Tactile sensor for determining contact surface area
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a tactile sensor, and more particularly, to a tactile sensor for determining a contact surface area.
Background
Most of the touch sensors adopt piezoelectric sensors to acquire sensing signals, but the piezoelectric sensors are limited by the fact that sensitive touch motions cannot be captured. Furthermore, as the demand of virtual reality applications advances, the demand for information sensed by the tactile sensor is more demanding, and the demands of being wearable and obtaining a tactile contact area are one aspect. If the tactile sensor in the wearable device senses the tactile area, more accurate information can be provided for the fit condition of the device and the motion capture of the device. When the hand-held area information can be captured by the hand-wearable device, a series of information such as the posture, the action and the force of the user holding the device can be judged by combining a deep learning algorithm, and the operation experience with stronger immersion can be provided in the virtual reality interaction.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the invention firstly provides a friction power generation unit which is used as an electric signal generation end of a touch sensor, and the friction power generation unit solves the technical problem that wearable equipment is difficult to supply power to the sensor.
The power generation unit at least comprises a group of friction plates which are oppositely arranged, air intervals are arranged between the friction plates, the friction plates are in relative contact and rub when acted by external force, and the friction plates recover to be in an interval state under the action of self elasticity when the external force disappears; friction layers made of different materials are coated on the opposite surfaces of the friction plates, electrode layers made of conductive materials are coated on the back of each friction layer, and a signal processing circuit is connected between the electrode layers of the same group of friction plates; and a plurality of groups of friction plates are stacked in the same power generation unit, electrodes with the same polarity of different groups of friction plates are connected in series to form the same electrode group, and the same electrode group is connected into a signal processing circuit.
In the above or some embodiments, each friction plate further comprises a support layer made of a resilient material, the electrode layer being located between the friction layer and the support layer, the support layer being fixedly connected to the electrode layer.
In the foregoing or some embodiments, the power generation unit further includes a connecting portion located in a middle portion of each friction plate, and a first conductive ring and a second conductive ring made of a conductive material are disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the connecting portion; the first conducting ring and the second conducting ring are embedded into the connecting part in a cylindrical shape, the first conducting ring and the second conducting ring comprise conducting contacts, the conducting contacts are used for being in conducting contact with friction plates with the same polarity, and the conducting contacts are distributed at intervals in an annular shape; the second conducting ring is sleeved outside the first conducting ring, an insulating material is formed between the second conducting ring and the first conducting ring through a connecting portion, the second conducting ring and a conducting contact head of the first conducting ring are in a hollowed-out structure, the second conducting ring is configured into a structure in which the conducting contact head of the first conducting ring and the hollowed-out portion of the second conducting ring are crossed and separated, and the crossed and separated portions are formed through the connecting portion and are in an insulating arrangement.
In the foregoing or some embodiments, the power generation unit further includes an enclosure, the enclosure forms a space for stacking and installing the friction plates, the enclosure is a closed structure with a space inside, and the center of the enclosure is fixedly connected to the end of the connecting portion.
In the above or some embodiments, an inner ring is fixedly disposed at the center of each friction plate, the inner ring and the supporting layer are made of the same material, two ends of the inner ring protrude towards two ends to form a circular truncated cone-shaped structure, the electrode layer extends through the inner ring and is located on the inner surface of the inner ring, the friction plates are fixed to the connecting portion in a sleeved manner through the inner ring, and a spacer ring located between the inner rings is further sleeved between each friction plate.
In the above or some embodiments, the friction plate comprises a plurality of elongated friction protrusions in a circular array, the friction protrusions are in a structure that two side edges of a middle protrusion are concave, and the side edges of adjacent friction protrusions are intersected to form a convex edge structure.
In the above or some embodiments, the friction plate is a disk-shaped structure, and the friction protrusions are arranged in a circular array in close proximity.
In the above or some embodiments, the friction plate is a disk-shaped structure, and the friction protrusions are arranged in a circular array in close proximity.
In the above or some embodiments, the interior of the enclosure is filled with a dry inert gas, such as nitrogen, helium, and the like.
In the above or some embodiments, the friction layer material is selected from polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, and the electrode layer material is selected from a conductive metal or a non-metal material, such as gold, silver, copper, or conductive graphene.
The touch sensor for judging the contact surface area solves the problems that the traditional piezoelectric type touch sensor is low in touch sensitivity and cannot sense the area of the touch area.
Based on the power generation unit, the invention also provides a sensor for judging the area of the touch area.
