Artificial finger tip sliding touch sensor

{
  "publication_number": "US11016598B1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B1",
  "title": "Artificial finger tip sliding touch sensor",
  "abstract": "An artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor includes a PVDF film, a rubber fingertip, a filling liquid, a sealing plug, a hydraulic sensor, a housing, an inner framework, and strain gauges. The rubber fingertip is a hemispherical cavity. The PVDF film is attached to the outside of the rubber fingertip. The sealing plug seals the rubber fingertip, and the hydraulic sensor is installed at the bottom of the sealing plug. The main body of the housing is a rigid cylindrical structure. The top of the housing is provided with a circular opening, and the bottom of the housing is a flange-like structure. Four circular through holes are uniformly distributed on the flange-like structure. The inner framework includes a cylindrical head, a vertical strain rod and a base. The strain gauges are respectively attached on four sides of the vertical strain rod and adjacent to the base.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor, comprising: a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film, a rubber fingertip, a filling liquid, a sealing plug, a hydraulic sensor, a housing, an inner framework, strain gauges, a detection circuit and connecting bolts; wherein the artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor is installed at an end of a bionic prosthetic hand or a manipulator; the rubber fingertip is a hemispherical cavity and filled with the filling liquid; an outer surface of the rubber fingertip is engraved with concentric circular textures; the PVDF film is attached to an outside of the rubber fingertip; the sealing plug is provided on a side of the rubber fingertip and configured to seal the rubber fingertip; the hydraulic sensor is installed at a bottom of the sealing plug; the housing is a rigid cylindrical structure; a periphery and a top of the housing are thin-walled; the top of the housing is provided with a circular opening, and a bottom of the housing is a flange-like structure; four circular smooth through holes are uniformly distributed on the flange-like structure; the rubber fingertip is provided on the circular opening of the housing; the inner framework comprises a cylindrical head, a vertical strain rod and a base; the cylindrical head is provided at a top end of the vertical strain rod, and a bottom of the vertical strain rod is connected to the base; the detection circuit is provided inside the base; the strain gauges are respectively attached on four sides of the vertical strain rod and adjacent to the base; four circular threaded through holes are uniformly distributed on the base; the connecting bolts pass through the four circular smooth through holes at the bottom of the housing and are screwed into the four circular threaded through holes of the base to connect the inner framework to the housing.",
    "2. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, the PVDF film is a hemispherical flexible film, comprising a piezoelectric film, a metalized electrode, a protective film and a lead wire.",
    "3. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, the rubber fingertip is a hemispherical cavity, and concentric circular textured protrusions are distributed on an outer surface of the rubber fingertip; a bottom of the rubber fingertip is provided with a cylindrical recess, and the cylindrical recess has a diameter larger than a diameter of the cylindrical head of the inner framework; a side of the rubber fingertip is provided with a circular liquid injection hole; and the sealing plug covers the circular liquid injection hole.",
    "4. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, a front end of the sealing plug is a rigid conduit; the bottom of the sealing plug is provided with a bottom piston; the bottom piston is a flexible rubber disc; the bottom piston and the rigid conduit are connected by rubber; and the hydraulic sensor is installed at a connection between a bottom of the rigid conduit and the bottom piston.",
    "5. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, the cylindrical head, the vertical strain rod and the base of the inner framework are concentrically and linearly arranged; the vertical strain rod is an elongated rigid straight rod with a square cross section; and the base is a flat cylinder.",
    "6. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, the detection circuit is disc-shaped; a diameter of the detection circuit is less than an inner diameter of the housing; a square through hole is formed at a center of the detection circuit; a side length of the square through hole is greater than a side length of a cross section of the vertical strain rod; and measurement circuits required by a plurality of sensing elements are arranged on the detection circuit.",
    "7. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, the filling liquid is a non-conductive and non-corrosive liquid.",
    "8. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 3, wherein, the PVDF film and the rubber fingertip are attached by an adhesive; the cylindrical head and the cylindrical recess are attached by the adhesive, wherein the cylindrical head is embedded in the cylindrical recess; and the rubber fingertip and the housing are attached by the adhesive.",
    "9. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, a side of the housing is provided with a rectangular hole adjacent to the bottom of the housing.",
    "10. The artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor according to claim 1, wherein, the strain gauges are fixed on the four sides of the vertical strain rod by an adhesive, wherein the strain gauges are adjacent to the base and located at an identical height; and two strain gauges of the strain gauges form a half-bridge circuit, wherein the two strain gauges are located on opposite sides of the four sides of the vertical strain rod."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to the technical field of sensors, and more particularly, to an artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor.\n\nTactile sensing is an essential component of dexterous hand systems such as bionic prosthetic hands and manipulators for directly interacting with the external environment, and provides an important way to perceive environmental information. Robot tactile information can be divided into kinesthetic information from muscles and sliding sensory information. The sensing and control of manipulation can be performed orderly only when the two kinds of sensory information are combined. Among them, the kinesthetic information is mainly based on force sensory information, and reflects the position information of an end effector by detecting the force sensory information of the end effector; and the sliding sensory information includes information on shape, measurement, humidity, texture and others to achieve accurate recognition of objects. In order to accurately obtain the sliding sensory information and the kinesthetic information, it is imperative to develop an artificial fingertip sliding tactile sensor capable of accurately detecting the force applied on the top end of the sensor and the texture information of objects via a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film and a hydraulic sensor, and measuring the kinesthetic information on contact status via strain gauges, thus achieving the recognition, classification and manipulation of the objects, which improves the intelligent level and manipulation level of the dexterous hand system.",
  "cpc": [
    "G06F 3/04144",
    "B25J 13/083",
    "G01L 1/083",
    "G06F 3/03547",
    "G06F 3/0446",
    "H10N 30/302",
    "H10N 30/857"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G06F 3/0354",
    "G06F 3/041",
    "G06F 3/044"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Southeast University"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Aiguo SONG",
    "Mingxin LENG",
    "Huijun Li",
    "Hong Zeng",
    "Baoguo XU",
    "Lifeng Zhu"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-05-23",
  "publication_date": "2021-05-25",
  "grant_date": "2021-05-25",
  "priority_date": "2017-11-30",
  "application_number": "US-201816768636-A",
  "family_id": "62157527",
  "cited_by_count": 2,
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}