KR20100020065A - Haptic module using electro-rheological fluid, control method thereof and haptic device therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A haptic module using an electrorheological fluid, a control method thereof and a haptic providing device with the haptic module are provided to convert hardness and softness of the entire electrorheological fluid by a non-compressive property of the electrorheological fluid, thereby minimizing power consumption of a portable device. CONSTITUTION: An electrorheological fluid is contained in a case(110). At least one side of the case is flexibly formed for a tactile feeling. An electric field applying unit(130) applies an electric field to the electrorheological fluid. A flow hole(125) discharges the electrorheological fluid to the outside of the case. A receiving unit receives the discharged electrorheological fluid.

Description

Haptic module using an electrorheological fluid, a control method thereof, and a haptic providing device having a haptic module

The present invention relates to a haptic module using a rheological fluid, and more particularly, a haptic module using an electric rheological fluid capable of providing a tactile feel by controlling the viscosity of an electric rheological fluid, a control method thereof, and a haptic providing device having a haptic module. It is about.

Haptic is a tactile sensation that can be felt by a human fingerer tip (fingertip or stylus pen) when touching an object.Tapile feedback and the movement of joints and muscles are felt by the skin touching the surface of the object. It is a concept that encompasses kinesthetic force feedback that is felt when it is disturbed. As used herein, "haptic" is used in this generic concept.

Haptic devices using haptics have dynamic characteristics (such as touching a button on a window screen) that touch a real object (actual button) when a person touches it. It is ideal to be able to reproduce transmitted vibrations, tactile feelings, and operation sounds). To improve the performance of such haptic devices, until now, mechatronic equipment using a motor and a link mechanism has been used.

However, such a mechanical haptic device is very heavy, has a complicated link structure, is difficult to miniaturize, and it is difficult to realize a rapid response speed due to inertia.

Recently, research on smart materials such as rheological fluids has been actively conducted to overcome this problem. That is, a smart material such as a rheological fluid is a material in which the viscosity of the liquid itself is changed in response to an externally applied electric energy (eg electric field) or magnetic energy (eg magnetic field). In addition, such a rheological fluid is roughly classified into an electrorheological fluid reacting to an electric field and a magnetorheological fluid reacting to a magnetic field.

Using these rheological fluids, they provide haptic effects in mobile terminals (e.g. mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, PMPs, MP3 players, electronic dictionaries, etc.), as actuators for robots, as tactile transmitters, or as dampers. The application field is gradually expanding.

However, since the rheological fluid has a small area where viscosity increases in response to an electric field or a magnetic field and a strong electric or magnetic field is required to change the viscosity of a large amount of the entire rheological fluid, power consumption is severe. There was this. In particular, when using it as a haptic providing device of a mobile terminal using a rheological fluid has a disadvantage that the power consumption is severe.

In addition, since the rheological fluid is incompressible, there should be a storage area that can accommodate it when pressed on one side. However, if the storage area is designed together, there is a technical limitation that it is difficult to miniaturize the product.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention, a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid that can change the hardness of the entire electro-fluidic fluid with a small power consumption, a control method and It is to provide a haptic providing device having a haptic module.

An object of the present invention is to efficiently control the flow rate of the electro-fluidic fluid to provide an appropriate haptic (e.g. a soft object or a hard object, a button feeling) with the user's finger at the moment of pressing the haptic module. It is to provide a haptic module having a haptic module, a control method, and a haptic module using an electric rheological fluid.

Another object of the present invention, by measuring the strength of the pressed force to implement the appropriate haptic according to the feedback by the haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid to make the haptic feel more realistic in games, various utilities, operating systems, etc. It is to provide a haptic providing apparatus having a control method and a haptic module.

