TWI393866B - Object moving state sensor - Google Patents

Description

Object motion sensor

The present invention relates to a sensor that senses a force or motion state, and in particular, the present invention relates to a sensor that utilizes a bubble to achieve a sensed force or motion state.

Motion sensors can be used in a wide range of applications, ranging from food, clothing, housing, travel and entertainment to the general public, defense, aviation, aerospace, etc., all of which require different precision motion sensors to achieve Different applications.

Today's common motion sensors are manufactured using microelectromechanical technology. Microelectromechanical technology is a micro-engineering technology that combines electronics and machinery to make tiny mechanical or electronic components using semiconductor process technology. In the case of motion sensors, microelectromechanical technology is made of a semiconductor made of a semiconductor on a substrate to create a movable microstructure, and can sense motion states such as speed or acceleration in different directions, and if it is optical, electrical, and magnetic. Or a combination of systems in the sound field, which can be further measured and controlled.

However, the motion sensor manufactured by the microelectromechanical technology described above is motion-sensing by a mechanical movable member, so that the movable member and the substrate or other parts inevitably generate friction, and the loss is movable. The piece and the substrate itself result in a shortened service life of the motion sensor. Therefore, in order to improve the service life of the motion sensor, how to reduce the loss of internal parts due to friction is the focus of research.

In the prior art, the above mechanical movable member can be replaced by a thermal bubble which is heated by a heater to form a thermal gradient of the gas in a container. When such a thermal bubble motion sensor moves with an object, the gas and the container are transported The relative relationship of the sensors will change the thermal gradient distribution in the original container, and the sensing unit in the container can sense the thermal gradient and its changes and calculate the motion state of the thermal bubble motion sensor.

The thermal bubble motion sensor replaces the mechanical movable member by heating the gas, thereby avoiding the shortening of the service life caused by the loss of the parts. However, the driving energy required to heat the gas will far exceed the mechanical motion sensor made by the MEMS process. On the other hand, thermal gradient sensing needs to be accurately obtained through complicated calculation methods. In summary, although the thermal bubble motion sensor solves the problem that parts are worn out due to friction, it is replaced by the disadvantages of high energy consumption and high difficulty in sensing methods.

Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a sensor for sensing the motion state of an object, which uses a bubble as a motion sensing movable member and does not require high driving energy, and can solve the above problem.

According to a specific embodiment, the sensing element of the present invention comprises a housing unit, a sensing unit and a processing unit. The accommodating unit can be used to contain a fluid, and the fluid contains air bubbles. The sensing unit can be disposed at a preset position in the inner wall of the accommodating unit, and the processing unit can be coupled to the sensing unit and receive the output signal of the sensing unit.

In this embodiment, the sensing unit can sense the electrical characteristics around it and output a sensing signal according to the sensing signal, and the processing unit can determine the motion state according to the sensing signal. When the sensor moves with the object, the bubble will move relative to the sensor, and when the bubble approaches the sensing unit and affects the electrical characteristics around the sensor, the sensing signal output by the sensing unit will be based on the surrounding electrical The characteristics are adjusted, so that the processing unit can judge the motion state of the sensor and the object according to the change of the sensing signal.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a sensor that uses a bubble as a movable member to sense the motion state of the object.

According to a specific embodiment, the sensor of the present invention comprises a accommodating unit, a illuminating unit and a sensing unit. The accommodating unit can be used to accommodate a fluid, and the fluid contains air bubbles. Further, the accommodating unit has a light transmitting surface. The light emitting unit can emit light to penetrate the light transmitting surface of the accommodating unit. The sensing unit is disposed at a preset position in the inner wall of the accommodating unit, and is configured to receive light and generate a sensing signal accordingly.

In this embodiment, when the sensor moves with the object, the bubble moves relative to the sensor, and when the bubble approaches the sensing unit, the interface of the bubble and the fluid reflects the light emitted by the light emitting unit. To the sensing unit, the sensing unit generates a sensing signal according to the received light. In another embodiment, the sensing unit can be coupled to the processing unit, and the processing unit can receive the sensing signal and determine the motion state of the sensor and the object by the sensing signal.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a sensor that changes the visual effect of the touch device with bubbles.

According to a specific embodiment, the sensor of the present invention includes a housing unit, a contact sensing unit, and a bubble generating unit. The accommodating unit can be used to accommodate the fluid, and the accommodating unit has a light transmissive surface for the user to contact. The contact control unit may be disposed in the accommodating unit to sense that the user or the object approaches or contacts the light transmissive surface, and selectively transmits the sensing signal.