The technical scheme includes that a coordinate system is established according to an orthographic projection area of the wearable device, the coordinate system at least covers the surface of one side of the wearable device, virtual coordinates covering the surface of the wearable device are established according to the coordinate system, and the virtual coordinates are stored in a memory; the wearable equipment is characterized by further comprising a plurality of power generation units which are uniformly distributed on the surface of the wearable equipment, wherein the power generation units are distributed in a rectangular array, each power generation unit is correspondingly provided with an address memory, and the address memories are used for storing coordinate values of the power generation units in a coordinate system; the processor classifies the received coordinate information according to the abscissa or ordinate, the coordinate values of the same abscissa or ordinate form a group, then the processor runs a calculation instruction set, compares the ordinate or abscissa values in the same group, and records the points where the minimum value and the maximum value are obtained after comparison; and calculating the weighted average of the coordinate difference values, wherein the smallest weighted average is the adjacent closest point, judging the closest points of all the points one by one, and connecting a connecting line between the closest points to form a contact area.
In the foregoing or some embodiments, the package further includes a sensing surface integrally disposed with the package housing, and the sensing surface is made of a polyethylene material.
In the foregoing or some embodiments, the memory is configured to store coordinate system information established in the forward projection area of the wearable device, where the coordinate system information includes coordinate point information with set precision; and further for storing a set of operational instructions, the set of instructions comprising an instruction or set of instructions for comparing respective coordinate values; the memory and the processor are connected with an interface circuit through a communication bus or a communication line, and the interface circuit is electrically connected with each power generation unit; the power generation unit comprises an address memory for storing coordinate value information of the power generation unit, a controller for controlling the address memory, a microprocessor, an interface for connecting an external circuit or equipment, wherein the address memory, the controller, the microprocessor, the interface for connecting the external circuit or equipment can be integrated in the same chip circuit, the power generation unit also comprises a signal processing circuit electrically connected with the external interface, the signal processing circuit comprises a rectifying and filtering circuit, an amplifying circuit and a digital-to-analog conversion circuit, and an analog signal generated by the power generation unit is processed by the amplifying circuit and then forms unidirectional current by the rectifying and filtering circuit, and then forms a digital circuit by the unidirectional current.
When the scheme is used specifically, the working principle of the friction nano generator is utilized, the tiny mechanical energy generated in a wearable mode in the wearable device is converted into electric energy, the problem that a power supply circuit of a traditional sensor array is numerous and complicated and difficult to arrange when the wearable device is combined with the traditional sensor array is solved, the volume of the wearable device can be greatly reduced, the self-powered application of the sensor is realized, and a technical scheme is provided for the power supply of the whole wearable device; on the other hand, the invention adopts a closed power generation unit structure, the inert gas in the power generation unit structure keeps a relatively independent use environment of the friction plate, the effect of the sensor influenced by external environments such as air humidity and the like is avoided, and the reliability and durability of the sensor are realized; in order to capture the tactile sensing with higher sensitivity, the sensor unit adopts the idea of stacking a plurality of groups of friction plates, adopts a diaphragm-shaped structure at intervals, is easier to sense external actions, and the friction bulges on the friction plates increase the contact area of the friction plates on one hand and form a structure similar to the surface tension of the friction plates with the protruded edges on the other hand, so that the interval between the friction plates is easier to recover and keep when the friction plates deform; the connecting rings on the convex surfaces of the inner rings of the corresponding friction plates protect the electrode layer on one hand so that the electrode layer can be reliably contacted with the first conducting ring and the second conducting ring, and on the other hand, the distance between the friction plates is fixed and adjusted through the inner rings and the spacer rings.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of wearable equipment and coordinates.
Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a power generation unit according to the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a layered structure view of the friction plate.
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the packaging between the packaging shell and the friction plate according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of the packaging case and the friction plate of the present invention.
Fig. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion a in fig. 2.
Fig. 7 is a schematic circuit diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a power generation unit circuit according to the present invention.
Detailed Description
The following detailed description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the directional terms "upper," "lower," "outer," "inner," etc., are used in a descriptive sense with respect to the figures and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.