Other objects, specific advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

An object of the present invention as described above, the electrical fluid is accommodated therein, at least one side of the case is formed flexibly for tactile;

Electric field applying means for applying an electric field to the electric rheological fluid;

A flow hole for discharging the electric fluid to the outside of the case; And

Receiving means communicating with the flow hole and receiving the discharged electro-fluidic fluid or return to the inside of the case; including,

It is possible to achieve by the haptic module using the electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the rigidity of the case is variable because the flow is changed by the viscosity of the electro-fluidic fluid in the flow hole according to the strength of the electric field.

And, the case is preferably composed of a flexible material on the upper surface.

In addition, the case is preferably configured such that the thickness of the upper surface is relatively thinner than the thickness of the side surface.

The case may be composed of a polymer, silicone, synthetic resin, rubber or metal.

In addition, the electric field applying means may be an electrode provided to be spaced apart a predetermined interval around the flow hole.

And, the electrode is composed of a positive electrode and a negative electrode, it is preferable that the positive electrode and the negative electrode is provided to cross at a predetermined interval in the flow hole.

In addition, the cross section of the flow hole may be configured in a circular shape.

The accommodating means may be an operation membrane fixed to the periphery of the flow hole while covering one end of the flow hole.

At this time, the working membrane is preferably elastic so that it can be inflated or restored by the electro-fluidic fluid.

In addition, the case is preferably further comprises a; support plate is located on the open surface, the surface formed with a flow hole is open.

In addition, the support plate is preferably formed with a receiving portion for receiving the swelling of the working membrane in the region corresponding to the flow hole.

An object of the present invention as described above, as the case of the haptic module is pressed, the step of passing the electric rheological fluid inside the flow hole;

Applying an electric field to the flow hole by the electric field applying means around the flow hole;

Changing the viscosity of the electrofluidic fluid in the flow hole by an applied electric field;

Changing the flow resistance due to the change in viscosity of the electric rheological fluid, and thus changing the flow rate of the electric rheological fluid passing through the flow hole; And

It is possible to achieve by the control method of the haptic module using an electro-fluid fluid, characterized in that it includes the step of generating a reaction force against the pressing of the case due to the flow rate change of the electro-fluidic fluid.

And, it is preferable to further include the step of receiving the electro-fluid fluid passing through the flow hole in the elastic working membrane.

In addition, the electro-fluidic fluid in the working membrane may further include the step of returning to the inside of the case through the flow hole by the elastic force.

In the viscosity change step, the electric field intensity is changed to change the viscosity of the electric fluid in the fluid hole, and the flow resistance in the flow change step is caused by the shear force between the flow hole and the fluid.

In addition, the electric field applying step, the step of detecting the strength of the force pressed from the force sensor; And controlling the intensity of the electric field applied based on the detection signal of the force sensor.

Therefore, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as described above, the viscosity of the electro-fluidic fluid can be changed with a small amount of power, but the hardness or softness of the entire electro-fluidic fluid can be changed due to the incompressibility of the fluid. Therefore, the power consumption of the portable device can be minimized.

In particular, when the present invention is applied to a mobile terminal (eg, a mobile phone, PMP, MP3, electronic dictionary, etc.) or a notebook touch pad, digitizer, etc., it can be used as a passive haptic feedback providing apparatus. In this case, whenever the user presses the mobile terminal, the user may receive a hard feeling (haptic feedback) or a soft feeling (haptic feedback) by executing the application program.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various other modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is obvious that all belong to the scope of the appended claims.

(Configuration of the Haptic Module)

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described with respect to the configuration of the haptic module using the electro-fluidic fluid 105 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of a haptic module using the electro-fluidic fluid 105 according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the haptic module shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the haptic module according to the present invention includes a case 110, the electric field applying means 130, the support plate 150 and the like.

