherein an electrode is formed by a conductive metal sheet or copper paste coated on the shell, and the two modes have the defects of difficult processing, difficult maintenance and low stability.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model mainly solves the technical problems that the electrode of the electronic skin in the prior art has the defects of difficult processing, difficult maintenance and low stability.

In order to solve the technical problems, the utility model adopts a technical scheme that: a flexible electrode for an e-skin is provided, comprising: the substrate layer is made of a flexible material; an electrode formed on the substrate layer.

Wherein the electrode is flexible.

Wherein the area of the electrode is not less than 4 square centimeters, the electrode can form a capacitance with a close conductor and can transmit an electric signal representing the capacitance or the variation thereof to an external circuit.

Wherein the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 5 mm.

Wherein the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 1 mm.

Wherein the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 0.7 mm.

The protective layer at least partially covers the electrode.

Wherein the outer edge of the electrode is coated by the combination of the substrate layer and the protective layer.

The protective layer is provided with a plurality of gaps, and electrodes are exposed at the gaps.

Wherein the substrate layer is made of an insulating material, and the electrode is made of a conductive material.

Wherein the substrate layer is made of a material formed of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate.

The protective layer is made of an insulating material, and the protective layer and the substrate layer jointly form a coating of at least 5-4 surface areas of the whole electrode.

Wherein the protective layer is made of a material formed of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate.

The utility model adopts another technical scheme that: a flexible electrode for an electronic skin is provided, comprising: the substrate layer is made of a flexible material; an electrode disposed on the substrate layer, the electrode being flexible.

Wherein the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 5 mm.

Wherein the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 1 mm.

Wherein the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 0.7 mm.

And the protective layer is arranged on the electrode and used for protecting the electrode layer.

And the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating for most of the whole electrode.

Wherein the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating with at least 5-4 surface area of the whole electrode.

The protective layer and the substrate layer jointly form a coating on the outer edge of the electrode.

Wherein, the electrode is at least partially exposed to the outside, and an electrode connecting point is constructed.

Wherein the protective layer is made of an insulating material.

The utility model adopts another technical scheme that: providing an electronic skin comprising: the above-mentioned electrode; the electrode is electrically connected with the detection circuit board; the electrode can constitute the electric capacity with the conductor that is close to can be used for the representation the electric signal transmission of the electric capacity or its variation to the detection circuitry of detection circuit board, the detection circuitry of detection circuit board is used for with the representation the electric signal conversion of electric capacity or its variation is the electric signal of capacitance value or its variation.

The utility model adopts another technical scheme that: providing a housing for an apparatus comprising: a housing; and an electronic skin thereon; the electronic skin is disposed over the housing.

The utility model adopts another technical scheme that: providing a robotic arm comprising: a body; a control panel; and the shells of the devices are arranged on the outer surface of the body, and the control board is electrically connected with the detection circuit board.

The utility model has the beneficial effects that: the flexible electrode is easy to be arranged at a desired position or on a shell of the device when being applied as a self-capacitance type flexible electrode of the electronic skin, is easy to replace and maintain, has the advantage of high stability, can be arranged along with the shape, and can be attached to and arranged on a complex surface or in an environment.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode in an embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a substrate layer of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the conductive layer of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a protective layer of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the seal edge of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the back side of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method of producing a flexible electrode in one embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method of producing a flexible electrode in one embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a method of producing a flexible electrode in one embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a method of producing a flexible electrode in one embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an e-skin in an embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural view of a housing of the device in one embodiment of the utility model;

figure 17 is a schematic diagram of a robotic arm in an embodiment of the utility model.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the following description is not intended to limit the embodiments to one preferred embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

Embodiments herein relate generally to an electronic skin for proximity sensing of a conductor in proximity to or in contact with it using the principle of self-capacitance sensing (the principle of mutual capacitance sensing is also applicable to the provisions of the present invention), and further applications thereof, such as: the robot comprises a shell provided with an electronic skin device and a mechanical arm provided with the shell provided with the electronic skin device. In the present invention, the flexible electrode of the electronic skin is mainly used as a sensing element for a conductor close to or in contact with the housing of the mechanical arm.

