1. A haptic device to be overlaid on a manipulation face for receiving a manipulation from a user, the haptic device comprising:
a pouch formed from the manipulation face and a transparent sheet overlaid thereon with a gap;
a liquid or gel-like substance sealed within the pouch and configured to transmit a pressure orand pressure vibration therethrough; and
an actuator configured to generate a haptic signal in the transparent sheet andor the substance so as to be transmitted to the user.
2. A haptic device to be overlaid on a manipulation face for receiving a manipulation from a user, the haptic device comprising:
a pouch formed from a pair of transparent sheets having a gap therebetween and overlaid on the manipulation face, at least one of the transparent sheets which receives the manipulation from the user being deformable;
a liquid or gel-like substance sealed within the pouch and configured to transmit a pressure orand pressure vibration therethrough; and
an actuator configured to generate a haptic signal in the transparent sheet andor the substance so as to be transmitted to the user.
3. The haptic device of claim 1, further comprising:
a sensor configured to detect the pressure orand pressure vibration generated upon the manipulation from the user onto the pouch; and
a controller configured to generate a driving signal for the actuator based on a detection result by the sensor.
4. The haptic device of claim 3,
wherein the actuator and the sensor are provided as a self-sensing transducer.
5. The haptic device of claim 1,
wherein the manipulation face is a face of a touchscreen.
6. A deformable overlay to be overlaid on a face of a durable contact surface comprising:
a flexible sheet attached to the face of the touch screen at its perimeter via an elastic double-sided adhesive tape;
a pouch formed by the flexible sheet and the face of the durable contact surface;
a substance sealed in the pouch;
an overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer configured to generate a shear and bending wave which propagates at least over a top outer surface of the flexible sheet; and
a detector configured to detect a contact event and its location with respect to the durable contact surface.
7. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the flexible sheet is formed from a transparent and elastic material.
8. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the flexible sheet is formed from a non-transparent or translucent and elastic material.
9. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the substance is a transparent liquid or gel-like substance.
10. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the substance is a natural or synthetic liquid or gel-like substance having a density similar to the density of the hypodermis of the human skin.
11. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the substance is a non-transparent elastic substance, foam material or a like having a density similar to the density of the hypodermis of the human skin.
6. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the substance is a natural or synthetic liquid or gel-like substance having a density similar to a density of a hypodermis of a human skin,
wherein the density of the hypodermis of the human skin is about 1100 kgm3.
6. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the flexible sheet is provided in pair,
wherein one of the pair of flexible sheets is attached to the face of the durable contact surface via the elastic double-sided adhesive tape, and
wherein the pouch is formed between the pair of flexible sheets.
14. The deformable overlay of claim 13,
wherein at least the other one of the pair of the flexible sheets on a top side opposite to the durable contact surface is formed to be transparent flexible and elastic so that a shear and bending wave propagates between a point of touching by a user and a position of the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer.
15. The deformable overlay of claim 13,
wherein both of the pair of the flexible sheets are non-transparent flexible sheets, and
wherein the substance is a non-transparent elastic substance, foam material or a like having a density similar to the density of the hypodermis of the human skin.
16. The overlay of claim 6,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer includes an actuator.
17. The deformable overlay of claim 16,
wherein one or more of the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducers are provided near a bezel of the durable contact surface,
wherein each of the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducers is placed onto an outer surface of the flexible sheet, onto an inner surface of the flexible sheet, or onto the face of the touch screen, and
wherein each of the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducers generates a shear and bending wave which propagates toward a point of touching by the user.
13. The deformable overlay of claim 13,
wherein the substance is an ionic gel, the bottom-side flexible sheet has an electrical contact with the substance, and the top-side flexible sheet does not have an electrical contact with the substance, thereby forming a gel-based audio speaker.
6. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the flexible sheet and the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer are integrally implemented such that a piezoelectric polymeric material is covered with a transparent and electrically conductive layer as an electrode or such that conductors orand piezo-actuating components are embedded.