The case 110 is made of a flexible material such as synthetic resin, silicone, or polymer, and is configured to contact the user's finger or stylus pen with the upper surface. The case 110 is elastic in the vertical direction and is compressed when the finger is pressed, and is restored to its original shape when the finger is released. The case 110 has a hexagonal structure with a lower surface open and an empty inside. The lower surface of the case 110 is formed with a flow hole 125 through which the electric rheological fluid 105 contained in the case 110 can enter. In addition, the shape of the case 110 may be deformed into a cylindrical or other polyhedral shape in addition to the hexagonal structure, and may be made of a thin metal material or rubber. An example of the size of the case 110 is 10mm × 10mm × 1.5mm.

The thickness of the upper surface of the case 110 is relatively thinner than the thickness of the side, as shown in FIG. This is to ensure that when the upper surface of the case 110 is pressed with a finger, the upper surface of the case 110 is sufficiently pressed down. More preferably, the thickness of the upper surface of the case 110 may be less than half the thickness of the side surface.

The inside of the case 110 is filled with an electric rheological fluid 105. The electrofluidic fluid 105 is a fluid that changes in viscosity depending on an electric field. When there is no electric field, the fluid flows into a low viscosity state such as water, and then changes to a high viscosity state such as hardening when an electric field is applied. That is, when the electric rheological fluid 105 becomes high viscosity state, the flow resistance increases. The electrofluidic fluid 105 is arranged in a chain-like structure in which particles are in the direction of an electric field under the influence of an applied electric field. Therefore, it is possible to deliver a hard feeling as a feature that the viscosity increases sharply. The rheological fluid 105 increases in proportion to the intensity of the electric field applied. In particular, the rheological fluid 105 is a material having high tensile properties, low viscosity, stiffness, stability and wide temperature deviation, fast response characteristics within 10 ms, and incompressibility, and is suitable for the present invention.

The electric field applying means 130 is a member for forming an electric field in the flow hole 125 through which the electric rheological fluid 105 passes, and is accommodated in the flow hole gutter plate 120, preferably in the flow hole gutter plate 120. Included in a penetrating manner. The electric field applying means 130 is an electrode spaced apart from the flow hole 125 by a predetermined interval, and is spaced apart from the (+) electrode 130a and the (+) electrode 130a penetrating one direction by a predetermined distance. There is a (-) electrode 130b provided in the. The positive electrode 130a and the negative electrode 130b may be provided in parallel, but as shown in FIG. 4, the positive electrode 130a and the negative electrode 130b may be provided in parallel to each other to form an electric field only in the flow hole 125. Do. The gap between the (+) electrode 130a and the (−) electrode 130b may be configured to be 0.2 mm, and the positions of the (+) electrode 130a and the (−) electrode 130b may be changed. Both ends of the electric field applying means 130 are wires (not shown) for applying power.

The flow hole 125 is a place where the shear force is generated between the electro-fluidic fluid 105 and is formed in the flow hole gutter plate 120 provided in the lower portion of the case 110. The shape of the flow hole 125 is preferably configured in a circular shape so that the shear force is evenly distributed in each direction of the flow hole 125. It is desirable to form a sufficiently long longitudinal direction and a very narrow width of the hole (or a very small cross-sectional area of the flow hole 125). One example of the diameter of the flow hole 125 may be configured to 1mm.

The accommodating means is a member for accommodating the discharged electrofluid fluid 105 communicated with the flow hole 125 or returning the electrofluidic fluid 105 to the case 110. Preferably, the accommodating means is a working membrane 140. It is good to configure. The operation membrane 140 is provided on the bottom surface of the case 110 provided with the support plate 150 and the electric field applying means 130. That is, the lower surface of the case 110 is in contact with one surface of the operation membrane 140, and the support plate 150 is in contact with the other surface. The actuation membrane 140 may swell up like a balloon or may be restored to a plane again. To this end, the working membrane 140 may be made of a thin and tough polymer or rubber. The operation membrane 140 may cover the lower surface of the case 110 or may be configured to cover the periphery of the flow hole 125.