In this embodiment, the bubble generating unit may be disposed in the accommodating unit and coupled to the contact sensing unit. The bubble generating unit can receive the sensing signal and generate a bubble near the light transmitting surface according to the sensing signal. When the bubble approaches the light transmitting surface, the refractive index of the light near the original light transmitting surface is changed, so that the user can observe through the sensor. The light surface presents a visual effect.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be ascertained by the following detailed description and The drawings are further understood.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a sensor 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the sensor 1 includes a receiving unit 10 and a first sensing unit 12 . The receiving unit 10 can accommodate the fluid 100 and the air bubbles 102 located in the fluid 100. Please note that only one bubble 102 is shown in this embodiment. However, in practice, the number or volume of the bubbles 102 may be determined according to the needs of the user or the designer, and is not limited to the specific implementations listed in the specification. example.

The first sensing unit 12 can be disposed at a preset position on the inner wall of the accommodating unit 10. In this embodiment, the first sensing unit 12 can include two first sensing points 120, and the two first sensing points 120 can be used to sense electrical characteristics (eg, electrical conductivity) therebetween, and according to electrical Characteristic output sensing signal. Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a schematic diagram showing the linear motion of the sensor 1 of FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor 1 moves along the direction D, which in practice can be caused by the force applied by the object to the sensor 1. The bubble 102 moves relative to the sensor 1 in a direction opposite to the direction D, thereby approaching the first sensing unit 12, and since the medium in the bubble 102 is not the same as the composition of the fluid 100, the two first sensing The electrical characteristics of point 120 will be changed by bubble 102 to cause first sensing unit 12 to adjust its sensing signal accordingly.

According to another embodiment, the first sensing unit 12 can be coupled to the processing unit 14 (as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). The processing unit 14 can receive the sensing signal generated by the first sensing unit 12, and determine the motion state of the sensor 1 according to the received sensing signal and its change. In practice, if the sensor 1 moves with the object, the motion state of the sensor 1 determined by the processing unit 14 is the motion state of the object.

In practice, the processing unit 14 can be directly disposed on the sensor 1 and connected to the first sensing unit 12 by wires or other physical connections to receive the sensing signals by conduction. On the other hand, the processing unit 14 can also be disposed outside the sensor 1 and communicate with the first sensing unit 12 by wireless transmission to receive the sensing signal. Therefore, the setting position of the processing unit and the manner of receiving the sensing signal in practice may be determined according to the needs of the user or the designer, and are not limited to the specific embodiments of the present invention.

In summary, the sensor of the present invention can use air bubbles as a movable member for motion sensing. Since the bubble is not a solid part, there is no problem of loss due to friction. In addition, although the bubbles may gradually become smaller or disappear due to the solubility of the gas components in the fluid, the rate of disappearance according to the difference of the gas components in the fluid and the bubbles is much smaller than the thermal escape rate of the prior art thermal bubbles. Therefore, the frequency of the supplemental movable member and the required driving energy can be smaller than the thermal bubble motion sensor. In addition, since the measurement of the electrical characteristics is easy, the motion state of the sensor or the object can be obtained without a complicated calculation process.

Moreover, according to another specific embodiment, the sensor 1 may further have a second sensing unit and a third sensing unit. In this embodiment, the second sensing unit includes two second sensing points and the third sensing unit includes two second sensing points. The first sensing points 120 of the first sensor 12 can be respectively used. Three sensing signals representing different directions are generated, and the processing unit 14 can determine the three-dimensional motion state of the object and the sensor 1 based on the sensing signals.

Please note that in practice, each of the sensing units may include different numbers of sensing points, and the number thereof may be determined by the user or the designer (for example, sensing sensitivity or cost consideration), and is not limited. Specific embodiments are listed in this specification.

Since the bubble in the fluid may reduce its volume due to the solubility of the internal gas in the fluid or hydration, it is practical to set up a bubble-removing machine. To maintain the sensing function. The mechanism of replenishing the bubbles may include directly adding a gas to the fluid or converting the fluid into a gas to form a bubble.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the sensor 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , the sensor 2 includes a accommodating unit 20 , a first electrode 220 , and a second electrode 222 . The accommodating unit 20 can accommodate the fluid 200, and the first electrode 220 and the second electrode 222 can be disposed in the accommodating unit 20. It should be noted that the sensing unit and the processing unit for sensing motion in this embodiment may be the same as the foregoing specific embodiments, and thus are not described herein again.

In the present embodiment, an electrolyte may be selected as the fluid 200. The first electrode 220 and the second electrode 222 may be electrically connected to the power source 24 and receive power of different polarities from the power source 24. The first electrode 220 and the second electrode 222 can electrolyze the fluid 200 to produce first bubbles 2020 and second bubbles 2022 of different compositions. For example, in practice, the fluid may be water, and the first electrode and the second electrode may electrolyze water to generate a first bubble containing hydrogen and a second bubble containing oxygen.