20. The deformable overlay of claim 13,
wherein the pouch formed from the pair of flexible sheets has an extension which is provided outwardly of the durable contact surface, and
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer is placed at the extension outside the durable contact surface.
21. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer is placed on the inner surface of the flexible sheet and inside the substance.
22. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer is placed on the face of the durable contact surface and inside the substance.
13. The deformable overlay of claim 13,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer is placed between the pair of flexible sheets and inside the substance.
24. The deformable overlay of claim 23,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer is sandwiched between the pair of the flexible sheets so that the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer has a contact with the substance only at its perimeter.
25. The deformable overlay of claim 20,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer is placed on an inner surface of the bottom-side flexible sheet or the top-side flexible sheet, or is sandwiched between the pair of the sheets withwithout a gap.
26. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the overlay is provided to cover wholly or partially the face of the durable contact surface.
27. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein the overlay is provided in plurality to cover respective parts of the face of the durable contact surface.
28. The deformable overlay of claim 6,
wherein there is provided a vibrotactile transducer as a counterpart vibrotactile transducer, in addition to the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer.
29. The deformable overlay of claim 28,
wherein the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer and the counterpart vibrotactile transducer are configured to generate different vibration signals.
30. An attachment unit comprising:
the deformable overlay of claim 6; and
a casing provided to support the flexible sheet of the overlay.
31. The attachment unit of claim 30,
wherein the attachment unit is attached to a mobile device having the touchscreen such that the flexible sheet directly touches or indirectly faces with the touchscreen.
32. The attachment unit of claim 30,
wherein the attachment unit is attached to a portable electronic device.
33. The attachment unit of claim 32, further comprising:
a printed circuit board;
a rechargeable battery;
an external power supply connector configured to receive a DC external power;
an internal power supply connector configured to supply an electrical power stored in the rechargeable battery with the attached portable electronic device; and
an information exchange connector configured to exchange information with the portable electronic device and another device, the information including a coordinate of the point of touching by the user on the touchscreen or a modulated parameter for a vibration signal.
34. The attachment unit of claim 30,
wherein the rechargeable battery is a nickel-cadmium cell, a NiMH battery, or a lithium cell.
35. The attachment unit of claim 34,
wherein the electrical power stored in the rechargeable battery is supplied to the portable electronic device when a remaining amount of a main battery thereof becomes low.
36. The attachment unit of claim 33,
wherein the printed circuit board includes a microprocessor host controller interface, a memory, and a transducer controller,
wherein the transducer controller controls not only the overlay-linked vibrotactile transducer but also the counterpart transducer.
37. The attachment unit of claim 36,
wherein the memory is a non-volatile memory.
38. The haptic device of claim 1,
wherein the manipulation face is configured to receive a pressure manipulation from the user.
39. The haptic device of claim 2,
wherein the manipulation face is configured to receive a pressure manipulation from the user.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A power supply system comprising:
a power transmitting unit operable to transmit electric power; and
a power receiving unit operable to receive the electric power transmitted from the power transmitting unit, and to supply the electric power to a receiving side load,
wherein the electric power transmitted from the power transmitting unit is received in a noncontact manner and supplied to the receiving side load coupled to the power receiving unit,
wherein the power receiving unit generates a burst signal notifying that the electric power is short or surplus when the electric power of the receiving side load becomes short or surplus, and
wherein the power transmitting unit controls the increase and decrease of the electric power to be transmitted to the power receiving unit, based on a signal interval of the burst signal generated by the power receiving unit.
2. The power supply system according to claim 1,
wherein the power receiving unit comprises:
a power secondary inductor operable to generate electromotive force in response to a magnetic field change;
a rectifier operable to convert into a DC (direct current) voltage an AC (alternating current) voltage induced across both ends of the power secondary inductor;
a power-receiver voltage controller operable to measure a level of the voltage outputted from the rectifier and supplied to the receiving side load, and operable to output the burst signal after controlling an interval at which the burst signal is outputted depending on the measured voltage level; and
a control primary inductor operable to be excited based on the burst signal generated by the power-receiver voltage controller, and
wherein the power transmitting unit comprises:
a power primary inductor operable to be excited based on an AC signal;
a control secondary inductor operable to generate electromotive force in response to a magnetic field change of the control primary inductor; and
a power-transmitter voltage controller operable to detect the burst signal from an AC signal induced across both ends of the control secondary inductor, operable to determine whether the electric power of the receiving side load is short or surplus by measuring an output interval from the detected burst signal, and operable to control the increase and decrease of the power to be transmitted to the power receiving unit by controlling the AC signal to be supplied to the power primary inductor.