The support plate 150 is supported and fixed to the other surface of the working membrane 140. The support plate 150 may be made of a hard and light synthetic resin material. The support plate 150 supports the force pushing the case 110 and performs a function of appropriately dispersing it. The receiving part 155 is formed in the center area of the support plate 150. The accommodating part 155 is to provide a space in which the operation membrane 140 may swell, and may be implemented by forming a through hole in the support plate 150 or forming a concave groove. However, the size of the space provided by the accommodating part 155 may be an empty space sufficient to allow the operation membrane 140 to be inflated to the maximum.

(Control method of haptic module)

Hereinafter, a control method of a haptic module using the electric rheological fluid 105 having the above configuration will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 5A is a state before pressing the haptic module 100 shown in FIG. 1 with a finger, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation state when the haptic module 100 is pressed with a finger. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a haptic module using an electrorheological fluid according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 7, first, when a finger presses the upper surface of the case 110, the upper surface of the case 110 is thin, and thus, the pressure is easily deformed by the pressing force. Accordingly, as the space inside the case 110 decreases, the internal pressure of the electrofluidic fluid 105 increases. At this time, the electrofluidic fluid 105 exits through the narrow flow hole 125. In addition, the electric rheological fluid 105 exiting the flow hole 125 occupies a space of the accommodating part 155 while expanding the working membrane 140.

In addition, when the finger is removed from the case 110, the electro-fluidic fluid 105 in the receiving portion passes through the flow hole 125 again by the elastic restoring force of the case 110 and the elastic restoring force of the working membrane 140. 110) return to the inside.

Hereinafter, a method of providing a passive haptic by the electric field applying unit 130 will be described. When power is supplied to the electric field applying means 130, the electric field is formed by the electric field applying means 130 composed of the (+) electrode 130a and the (-) electrode 130b. This electric field acts strongly in the flow hole 125 formed so that the (+) electrode 130a and the (−) electrode 130b face each other. Accordingly, the increase in viscosity is apparent due to the strong electric field of the electric rheological fluid 105 in the flow hole 125 of the entire electric rheological fluid 105 in the case 110.

When the electric field is depressed, the viscosity of the electrofluidic fluid 105 inside the case 110 increases somewhat, but the viscosity of the electrofluidic fluid 105 in the flow hole 125 is greatly increased by the strong electric field. Accordingly, the electrofluidic fluid 105 in the flow hole 125 may increase or even become hard due to high viscosity, thereby preventing the flow. Therefore, if the voltage or current applied to the electrode is properly controlled, the flow resistance in the flow hole 125 can be controlled proportionally (or linearly).

In order to effectively induce flow resistance, the flow hole 125 has a small cross-sectional area and is advantageous as the contact area between the fluid and the wall surface increases. The increase in viscosity in the flow hole 125 of the electro-fluidic fluid 105 causes an effect such that the electro-fluidic fluid 105 in the entire case 110 becomes hard due to the incompressibility of the electro-fluidic fluid 105. do. That is, by applying the electric field to the entire electrofluidic fluid 105 to control the viscosity, instead of applying and controlling the electric field intensively to the flow hole 125, the same effect as controlling the entire electrofluidic fluid 105 is achieved. You can get it.

Therefore, when a weak electric field is generated between the electrodes, the electrofluidic fluid 105 becomes viscous state such as water and does not feel a large reaction force or resistance from the finger and the deformation of the case 110 is also large and quick. This may give the user a soft touch (eg, a feeling of pressing a balloon).

On the contrary, when a strong magnetic field is generated in the coil, the electrofluidic fluid 105 in the flow hole 125 becomes a viscous state such as a hard solid to further narrow the flow cross section of the flow hole 125. Therefore, a greater shear force is applied to the electrofluidic fluid 105 passing through the flow hole 125, which causes a greater flow resistance. Therefore, a large reaction force or resistance is felt at the finger, and the deformation degree of the case 110 is also reduced. This can provide the user with a feeling of hard, hardly pressed (eg, pressing stone).