The power generation unit 400 comprises three groups of oppositely arranged friction plates 401, wherein an air interval is arranged between the oppositely arranged friction plates 401, the air interval keeps electric charges generated in the contact-separation process, when the friction plates 401 of each group are in relative contact and friction under the action of external force, and when the external force disappears, the friction plates 401 restore to the spaced state under the action of self elasticity, so that the generation of the contact electric charges is avoided being influenced by the external air humidity, the power generation unit 400 further comprises a packaging shell 409, the packaging shell 409 forms a space for stacking and installing the friction plates 401, the packaging shell 409 is a closed structure with a space inside, and dry inert gases such as nitrogen and helium are filled in the packaging shell 409; friction layers 402 made of different materials are coated on the opposite surfaces of each friction plate 401, the materials of the friction layers 402 are selected from polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate, and the materials of the friction layers 402 opposite to the same group of friction plates 401 are different, so that electric charges can be formed conveniently; the back of each friction layer 402 is coated with an electrode layer 403 made of a conductive material, the material of the electrode layer 403 is selected from a conductive metal or a non-metal material, so that a relatively low impedance is achieved, the material of the electrode layer 403 is selected from gold, silver, copper or conductive graphene, each friction plate 401 further comprises a support layer 404 made of a resilient material, the material of the support layer 404 is selected from polyethylene and other high-resilience materials, the electrode layer 403 is located between the friction layer 402 and the support layer 404, the support layer 404 is fixedly connected with the electrode layer 403, so that the electrode layer 403 is conveniently packaged and protected, and the electrode layer 403 can be formed into the electrode layer 403 of a plating layer in a vacuum sputtering manner. In the same power generation unit 400, a plurality of groups of friction plates 401 are stacked at the same time, electrodes with the same polarity of different groups of friction plates 401 are connected in series to form the same electrode group, and the same electrode group is connected to the signal processing circuit 418. The signal processing circuit 418 should include a rectifying filter circuit, an amplifying circuit, and a digital-to-analog conversion circuit, wherein the analog signal generated by the power generation unit 400 is processed by the amplifying circuit and then forms a unidirectional current by the rectifying filter circuit, and the unidirectional current forms a digital electrical signal by the digital-to-analog conversion circuit. The digital electric signal information includes the electric signal information of the power generating unit 400 and also includes address coordinate information of the power generating unit 400.
In the above or some embodiments, the power generation unit 400 further includes a connection portion 405 located in the middle of each friction plate 401, the connection portion 405 is made of the same material as the package shell 409, and the outer peripheral surface of the connection portion 405 is provided with a first conductive ring 406 and a second conductive ring 407 made of the same material as the electrode layer 403 and having lower resistance; the first and second conductive rings are embedded into the connecting portion 405 in a cylindrical shape, the first and second conductive rings include conductive contacts 408, the conductive contacts 408 are used for being in conductive contact with the friction plates 401 with the same polarity, and each conductive contact is multiple and distributed at intervals in a ring shape; the second conductive ring 407 is externally sleeved on the outer side of the first conductive ring 406, and an insulating material is formed between the second conductive ring 407 and the connecting portion 405, the second conductive ring 407 is intersected with the conductive contact of the first conductive ring 406, the second conductive ring 407 is hollow, and is configured as a structure in which the conductive contact of the first conductive ring 406 is intersected with the hollow of the second conductive ring 407, and the connecting portion 405 forms an insulating structure at the intersection.
In the above or some embodiments, an inner ring 410 is fixedly disposed at the center of each friction plate 401, the inner ring 410 and the support layer 404 are made of the same material, two end surfaces of the inner ring 410 protrude towards two ends to form a circular truncated cone-shaped structure, the electrode layer 403 extends through the inner ring 410 and is located on an inner surface of the inner ring 410, the friction plates 401 are sleeved and fixed on the connecting portion 405 through the inner ring 410, and a spacer ring 411 located between the inner rings 410 is further sleeved and fixed between each friction plate 401.
In the above or some embodiments, the friction plate 401 is a disc-shaped structure, the friction plate 401 includes a plurality of elongated friction protrusions 412 in a circular array, each friction protrusion 412 is a structure in which two sides of a middle protrusion are recessed, and the sides of adjacent friction protrusions 412 intersect to form a protruding edge 413 structure, the friction protrusions 412 are arranged in a circular array in close proximity, the friction plate 401 is a disc-shaped structure, and the friction protrusions 412 are arranged in a circular array in close proximity. The friction layer 402 may be sanded to form a rough surface to enhance its friction effect.