The method comprises the following steps that 1, copper foil is used as an electrode, the copper foil generally has certain thickness and strength, a shell of the mechanical arm generally has a certain radian (a complex curved surface), and the copper foil is arranged on the shell of the mechanical arm generally only in a clamping or sticking mode, so that the copper foil is difficult to be closely combined with the shell of the mechanical arm, and the mechanical arm can cause micro deformation due to vibration when moving, and the deformation can bring great interference and influence on the accuracy of a sensing effect, so that the mode of attaching the copper foil to the shell of the mechanical arm has certain defects; 2. the electrode is formed by spraying copper paste on the shell of the mechanical arm, although the electrode formed in the mode can be closely combined with the shell, the structural strength of the electrode is not high, the electrode is easy to break when being vibrated, the sensing effect is poor, and the electrode is easy to break and desolder due to the position of a connection point of the electrode and a detection circuit, so that the failure is caused. The foregoing prior art implementation and the negative effects thereof are provided only for convenience of understanding the defects of the prior art, and the effects, benefits and problems that can be solved by the technical solutions of the present invention are not limited by the foregoing examples.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention:

in the present embodiment, the flexible electrode 1 of the electronic skin includes: substrate layer 11 and electrode 12, substrate layer 11 can be made by flexible material, and electrode 12 can be formed on substrate layer 11 through modes such as electrodeposition or vapour deposition or printing or paste conducting strip, promptly: the electrode may be formed directly on the substrate layer 11 by physical or chemical means, or may be a preformed conductive sheet disposed on the substrate layer 11 to form the electrode 12.

In this embodiment, the electrode can constitute a capacitance with the conductor in proximity and can transmit an electrical signal representing the capacitance or the amount of change thereof to an external circuit.

In some embodiments, the external circuit is a detection circuit for detecting a capacitance value or a change amount thereof.

In some embodiments, the conductive layer may be formed on the substrate layer first, and then the electrode is formed by processing, or the electrode may be directly formed or disposed on the substrate layer without additional processing, which can be selected and implemented by those skilled in the art according to the prior art.

In some embodiments, the electrode is flexible, and the flexibility of the electrode and the substrate layer can be easily plastic or non-plastic deformation under the influence of a small external force (for example, a force of 0.1-5 newtons), and can also be simply interpreted as easy deformation under a force.

In some embodiments, the area of the electrode is not less than 4 square centimeters, for example: 4 square centimeters, 5 square centimeters, 8 square centimeters, 10 square centimeters, 15 square centimeters, 20 square centimeters, 30 square centimeters, 50 square centimeters, 80 square centimeters, 100 square centimeters. Due to the limitation of the detection principle of self-capacitance, the facing area between the electrode and the conductor is a key parameter for determining the detection distance, the maximum facing area between the electrode and the conductor is equal to the area of the electrode, and the contact-free detection of the conductor close to the electrode is difficult due to the excessively small electrode.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 5 mm, for example: 0.1 mm, 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 1 mm, for example: 0.1 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.8 mm, 1 mm.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 0.7 mm, for example: 0.1 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.7 mm.

In some embodiments, the electrodes may be made of a metallic material, such as: copper, gold, silver. Under macroscopic conditions, the flexible material is usually poor in flexibility and difficult to deform, but when the thickness of the flexible material is reduced to a certain degree, the flexible material has flexibility, but also has certain toughness, such as: the electrode is made of copper, when the thickness of the electrode is between 1 millimeter and 5 millimeters, the electrode has strong toughness and poor flexibility, and when the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 millimeter and 0.7 millimeter, the electrode has good flexibility and is easy to generate non-plastic deformation.

In some embodiments, the substrate layer is made of an insulating material and the electrodes are made of a conductive material.

In some embodiments, the substrate layer is made of a material formed of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in the present embodiment, the flexible electrode 2 of the electronic skin comprises: the electrode structure comprises a substrate layer 21, an electrode 22 and a protective layer 23, wherein the electrode 22 is arranged on the substrate layer 21, the protective layer 23 at least partially covers the electrode 22, and the protective layer 23 is made of an insulating material.

In some embodiments, the protective layer is made of a material formed of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in the present embodiment, the flexible electrode 3 of the electronic skin includes: the electrode comprises a substrate layer 31, an electrode 32, a protective layer 33, an adhesive layer 34 and an adhesive layer 35, wherein the substrate layer 31 and the electrode 32 are adhered together through the adhesive layer 34, and the electrode 32 and the protective layer 33 are adhered together through the adhesive layer 35.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in the present embodiment, the flexible electrode 4 of the electronic skin includes: the electrode comprises a substrate layer 41, an electrode 42 and a protective layer 43, wherein the substrate layer 41 and the protective layer 43 cover the two sides of the electrode 42 integrally, and the substrate layer 41 and the protective layer 43 are directly combined at the outer edge of the electrode 42, so that the electrode 42 is coated integrally, and the electrode 42 is protected.

In some embodiments, the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating on at least 5-4 surface area of the whole electrode, and the uncoated part can be used as an electrode connection point.