Through this process and control, the user can feel various touches at the fingertips.

(Haptic device)

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a haptic providing apparatus by arranging a plurality of haptic modules 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 6A, a plurality of haptic modules 100 are arranged in a matrix form, and a lower support plate 210 is provided on a lower surface thereof. Although not shown in FIG. 6A, the lower support plate 210 has a receiving portion 155 formed at a position corresponding to the flow hole 125 of each haptic module 100. In addition, the lower support plate 210 of FIG. 6A also includes wirings corresponding to the jars for controlling the respective haptic modules.

In the haptic providing device as shown in FIG. 6A, the haptic can be provided for a larger area (eg, the palm) than the finger, and since the individual haptic module 100 can be individually controlled, the distribution of the tactile sense is different ( For example, it is possible to provide a variety of tactile touches and haptics, such as varying with time (eg, vibration).

(Variation)

FIG. 6B is a perspective view illustrating a first embodiment in which a flexible display 300 is provided at one side of the haptic providing device shown in FIG. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6B, by installing the flexible display 300 on the upper surface of the haptic providing apparatus 200, the haptic may be provided in cooperation with the graphic displayed on the display 300. That is, the display 300 displays a balloon, and the haptic providing device 200 of the corresponding balloon area forms a soft haptic like a balloon. In this case, the user may visually recognize the balloon image displayed on the display 300 and at the same time, may feel a haptic feeling such as pressing a balloon, thereby providing a more realistic haptic. An example of such a display 300 is a flexible OLED (organic light emitting display).

FIG. 6C is a perspective view illustrating a second embodiment in which a flexible touch pad 400 is provided at one side of the haptic providing device 200 shown in FIG. 6A. As illustrated in FIG. 6C, the flexible touch pad 400 may be provided on the upper surface of the haptic providing apparatus 200, so that the position data and the haptic providing of the touch pad 400 may be linked. That is, the touch of the corresponding area may be changed by detecting the area touched by the user.

FIG. 6D is a perspective view illustrating a third embodiment in which a flexible touch pad 400 and a flexible display 300 are provided together at one side of the haptic providing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6D, the display 300 and the touch pad 400 of the first and second embodiments described above may be installed on the upper surface of the haptic providing apparatus 200. In this case, the haptic providing apparatus 200 may provide various haptics while interlocking graphics on the display 300 according to the location information of the touch pad 400. If necessary, the interlayer positions of the touch pad 400 and the display 300 may be reversed.

FIG. 6E is a perspective view illustrating a fourth embodiment in which a force sensor 500 is provided below the haptic providing device 200 shown in FIG. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6E, the force sensor 500 is provided below the haptic providing apparatus 200. The force sensor 500 may detect the strength of force and may be provided in plural in correspondence with each haptic module 100. Therefore, the strength and touch position of the force touched by the user may be determined based on the output signal of the force sensor 500. The force sensor 500 may be located above the haptic providing device 200. The strength of the electric field applied to the haptic module 100 may be controlled based on the output signal of the force sensor 500.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various other modifications or changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Are all within the scope of the appended claims.

1 is a perspective view of a haptic module using the electro-fluidic fluid according to the present invention,

2 is an exploded view of the haptic module shown in FIG.

3 is a perspective view of the floating hole gutter plate,

4 is a front sectional view taken along the direction A-A of FIG.