Based on the above power generation unit 400, the present invention further provides a sensor for determining a tactile area, which comprises a wearable device 200, and a sensing surface integrally disposed with the packaging shell 409, wherein the sensing surface is made of polyethylene material, wherein the sensing surface covers the surface of the wearing device 200, the coordinate system 100 is established according to the maximum orthographic projection area of the wearing surface, the coordinate system 100 at least covers the surface of one side of the wearing device 200, so as to establish a coordinate system 100 covering the surface of the wearable device 200, establish virtual coordinates covering the surface of the wearable device 200 according to the coordinate system 100, the coordinate values of the virtual coordinates are stored in the memory 301, which corresponds to expressing a virtual coordinate point formed on a surface of the wearable device 200, and the region formed by the coordinate point is also the region on the surface of the wearable device 200; on the basis of the coordinates, the wearable device further comprises a plurality of power generation units 400 uniformly arranged on the surface of the wearable device 200, wherein the power generation units 400 are arranged in a rectangular array, each power generation unit 400 is correspondingly provided with an address memory 414, and the address memory 414 is used for storing the coordinate value of each power generation unit 400 in the coordinate system 100; the electric power generation system further comprises a processor 302 unit, when each power generation unit 400 generates an electric signal, the electric signal is processed by the signal processing circuit 418 to generate a clear digital signal, the digital signal comprises coordinate information of the power generation unit 400, the digital signal containing the coordinate information is transmitted to the processor 302 through the bus 303 or other communication lines, the processor 302 classifies the received coordinate information according to abscissa or ordinate, the coordinate values of the same abscissa or ordinate form a group, then the processor 302 runs a calculation instruction set, the ordinate or the abscissa in the same group are compared, and the points where the minimum value and the maximum value obtained after comparison are located are recorded; and calculating the weighted average of the coordinate difference values, wherein the smallest weighted average is the adjacent closest point, judging the closest points of all the points one by one, and connecting a connecting line between the closest points to form a contact area.
In the foregoing or some embodiments, the memory 301 is configured to store coordinate system 100 information established by the forward projection area of the wearable device 200, including coordinate point information with set precision; and further for storing a set of operational instructions, the set of instructions comprising an instruction or set of instructions for comparing respective coordinate values; the memory 301 and the processor 302 are connected to an interface circuit 304 through a communication bus 303 or a communication line, and the interface circuit 304 is electrically connected to each of the power generation units 400; the power generation unit 400 includes an address memory 414 for storing coordinate information of the power generation unit 400, a controller 415 for controlling the address memory 414, a microprocessor 416, and an interface 417 for connecting to an external circuit or device, wherein the address memory 414, the controller 415, the microprocessor 416, and the interface 417 for connecting to the external circuit or device may be integrated in a same chip circuit, and further includes a signal processing circuit 418 electrically connected to the external interface, the signal processing circuit 418 should include a rectifying and filtering circuit, an amplifying circuit, and a digital-to-analog conversion circuit, and an analog signal generated by the power generation unit 400 is processed by the amplifying circuit, then forms a unidirectional current by the rectifying and filtering circuit, and then forms a digital circuit by the unidirectional current by the digital-to-analog conversion circuit.
When the scheme is used specifically, the working principle of the friction nano generator is utilized, the tiny mechanical energy generated in the wearable device 200 in a wearable mode is converted into electric energy, the problem that a power supply line of a traditional sensor array is numerous and complicated and difficult to arrange when the wearable device 200 is combined with the sensor array is solved, the size of the wearable device 200 can be greatly reduced, the self-powered application of the sensor is realized, and a technical scheme is provided for the power supply of the whole wearable device 200; on the other hand, the power generation unit 400 is in a closed structure, inert gas in the power generation unit keeps the relatively independent use environment of the friction plate 401, the effect that the external environment such as air humidity influences the sensor is avoided, and the reliability and durability of the sensor are realized; in order to capture the tactile sensing with higher sensitivity, the sensor unit adopts the idea of stacking a plurality of groups of friction plates 401, adopts a diaphragm-shaped structure at intervals, and is easier to sense external actions, and the friction bulges 412 on the friction plates 401 increase the contact area of the friction plates, and form a structure similar to the structure for enhancing the surface tension of the friction plates 401 with the protruded edges 413, so that the intervals between the friction plates 401 are easier to restore and maintain when the friction plates 401 deform; the corresponding connection ring of the convex surface at the inner ring 410 of each friction plate 401 protects the electrode layer 403 on one hand so that the electrode layer 403 is reliably contacted with the first and second conductive rings, and on the other hand, the distance between the friction plates 401 is fixed and adjusted through the inner ring 410 and the spacer ring 411.