Referring to fig. 5 to 10 together, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible electrode in an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a substrate layer of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of fig. 5, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a conductive layer of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of fig. 5, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a protective layer of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of fig. 5, fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a sealing edge of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of fig. 5, and fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a back surface of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of fig. 5:

in this embodiment, a substrate layer 521 is disposed on one side of the electrode 511, a protective layer 522 is disposed on the other side of the electrode 511, the protective layer 522 is configured with a connection point opening 5221, the substrate layer 521 and the protective layer are directly combined at the outer edge of the electrode 511 to form a sealing edge 523, and the electrode 511 exposed at the connection point opening 5221 can be used as an electrode connection point for welding a connector.

In some embodiments, the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating for most of the whole counter electrode, and the exposed part of the electrode is used as an electrode connection point for welding a connecting piece.

In some embodiments, the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating of at least 5-4 surface area of the whole counter electrode, and the uncoated place can be used as an electrode connection point.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a flow chart of a method for producing a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in this embodiment, the method comprises the following steps:

s101: a conductive layer is formed on the base material layer.

In the present embodiment, the base material layer is made of a flexible material;

in some embodiments, the conductive layer may be formed by electrodeposition or vapor deposition on a substrate layer or printing or pasting a conductive sheet.

S102: the electrodes are formed by etching or milling the conductive layer.

In this embodiment, the electrode is capable of forming a capacitance with the conductor in proximity and is capable of transmitting an electrical signal indicative of the capacitance or the amount of change thereof to an external circuit.

In some embodiments, the electrodes are flexible.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a flow chart of a method for producing a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in this embodiment, the method comprises the following steps:

s201: forming a conductive layer on the substrate layer by electrodeposition or vapor deposition or printing or pasting a conductive sheet, for example: 1. depositing copper ions in an aqueous solution containing copper ions on the substrate layer by an electrodeposition technique to form a conductive layer; 2. depositing copper ions in a gas containing copper ions on the substrate layer by a vapor deposition technique to form a conductive layer; 3. and adhering the conductive sheet on the substrate layer to form the conductive layer.

S202: the electrodes are formed by etching or milling the conductive layer.

In some embodiments, the electrode may be formed by physically or chemically altering or adjusting the shape and thickness of the conductive layer to achieve a desired effect.

S203: a protective layer is constructed on the electrode.

In some embodiments, the protective layer may be disposed on the electrode by means of pasting, and the protective layer is made of an insulating material, so as to protect at least a portion of the electrode from being insulated and isolated, and to function as a physical barrier, thereby preventing the electrode from being damaged.

S203: and processing a notch on the protective layer.

In this embodiment, the notch can be used as an electrode connection point of the welding electrode.

In some embodiments, before the protective layer is not disposed on the electrode, a notch may be formed in the protective layer in advance.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a flow chart of a method for producing a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in this embodiment, the method comprises the following steps:

s301: and printing electrodes on the substrate layer or arranging conducting strips to form the electrodes.

In this embodiment, a substrate layer may be prepared, the substrate layer is flexible, and then the electrodes are directly printed on the substrate layer, specifically, a person skilled in the art may realize the method through a printed circuit board or a manufacturing process for producing a flexible circuit board, that is, a process for generating a circuit on the circuit board is used to form the electrodes.

In this embodiment, the conductive sheet may be directly provided on the base material layer to form the electrode, and the shape and thickness of the electrode may be processed in advance or may be processed separately after the provision.

In some embodiments, the electrodes are flexible.

Referring to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a flow chart of a method for producing a flexible electrode according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in this embodiment, the method comprises the following steps:

s401: and printing electrodes on the substrate layer or arranging conducting strips to form the electrodes.

S402: a protective layer is disposed on the electrode.

S403: and processing a notch on the protective layer.

Referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic skin according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in the present embodiment, the method includes: the flexible electrode 61 of the electronic skin in the above embodiment; and the detection circuit board 62, the electrode 61 is electrically connected with the detection circuit board 62, the electrode 61 can form a capacitor with an approaching conductor, and can transmit an electric signal for representing the capacitance or the variation thereof to the detection circuit of the detection circuit board 62, and the detection circuit of the detection circuit board 62 is used for converting the electric signal for representing the capacitance or the variation thereof into an electric signal for representing the capacitance or the variation thereof.

In some embodiments, the flexible electrode of the e-skin may also be the flexible electrode of the e-skin produced by the method for producing the flexible electrode of the e-skin in any one of fig. 11 to 14.

Referring to fig. 16, fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a housing of the device according to an embodiment of the utility model:

in this embodiment, the method includes: the housing 7, and in the embodiment of fig. 15 the e-skin, is arranged on top of the housing.