The first bubble and the second bubble generated by the electrolytic fluid are reduced to a raw fluid when the two are in contact, and the volume of the bubble is reduced. Therefore, if the first bubble or the second bubble is to be used as the movable member of the motion sensing, The inside of the unit can be designed to separate the first bubble and the second bubble. For example, a barrier between the first electrode and the second electrode may be designed to block the first bubble and the second bubble from being contacted to be reduced to the original fluid.

On the other hand, if the first bubble generated and the second bubble exceed the required amount to affect the sensitivity of the sensor, the first electrode and the second electrode can also operate in reverse to receive opposite polarity power to generate different bubbles. The original bubble is fused to the original fluid. For example, if the first electrode receives the first polarity of the electric power of the first polarity, the second polarity can be reversed. An electrode to generate a second bubble is fused with a portion of the first bubble, and the fusion bubble is reduced to a raw fluid to control the quantity or volume of the first bubble, and similarly, the second electrode can perform a similar process to control the number of the second bubble Or volume. Please note that in order to speed up the above calibration process or bubble removal action, the catalyst can be set in the accommodating unit to help the fusion bubble to be reduced to the original fluid. The number of catalysts and the setting position are also according to the needs of the user or the designer. And set.

The sensor of the present invention can also be used as a sensing of contact force, and is not limited to motion sensing. Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a sensor 3 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the specific embodiment is different from the above embodiment in that the accommodating unit 30 of the specific embodiment has a touch surface 306 for the user to contact. When the object P contacts the touch surface 306 and causes it to deform, the touch surface 306 compresses the bubble 302 in the fluid 300 to move or deform it to approach the sensing unit 32, resulting in electrical characteristics sensed by the sensing unit 32. The change then adjusts the resulting sensed signal. By sensing the signal, the sensor 3 can determine the magnitude of the force applied to the touch surface 306 to achieve the sensing of the contact force. Please note that the position where the sensing unit 32 is disposed is not limited to the specific embodiment, and the design position only needs to sense the change of the electrical characteristics caused by the air bubbles. For example, all the sensing points on the sensing unit 32 can be disposed at the bottom of the accommodating unit 30 relative to the bottom of the touch surface 306, and are arranged outward according to certain rules, and the number of sensing points can be determined by the number of sensing points. The size of the force.

The sensing unit of the above specific embodiment senses the electrical characteristics of the periphery thereof as a method for judging the motion state. However, in practice, other methods, such as optical sensing, may be used to determine the motion state of the sensor or the object. It is not limited to the specific embodiments listed in the specification.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the sensor 4 according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another according to the present invention. A schematic diagram of a sensor 4 of a particular embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the specific embodiment is different from the above specific embodiment in that the sensing mechanism of the specific embodiment is composed of a light emitting unit 42 and a light sensing unit 44. In the present embodiment, the sensor 4 also includes a receiving unit 40 for accommodating the fluid 400 and the air bubbles 402. One of the receiving units 40 may be a light transmitting surface 404.

In the specific embodiment, the light emitting unit 42 can emit light to penetrate the transparent surface 404 and enter the accommodating unit 40. When the bubble 402 is close to the light sensing unit 44, the light emitted by the light emitting unit 42 is reflected by the interface between the bubble 402 and the fluid 400 and transmitted to the light sensing unit 44. The light sensing unit 44 generates a sense based on the received light. The measuring signal is sent to the processing unit (not shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6), and the processing unit can determine the force or motion state of the sensor 4 according to the sensing signal.

The difference between the specific embodiment shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 is that the accommodating unit 40 of FIG. 6 further includes a touch surface 406 for the user to contact. When the object P touches the touch surface 306 and causes it to deform, the touch surface 406 presses the bubble 402 to move or deform to approach the light sensing unit 44, so that the light is reflected to the light sensing unit 44 to generate the sensing. Signal. By sensing the signal, the sensor 4 can determine its stress state.

The bubble generating mechanism described above can also be used for a touch component such as a tablet. The actual mode may be that when the sensor senses that the object approaches or touches the touch surface, the bubble generates gas to generate a bubble to the touched surface. Changing the refractive index of the light here allows the user to observe different visual effects.

