JPS62275284A - Tactility stimulation mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] 3. Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a tactile stimulation mechanism, and more specifically, to a tactile sense that outputs stimulation of various pattern information to the human skin tactile sense. Stinging
! This is related to the i mechanism.

[Prior Art] Tactile stimulation mechanisms for reading letters and other patterns for the blind have been put to practical use, but this type of device applies stimulation similar to the various patterns read to the tactile sense of the skin. This allows pattern recognition to be performed.

This type of device consists of a pattern reading section, a drive circuit, and a skin tactile stimulation mechanism.

FIG. 9 shows a partially enlarged view of a conventional skin tactile stimulation mechanism.

The skin tactile stimulation mechanism has a rectangular piezo bimorph 1aNle separated one by one.Each piezo bimorph 1aNle.
One ends of a to 1e are electrically connected to a connection terminal (not shown) on the circuit board side to which the drive element 4 is fixed. The reference numeral 3 indicates a common short-circuit wire for each piezo bimorph 1a to 1e.

On the other hand, metal wires 2a to 2e having a predetermined length are vertically fixed to the upper surface of the tip of each piezo bimorph la to 1e.

A plurality of units having the above-mentioned structure are prepared, and metal wires 2a~
2e are arranged in a matrix to constitute a tactile stimulation mechanism.

The above-mentioned tactile stimulation mechanism manually inputs an electric signal of a pattern read by a character reading section (not shown) to the drive element 4, vibrates the piezo bimorphs 1a-1e in accordance with the read pattern with the output signal, and The lines 2a to 2e are driven up and down to stimulate the tactile sense of the skin, such as a finger, so that the pattern can be recognized.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the tactile stimulation mechanism with the above-described structure is composed of independent strip-shaped piezo bimorphs, it takes a long time to assemble and increases the cost.

Furthermore, when each piezo bimorph is attached in half to the circuit board and when the common shorting wire 3 is attached in half to the FII, there is a possibility that adjacent piezo bimorphs may be short-circuited.

Further, it is difficult to arrange the short-sided piezo bimorphs 1a-1e and the metal wires 2a-2e on the same plane, and variations in characteristics also occur.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention integrates a conductive plate between upper and lower piezo plates by sandwiching a conductive plate between them, and makes multiple cuts from one end side. A piezo bimorph element is used, one of the piezo plate or the conductive plate is used as a common electrode, and the other is used as a segment electrode, each electrically connected to the circuit board side, and a metal wire of a predetermined length is attached to the tip of the piezo bimorph element. We have adopted a structure in which each of these is fixed.

[Function] When the above-described structure is adopted, since the piezo bimorph is integrated, it can be manufactured easily, and each piezo bimorph can be arranged on the same plane, thereby preventing short circuits between adjacent segment electrodes.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

In some embodiments to be described below, the same or corresponding parts as in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

[First Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention, and this embodiment employs a piezo/heimorph integrated structure.

That is, first, as shown in FIG. 2, an upper piezo plate 8 and a lower piezo plate 10 having the same shape are prepared.

The part of the upper piezo plate 8 where the metal wire is attached (, h)
An electrode material (not shown) is applied to the upper and lower surfaces of the upper piezo plate 8, except for portions 8a and 8b of the surface (lower surface) that are connected to segment electrodes J1c, which will be described later.

Further, electrode material is also applied to the upper and lower surfaces of the lower piezo plate 10, but the 'if electrode material is not applied to a portion 10a of the upper surface to be bonded to a segment electrode, which will be described later.

On the other hand, a segment electrode plate 9 is sandwiched and bonded between the upper and lower piezo plates 8 and 10. The width of the segment electrode plate 9 is equal to the width of the upper and lower piezo plates 8 and 10, and its length is longer than the length of the upper and lower piezo plates 8 and 10.

Elongated triangular openings 9a are formed at predetermined pitches at both ends of the segment electrode plate 9 in the longitudinal direction by etching.

The reason for forming these openings 9a is to cut the segment electrode plate 9 to form segment electrodes 9b as described later.

Note that the segment electrode plate 9 is formed from, for example, a thin horizontal copper plate.

The segment electrode plate 9 having the above-described structure is fixed between the upper and lower piezo plates 8 and 10 with an adhesive to obtain a piezo bimorph R1 material 11 as shown in FIG.

In this state yE, as is clear from FIG. 3, both ends of the segment electrode plate 9 in the longitudinal direction protrude from both ends of the upper and lower piezo plates 8.10.

The thus obtained piezo bimorph m material is cut at the protruding segment electrode plate 9 on the left end side in FIG. 3 along the edges of the upper and lower piezo plates 8 and 10.

Subsequently, the right end portion is cut along the edge of the opening 9a to separate the segment wires M9b independently, as shown in FIG.

Furthermore, by forming a notch 12a along the axis of the opening 9a facing from the side opposite to the side from which the segment electrode 9b protrudes, the segment electrode plate is divided into segment electrodes 9b, and the upper and lower piezo plates 8 .10 is also cut to the vicinity of the base end and divided into piezo bimorphs 7 as shown in FIG.

In this way, an integrated piezo bimorph 12 is obtained.

The integrated piezo piezoelectric plate 12 thus obtained is soldered to the circuit board 5 side with the protruding sides of the segment electrodes 9b independently, and the upper piezo plate 8 and the circuit board 5 side are electrically connected by the common electrode extraction plate 6. Connect to.

On the other hand, the metal wires 2a to 2e are fixed at right angles to a portion of the top surface of the tip of the piezo bimorph 7 where the electrode material is not applied.