In some embodiments, the electronic skin may be attached to the inside or outside of the housing, or may be sandwiched between the inside housing and the outside housing.

Referring to fig. 17, fig. 17 is a schematic structural view of a robot arm according to an embodiment of the present invention:

in this embodiment, the robot arm 8 includes a plurality of robot arm joints 81 and a plurality of joint long arms 82, and a control board, at least one conductor for sensing external proximity of the housing 83 of the device in the embodiment of fig. 16 may be provided in the robot arm joints 81 and/or the joint long arms 82, and the control board (not shown) is electrically connected to a detection circuit board in the housing 83 of the device.

In summary, the flexible electrode for electronic skin in the above embodiments has the following advantages:

1. the production is easy, and the structure is simple, so that the production method can be suitable for different production methods, namely large-batch production and small-batch manual processing production, and can meet different production conditions and environmental requirements;

2. because of its flexibility and flexibility, it is easy to set up (easy to set up in the outer cover of the device with complicated curved surface), specifically, because it is easy to process into the particular shape, and it is flexible and easy to follow the shape and set up, therefore, in the environment of deployment specifically, it is very easy to set up, can follow the shape and set up, can be attached to and set up, can insert and locate between two layers of shells;

3. production and set up with low costsly, simple structure can simply paste the formation, also can be through production technologies such as hot melt, deposit, reference FPC, no matter large-scale or the production that the small batch can both be low-cost, set up with low costsly and indicate: the arrangement can be finished simply by attaching or clamping and fixing, and in the prior art, the electrode is formed by spraying copper paste on the shell, so that the production method is complex and the yield is low;

4. the electrode in the scheme has the advantages that the electrode is not easy to break due to the protection structure, and can be continuously connected after being broken due to the fact that the electrode is attached to the protection structure even if broken, and the detection effect cannot be influenced if the electrode is integrally conducted even if cracks exist as long as the electrode is conducted;

5. the electrode is easy to replace and maintain, and generally adopts a mode of attaching or clamping, so that when the electrode is damaged or equipment is updated, only new electrode needs to be directly replaced, and the electrode can be integrally replaced and cannot be maintained by adopting a mode of spraying copper paste on the shell to form the electrode.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes, which are made by using the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrodermal flexible electrode, comprising:

the substrate layer is made of a flexible material;

an electrode formed or disposed on the substrate layer, the electrode being flexible.

2. The flexible electrode of claim 1,

the area of the electrode is not less than 4 square centimeters, and the electrode can form a capacitance with an adjacent conductor and can transmit an electric signal representing the capacitance or the variation of the capacitance to an external circuit.

3. The flexible electrode of claim 1,

the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 5 mm.

4. The flexible electrode of claim 1,

the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 1 mm.

5. The flexible electrode of claim 1,

the thickness of the electrode is between 0.1 mm and 0.7 mm.

6. The flexible electrode of claim 1, further comprising:

and the protective layer is arranged on the electrode or at least partially covers the electrode, and is used for protecting the electrode.

7. The flexible electrode of claim 6,

the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating for most of the whole electrode.

8. The flexible electrode of claim 7,

the protective layer and the substrate layer together form a coating with at least 5-4 surface area of the whole electrode.

9. The flexible electrode of claim 7,

10. Flexible electrode according to claim 7 or 8,

the electrodes are at least partially exposed to form electrode connection points.

11. The flexible electrode of claim 6,

12. The flexible electrode of claim 1,

the substrate layer is made of an insulating material, and the electrode is made of a conductive material.

13. The flexible electrode of claim 1,

the substrate layer is made of a material formed of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate.

14. The flexible electrode of claim 6,

the protective layer is made of an insulating material.

15. The flexible electrode of claim 6,

the protective layer is made of a material formed of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate.

16. An electronic skin, comprising:

a flexible electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 15; and

the electrode is electrically connected with the detection circuit board;

the electrode can form a capacitor with a close conductor, and can transmit an electric signal for representing the capacitor or the variation of the capacitor to the detection circuit of the detection circuit board, and the detection circuit of the detection circuit board is used for converting the electric signal for representing the capacitor or the variation of the capacitor into an electric signal for representing the capacitance or the variation of the capacitor.

17. A housing for a device, comprising:

a housing; and

the electronic skin of claim 16;

wherein the electronic skin is disposed over the housing.

18. A robot arm, comprising:

a body;

a control panel; and

a plurality of housings for the device of claim 17, the housings being disposed on an outer surface of the body, the control board being electrically connected to the detection circuit board.