3. The power supply system according to claim 2,
wherein the power-receiver voltage controller comprises:
a voltage detector operable to detect whether the voltage level outputted from the rectifier and supplied to the receiving side load is lower than a lower limit voltage threshold, or higher than an upper limit voltage threshold higher than the lower limit voltage threshold, or within the limits of a reference voltage between the lower limit voltage threshold and the upper limit voltage threshold;
a burst interval setting unit operable to set up an interval at which the burst signal is outputted, based on the voltage level detected by the voltage detector; and
a burst signal generator operable to generate and output the burst signal at the interval set up by the burst interval setting unit, and
wherein the power-transmitter voltage controller comprises:
a burst signal detector operable to detect transmission of the burst signal, based on an AC signal induced across both ends of the control secondary inductor;
an interval measuring unit operable to measure an output interval of the burst signal detected by the burst signal detector; and
a controller operable to determine whether the electric power of the receiving side load is short or surplus, based on the output interval of the burst signal measured by the interval measuring unit, operable to control the AC signal to be supplied to the power primary inductor by changing a period or the number of times to excite the power primary inductor.
4. The power supply system according to claim 1,
wherein the power receiving unit comprises:
a power secondary inductor operable to generate electromotive force in response to a magnetic field change;
a rectifier operable to convert into a DC voltage an AC voltage induced across both ends of the power secondary inductor;
a power-receiver voltage controller operable to measure a level of the voltage outputted from the rectifier and supplied to the receiving side load, and operable to output the burst signal after controlling an interval at which the burst signal is outputted depending on the measured voltage level; and
a switching unit coupled between one end of the power secondary inductor and the rectifier, and operable to change series impedance of the power secondary inductor by performing an ONOFF operation based on the burst signal generated by the power-receiver voltage controller, and
wherein the power transmitting unit comprises:
a power primary inductor operable to be excited based on an AC signal;
a filter unit operable to filter out a resonance frequency produced by the power primary inductor and a parasitic capacitance; and
a power-transmitter voltage controller operable to detect the burst signal from a signal outputted from the filter unit, operable to determine whether the electric power of the receiving side load is short or surplus by measuring an output interval from the detected burst signal, and operable to control the increase and decrease of the power to be transmitted to the power receiving unit by controlling the AC signal to be supplied to the power primary inductor.
5. The power supply system according to claim 4,
wherein the power-receiver voltage controller comprises:
a voltage detector operable to detect whether the voltage level outputted from the rectifier and supplied to the receiving side load is lower than a lower limit voltage threshold, or higher than an upper limit voltage threshold higher than the lower limit voltage threshold, or within the limits of a reference voltage between the lower limit voltage threshold and the upper limit voltage threshold;
a burst interval setting unit operable to set up an interval at which the burst signal is outputted, based on the voltage level detected by the voltage detector; and
a burst signal generator operable to generate the burst signal at the interval set up by the burst interval setting unit, and operable to control motion of the switching unit, and
wherein the power-transmitter voltage controller comprises:
a burst signal detector operable to detect a burst signal from a combined signal of the burst signal outputted from the filter unit and the excitation signal of the power primary inductor;
an interval measuring unit operable to measure an output interval of the burst signal detected by the burst signal detector; and
a controller operable to determine whether the electric power of the receiving side load is short or surplus, based on the output interval of the burst signal measured by the interval measuring unit, and operable to control the AC signal to be supplied to the power primary inductor by changing a period or the number of times to excite the power primary inductor.