Note that a single blade dicing layer or a multi-blade dicing layer may be used to form the notches 12a or cut unnecessary parts, but the processing using the dicing layer depends on the diameter of the blade. , the amount of uncut portions of the upper and lower piezo plates 8 and 10 may differ.

In consideration of such a case, a method may be adopted in which a multi-wire layer or a single wire layer is used to equalize the amount of uncut portion.

As described above, this embodiment uses an integrated piezo bimorph 12.
This makes it possible to significantly shorten the assembly time compared to the conventional method of assembling piezo bimorphs one tree at a time.

Furthermore, since the segment electrodes are formed in an elongated triangular shape, their tips are thin, and soldering can prevent short circuits between adjacent segment electrodes, thereby greatly improving yield.

In addition, by using the integrated piezo bimorph 12tt, each piezo bimorph 7 can be placed on the same plane, significantly reducing variations in characteristics, and significantly reducing costs and improving reliability. can be realized.

[Second Embodiment 1] FIGS. 5 to 8 illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention, and this embodiment shows a structure in which a segment electrode plate is used as a common electrode.

Such a tactile stimulation mechanism is obtained as shown in FIG.

That is, the upper and lower piezo plates 13 and 15 have the same size.
Prepare.

Segment patterns 13a made of a conductive material are formed on the upper surface of the upper piezo plate 13 at a predetermined pitch in the width direction except for the left end portion in the figure.

On the other hand, on the back surface of the lower piezo plate 15, segment patterns are formed of a conductive material over the entire length and at the same pitch as the segment patterns 13a in the width direction.

Further, a common electrode plate 14 corresponds to the segment electrode plate 9 in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, since this is used as a common electrode, no opening is formed. do not have.

A common electrode plate 4 is bonded between the upper and lower piezo plates 13 and 15 via an adhesive to obtain a piezo bimorph base material 16 as shown in FIG. In this state, both ends of the common electrode plate 15 protrude from the upper and lower piezo plates 13.15.

Next, the common electrode plate 15 on the left end side in FIG. A plurality of piezo bimorphs 7 are drawn by forming the notches 17a up to . What was thus obtained was an integrated piezo bimorphea.

As shown in FIG. 5, the integrated Viezo eight morphea is manufactured by soldering the protruding part of the common electrode plate 15 to the circuit board 5 side, and connecting the segment pattern 13a to the circuit board 5 side using segment electrode extraction wires 18a to 18e. were electrically connected, and metal wires 2a to 2e were fixed at right angles to the portion of the tip of each piezo bimorph 7 where the segment pattern 13a was not provided, thereby obtaining a tactile stimulation mechanism.

I: Even if the structure as described above is adopted, the same effect as in the embodiment described above can be obtained, only by changing the structure of the common electrode and the segment electrode.

In each of the examples described above, about 20 segment arrays were formed as one integrated piezo pymorph. By arranging a large number of such integrated piezo bimorphs in the array direction, more seven rays can be formed.

On the other hand, there are 3 integrated piezo octamorph segment arrays with 10 pieces, 5 pieces, and 4 pieces! By using class i, the 20 segment array can be divided into 2, 4, 5
It is also possible to configure it into parts.

[Effect] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, upper and lower piezo plates are integrated by sandwiching a conductive plate between them, and multiple cuts are made from one end side to form multiple piezo bimorph elements. A structure in which either the piezo plate or the conductive plate is used as a common electrode and the other as a segment electrode, each electrically connected to the circuit board side, and a metal wire of a predetermined length is fixed to the tip of the piezo bimorph element. This allows the piezo bimorph to be integrated, greatly reducing assembly man-hours and preventing short circuits between segment electrodes.

In addition, since it uses an integrated piezo bimorph, each piezo bimorph element can be placed on the same plane.
There is little variation in characteristics, improving reliability and achieving significant cost reductions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures m1 to 4 illustrate the first embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tactile stimulation mechanism. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the piezo bimorph base material, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the piezo bimorph base material, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the integrated piezo bimorph, and FIGS. 5 to 8 are the second embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a perspective view of the tactile stimulation mechanism, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the piezo bimorph base material, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the piezo bimorph base material, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the piezo bimorph base material. 9 is a perspective view of an integrated piezo bimorph, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional tactile stimulation mechanism. 1a-1e, 7... Piezo bimorph 2a-2e...
- Metal wire 5...Circuit board 6...Common electrode extraction plate 8.13...Upper piezo plate 10.15...Lower piezo plate 9...Segment electrode plate 9b...Segment electrode 11. 16... Piezo bimorph base material 12.17...
・Integrated piezo bimorph 13a, 15a...Segment pattern 14...Common electrode plate 18a-18e...Wire for taking out segment electrodes 1 (1 mo 1) Ox's molecule M4 prospect diagram 2nd Figure 3: Disassembly of L.Ezoba's clone Figure 6.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) Upper and lower piezo plates are integrated by sandwiching a conductive plate between them, and multiple cuts are made from one end to form a plurality of piezo bimorph elements, and either the piezo plate or the conductive plate is A tactile stimulation mechanism characterized in that a common electrode and the other segment electrode are electrically connected to a circuit board, and a metal wire of a predetermined length is fixed to the tip of a piezo bimorph element. 2) The tactile stimulation mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the segment electrodes are formed by dividing a conductive plate. 3) The tactile stimulation mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the segment electrode is formed as a segment pattern made of a conductive material on a piezo bimorph element.