For example, referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are schematic diagrams of the sensor 5 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7 , when the object P approaches or contacts the light-transmitting touch surface 506 of the accommodating unit 50 of the sensor 5 , the light emitted by the light-emitting element 52 is reflected by the object P to the light-sensing element 54 . As shown in FIG. 8, when the light sensing element 54 receives The sensing signal can be sent when the light is received (the path of the transmission of the sensing signal is not shown in the specific embodiment, but the output path can be designed according to the needs of the user or the designer) to the bubble generating unit 56 to control the bubble. The generating unit 56 generates bubbles 502 onto the touch surface 506. The user can clearly observe the visual effect between the bubble 502 and the fluid 500 due to the difference in refractive index.

In practice, the manner of sensing touch is not limited to the optical sensing described in the previous embodiment. For example, the touch surface can be made of a soft material, and when the object touches the touch surface, the touch surface is deformed to trigger the switch in the accommodating unit, and when the switch is triggered, the bubble generating unit generates bubbles to the touch surface. . On the other hand, the bubble generating unit of the above sensor can also be generated electrolytically, so that it can be reversely operated to reduce the generated bubbles into the original fluid, and at the same time, the catalyst can be set to help the bubbles to be reduced. By the method of generating bubbles by the electrolytic fluid and reducing the bubbles into a fluid, the problem that the sensor needs to be replenished after a period of use can be avoided.

Compared to the prior art, the sensor of the present invention uses a bubble as a movable member for force sensing or motion sensing. Since the bubble is not a physical part, the problem of sensor failure due to part consumption in the prior art can be solved. On the other hand, due to the solubility of the bubble in the fluid, the rate at which the volume is reduced or disappeared is slower than the thermal escape velocity of the prior art thermal bubble, so that the presence of the movable member can be maintained in a low-energy manner.

The features and spirit of the present invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. On the contrary, the intention is to cover various modifications and equivalents within the scope of the invention as claimed. Therefore, the scope of the patented scope of the invention should be construed as broadly construed in the

1, 2, 3, 4, 5‧‧‧ sensors

10, 20, 30, 40, 50‧‧‧ housing units

100, 200, 300, 400, 500‧‧‧ fluid

102, 302, 402, 502 ‧ ‧ bubbles

12‧‧‧First sensing unit

120‧‧‧First sensing point

14‧‧‧Processing unit

D‧‧‧ Direction

2020‧‧‧ first bubble

2022‧‧‧second bubble

220‧‧‧First electrode

222‧‧‧second electrode

24‧‧‧Power supply

306, 406, 506‧‧ ‧ touch surface

32‧‧‧Sensor unit

P‧‧‧ objects

404‧‧‧Transparent surface

42‧‧‧Lighting unit

44‧‧‧Light sensing unit

52‧‧‧Light emitting elements

54‧‧‧Light sensing components

56‧‧‧Light sensing components

1 is a schematic diagram of a sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the linear motion of the sensor of Figure 1.

3 is a schematic diagram of a sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic diagram of a sensor in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a schematic illustration of a sensor in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic illustration of a sensor in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

7 and 8 are schematic views of a sensor in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

1‧‧‧ sensor

10‧‧‧ accommodating unit

100‧‧‧ fluid

102‧‧‧ bubbles

12‧‧‧First sensing unit

120‧‧‧First sensing point

14‧‧‧Processing unit

D‧‧‧ Direction

Claims (20)

