JPS6243510B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic tactile element that converts mechanical energy generated by slight contact with the presence of a solid in a gas or liquid into electrical energy, and which can be extracted as an electrical signal. The present invention relates to a support device.

As the basic structure of this type of electronic tactile element, the applicant has proposed a structure in which a piezoelectric element 3 is adhesively fixed to a resonance plate 2 having a wire-like or plate-like tactile hand 1 as shown in FIG. However, in practice, it is important to maintain a distance from the object, and as shown in the figure, the resonance plate 2 is usually fixed to a support frame 5 via a ring 4 while avoiding contact with the piezoelectric element 3. It was hot. As shown in FIG. 2, the electrical circuit for performing this mechanical-electrical energy conversion can pass through an amplifier circuit 6 and cause a display 7, for example, a display light, to blink to indicate the presence or absence of an object. In addition, 8 is the power supply, A is the first
This is the electronic tactile element shown in the figure. However, in this case, when some external force is applied to the support frame 5 and vibration (elastic vibration) occurs, it is easily propagated to the resonance plate 2 via the ring 4, and this is generated as noise between the two electrode terminals of the piezoelectric element 3. . Therefore, this becomes the biggest factor in deteriorating the S/N ratio. Also, in a normal environment, there is a lot of noise from low frequencies to high frequencies.
The drawback was that it was always prone to malfunction.

The present invention eliminates these conventional drawbacks. That is, when an external force is applied to the support rack, a part of it is converted into internal energy of the support rack, that is, vibration energy, according to the first law of thermodynamics. This energy is transmitted to the resonator plate through the ring and easily reaches the piezoelectric element. The present invention is designed to absorb and attenuate this vibration energy midway through. An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the support device for the electronic tactile element of the present invention, in which A is a sectional view thereof and B is a plan view thereof. As shown in the figure, a resonance plate 2 of an electronic tactile element consisting of a tactile hand 1, a resonance plate 2, and a piezoelectric element 3 is held by a ring 4, and a vibration isolating material 9 is interposed between a support frame 5 and the ring 4. It is something that As the vibration isolating material 9, it is sufficient to use, for example, porous polystyrene foam and fix it with adhesive.

In this way, since the vibration isolating material 9 is interposed between the support frame 5 and the ring 4, external noise coming in through the ring 4 is significantly reduced, and the piezoelectric element 3
The electrical signal obtained between the two terminals of the tactile hand 1 is always
Only regular signals propagated from the device can be used stably without malfunction. In fact, even when the electric drill (325 W) was operated at full capacity in contact with the support rack 5 and at a radius of 15 cm from the electronic tactile element, the tip of the tactile hand 1 was able to sufficiently sense a contact stress of about 1 g. In this case, it was confirmed that the noise from the electric drill did not cause malfunctions at all.

More specifically, when some external force is applied to one point of the support frame 5, as long as the support frame 5 is an elastic body, vibrations of elastic waves, ie, transverse waves and longitudinal waves, propagate in all directions at a constant speed. Then, at the interface between the support rack 5 and the vibration isolator 9, a part of the energy is transmitted into the vibration isolator 9 as incident energy. However, since the vibration isolating material 9 contains a large number of bubbles, complex diffused reflection occurs due to the presence of the large number of bubbles and the interface between them, and most of it is absorbed by the gas molecules in the bubbles. , causing a so-called dispersion phenomenon. With this dispersion, the external energy is converted into the kinetic energy of gas molecules, so that the amount that reaches the ring 4 is significantly reduced.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the support device of the present invention, particularly a portable anti-vibration type high-sensitivity electronic tactile device. As shown in the figure, a silver battery 11, a board 12, an electronic component 13, and an electronic tactile sensor are housed in a flat case 10, and a power switch 14 and an indicator light (LED) 15 are exposed and fixed on the outer surface of the case 10. It is something that In addition, 16 is an electrode, 17 is a spring, and 18 is a board foot, and the electric circuit configuration is almost the same as that in FIG. 2. Furthermore, the electronic tactile element may be fixed away from the center of the resonant plate 2, and the tactile hand 1 may be bent from the base as shown in the figure and placed between the case 10 and the tactile hand 1 with a vibration isolating material 9 interposed therebetween. It is fixed.

Therefore, the piezoelectric element 3 and the resonant plate 2 are fixed in the middle except that the lead wires are loosely wired.

In this way, it was actually observed that the intrusion of external noise was significantly reduced and the sensitivity was improved compared to the above embodiment. This is not a measure that can extremely reduce the cross-sectional area of intrusion of external noise, but longitudinal waves of relatively long wavelength (relative to the diameter of the rod) in a thin rod-shaped elastic body such as the tactile hand 1. This is presumed to be due to the fact that the loss is small and the incidence efficiency of external noise that enters against various conditions existing at the interface between the different materials of the vibration isolating material 9 and the tactile hand 1 is poor. The vibration isolating material 9 is usually made of linen cotton, panya,
In addition to glass wool, sound-absorbing materials such as porous rubber are relatively effective, but it goes without saying that they can be appropriately selected according to the above-mentioned principle.

As explained in detail above, in order to use an electronic tactile element, it is necessary to specify a spatial position as a standard, and it is essential to block out noise from the support. Therefore, the present invention can be widely applied to the environmental conditions in which it is used, and has applications such as automatic supply of materials, confirmation of the presence or absence of objects on a belt conveyor, prevention of contact with automobiles, detection of solids in water, detection of water and oil leaks, etc. The range is extremely wide.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a sectional view showing the basic structure of the electronic tactile element.
Fig. 2 shows its circuit diagram, Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of the support device for the electronic tactile element of the present invention, A is a sectional view, B is a plan view thereof, and Fig. 4 shows another embodiment of the invention. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Tactile element, 2...Resonance plate, 3...Piezoelectric element, 4...Ring, 5...Support frame, 9...Vibration isolating material, 10...Case, 12...Substrate, 13...Electronic Parts, 14...Switch, 15...Indicator light.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic tactile element consisting of a piezoelectric element, a resonant plate closely fixed to the main surface of the element, and a tactile hand fixed to the main surface of the resonant plate with one end as free as possible. A support device for an electronic tactile element, characterized in that a part of the electronic tactile element is fixed to a support frame via a vibration isolating material. 2. The support device for an electronic tactile element according to claim 1, wherein a part of the tactile hand is fixed to a support frame via a vibration isolating material.