5A is a state diagram before pressing a haptic module shown in FIG. 1 with a finger;

5B is a state diagram before pressing the haptic module shown in FIG. 1 with a finger;

6A is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation state when a haptic module shown in FIG. 1 is pressed with a finger;

FIG. 6B is a perspective view illustrating a first embodiment in which a flexible display is provided at one side of the haptic providing device shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6C is a perspective view illustrating a second embodiment in which a flexible touch pad is provided at one side of the haptic providing device shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6D is a perspective view illustrating a third embodiment in which a flexible display and a touch pad are provided at one side of the haptic providing device shown in FIG. 6A;

6E is a perspective view illustrating a fourth embodiment in which a force sensor is provided at one side of the haptic providing device shown in FIG. 6A;

7 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a haptic module using an electrorheological fluid according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: finger,

100: haptic module,

105: electrorheological fluid,

110: case,

120: floating hole slab,

125: floating hole,

130: electric field applying means,

130a: (+) electrode,

130b: negative electrode,

140: working membrane,

150: support plate,

200: haptic providing device,

210: lower support plate,

300: display,

400: touchpad,

500: force sensor.

Claims (18)

A case in which an electric fluid is accommodated therein and at least one surface of which is flexibly formed for a touch; Electric field applying means for applying an electric field to the electric rheological fluid; A flow hole for discharging the electric rheological fluid to the outside of the case; And Receiving means communicating with the flow hole and receiving the discharged electro-fluidic fluid or return to the inside of the case; including, The haptic module using the electrorheological fluid, characterized in that the stiffness of the case is variable because the flow is variable by changing the viscosity of the electrofluidic fluid in the flow hole according to the strength of the electric field. The method of claim 1, The case is a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the upper surface is a flexible material. The method of claim 1, The case is a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the thickness of the upper surface is relatively thinner than the thickness of the side. The method of claim 1, The case is a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the polymer, silicon, synthetic resin, rubber or metal. The method of claim 1, The electric field applying means, Haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the electrode provided to be spaced apart a predetermined interval around the flow hole. The method of claim 5, The electrode consists of a positive electrode and a negative electrode, And the positive electrode and the negative electrode are arranged to intersect at a predetermined interval in the flow hole. The method of claim 1, Haptic module using the electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the cross section of the flow hole is circular. The method of claim 1, The accommodation means, Haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the operating membrane is fixed to the circumference of the flow hole covering one end of the flow hole. The method of claim 8, The working membrane is a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that it is elastic to be swollen or restored by the electro-fluidic fluid. The method of claim 8, The case is The surface on which the flow hole is formed is opened, Haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid further comprising a; support plate located on the open surface. The method of claim 10, The support plate is a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that the receiving portion for receiving the swelling of the working membrane is formed in a region corresponding to the flow hole. 10. A haptic module using the electrorheological fluid according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is provided, Haptic module having a haptic module comprising a; a lower support plate on which the plurality of haptic module is installed. The method of claim 12, The lower support plate has a haptic module having a haptic module, characterized in that the receiving portion for receiving the swelling of the operation membrane is formed in the area corresponding to the flow hole. As the case of the haptic module is pressed, the electric fluid inside the fluid flow through the flow hole; Applying an electric field to the flow hole by the electric field applying means around the flow hole; Changing the viscosity of the electrofluidic fluid in the flow hole by the applied electric field; Changing the flow resistance due to the change in viscosity of the electric rheological fluid, and thus changing the flow rate of the electric rheological fluid passing through the flow hole; And Generating a reaction force against the depression of the case due to a change in the flow rate of the electric rheological fluid. The method of claim 14, The control method of the haptic module using the electro-fluidic fluid further comprising the step of receiving the electro-fluidic fluid passing through the flow hole in the elastic working membrane. The method of claim 15, And returning the electrofluidic fluid in the working membrane back to the inside of the case through the flow hole by the elastic force. The method of claim 14, In the step of changing the viscosity, the intensity of the electric field is changed to change the viscosity of the electric rheological fluid in the fluid hole, The flow resistance of the flow rate change step is a control method of a haptic module using an electro-fluidic fluid, characterized in that caused by the shear force between the flow hole and the electro-fluidic fluid. The method of claim 14, The electric field applying step, Detecting the strength of the force pressed from the force sensor; And And controlling the intensity of the electric field applied based on the detection signal of the force sensor.

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