An object motion state sensor for sensing a motion state of an object, the object motion state sensor comprising: a receiving unit for accommodating a fluid, the fluid containing at least one air bubble; a sensing unit is disposed at a first predetermined position on an inner wall of the accommodating unit, wherein the first sensing unit is configured to sense a first electrical characteristic of a surrounding portion thereof and generate according to the first electrical characteristic a first sensing signal; and a bubble generating unit for generating the at least one bubble; wherein, when the sensor moves with the object, the at least one bubble approaches the first sensing unit to affect the surrounding The first sensing unit adjusts the first sensing signal according to the change of the first electrical characteristic. The object motion state sensor of claim 1, further comprising a processing unit coupled to the first sensing unit, the processing unit capable of receiving the first sensing signal and according to the first sensing signal Determine the motion state of the object. The object motion state sensor of claim 1, further comprising a second sensing unit disposed on the inner wall of the accommodating unit at a second preset position, the second sensing unit Is configured to sense a second electrical characteristic around the second electrical characteristic and generate a second sensing signal according to the second electrical characteristic, and when the sensor moves with the object, causing the at least one air bubble to approach the second sensing unit And affecting the second electrical characteristic around the second sensing unit, the second sensing unit adjusts the second sensing signal according to the change of the second electrical characteristic. The object motion state sensor of claim 3, further comprising a processing unit coupled to the first sensing unit and the second sensing unit, and the processing unit can receive the first sensing signal And the second sensing signal And determining the motion state of the object according to the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal. The object motion state sensor of claim 1, wherein the at least one bubble comprises a first bubble and a second bubble. The object motion state sensor of claim 5, wherein the bubble generating unit further comprises a first electrode coupled to a power source and a second electrode, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode can The power of the power source is received to electrolyze the fluid to generate a first bubble and a second bubble, respectively. The object motion state sensor of claim 6, further comprising a catalyst disposed in the accommodating unit, wherein the catalyzing unit is configured to catalyze the fusion of the first bubble and the second bubble. A fusion bubble is reduced to a portion of the fluid. The object motion state sensor of claim 6, further comprising a supporting unit, the first electrode is disposed on the supporting unit, and the second electrode is disposed in the receiving unit On the wall, the supporting unit can be used to separate the first bubble generated by the first electrode electrolyzing the fluid and the second bubble generated by the second electrode electrolyzing the fluid. An object motion state sensor includes: a accommodating unit for accommodating a fluid, the fluid containing at least one air bubble, the accommodating unit having a light transmitting surface; and an illuminating unit for providing a light penetration And a first sensing unit disposed at a first predetermined position on an inner wall of the accommodating unit; wherein, when the at least one air bubble is adjacent to the first sensing unit, the at least one a bubble and one of the fluids reflect the light to the first sensing unit, and the first sensing unit generates a first sensing signal according to the received light; The accommodating unit further includes a flexible plate opposite to the transparent surface. When the flexible plate receives an external force, the flexible plate can deform and compress the air bubble to cause the at least one air bubble to approach the first sensing unit. The object motion state sensor of claim 9, wherein the at least one bubble is adjacent to the first sensing unit when the sensor moves with an object. The object motion state sensor of claim 10, further comprising a processing unit coupled to the first sensing unit, the processing unit capable of receiving the first sensing signal and according to the first sensing signal Determine the motion state of one of the objects. The object motion state sensor of claim 9, further comprising a processing unit coupled to the first sensing unit, the processing unit capable of receiving the first sensing signal and according to the first sensing The signal judges the magnitude of the external force. The object motion state sensor of claim 9, further comprising a second sensing unit disposed at a second predetermined position on the inner wall of the accommodating unit. The object motion state sensor of claim 13, wherein when the at least one bubble approaches the second sensing unit, the interface of the at least one bubble and the fluid reflects the light to the second a sensing unit, and the second sensing unit generates a second sensing signal according to the received light. An object motion state sensor includes: a receiving unit for accommodating a fluid, the accommodating unit having a light transmissive surface; a contact sensing unit disposed in the accommodating unit for sensing a The object approaches or contacts the light transmissive surface and selectively transmits a sensing signal according to the sensing result; a bubble generating unit is disposed in the accommodating unit and coupled to the contact sensing unit for receiving the sensing signal and generating at least one bubble according to the sensing signal to the light transmissive surface, the bubble can be changed from A visual effect of one of the light transmissive surfaces is observed outside the sensor. The object motion state sensor of claim 15, wherein the contact sensing unit further comprises: a light emitting element disposed in the accommodating unit, the light emitting element is configured to emit a light Transmitting the light transmissive surface; and a sensing component disposed in the accommodating unit, the sensing component is configured to receive the light reflected by the object and transmit the sensing signal according to the light; wherein, when the object When approaching or contacting the light transmissive surface, the object can reflect the light emitted by the light emitting element to the sensing element. The object motion state sensor of claim 15, wherein the light transmissive surface is made of a soft material, and the contact sensing unit further comprises a switch disposed in the accommodating unit, when the object The switch transmits the sensing signal when the light transmissive surface is contacted and the light transmissive surface is forced to deform the light transmissive surface to trigger the switch. The object motion state sensor of claim 15, wherein the at least one bubble comprises a first bubble and a second bubble, the bubble generating unit further comprising: a receiving/processing component coupled to the contact a sensing unit, the receiving/processing component is configured to receive the sensing signal sent by the contact sensing unit; a first electrode is disposed in the receiving unit and coupled to a power source, the first electrode is configured according to the The sensing signal receives the power of the power source to electrolyze the fluid to generate the first air bubble; and a second electrode is disposed in the receiving unit and coupled to the power source, the first The two electrodes receive power of the power source according to the sensing signal to electrolyze the fluid to generate the second air bubble. The object motion state sensor of claim 18, wherein the first electrode system is different in polarity from the second electrode, such that a gas in the first bubble and a gas component in the second bubble are different. The object motion state sensor of claim 19, further comprising a catalyst disposed in the accommodating unit for catalyzing the fusion of the first bubble and the second bubble to form a fusion bubble reduction Part of the fluid.