Using piezo-electric material to simulate a vibration environment
| DWPI Title: Apparatus, useful to subject a target object to vibration and spin, comprises target object, actuator assembly connected to target object, drive control input for receiving drive control signal and spin drive rotationally coupled to object |
| Abstract: A target object can be vibrated using actuation that exploits the piezo-electric (“PE”) property. Under combined conditions of vibration and centrifugal acceleration, a centrifugal load of the target object on PE vibration actuators can be reduced by using a counterweight that offsets the centrifugal loading. Target objects are also subjected to combinations of: spin, vibration, and acceleration; spin and vibration; and spin and acceleration. |
| Use: The apparatus is useful for subjecting a target object to: vibration and spin; vibration and acceleration; acceleration and spin; and vibration and spin (all claimed). The apparatus is also useful in: optics and vision applications for positioning of mirrors or lenses, micro-scanning, dithering, focusing, laser cavity tuning, alignment or deformation of fibers, deformation of fiber bragg grating, scanners, choppers, interferometers, modulators and plasma display panel glass cutting; mechanic applications for positioning of tools, pick and place, clamps, active wedges, damping, active control, generation of ultrasonic or sonic vibrations and health monitoring; fluid applications for proportional valves, pumps, measuring, injections, ink jet, droplet generators and flow mass meter; electronics applications for positioning of masks, wafers or magnetic heads, non-magnetic actuation, circuit breakers and chip testing; air and space applications for active flaps, shape control and active wing; electrical energy applications for piezoelectric generator, energy harvesting and electric switch; and the simulation of aircraft flight conditions, which include launch conditions and atmospheric re-entry conditions experienced by a spacecraft. |
| Advantage: The PE actuators are smaller than the conventional mechanical shakers, thus provide great flexibility in the design of the PE actuator arrangement. The drive shaft provides a low noise reaction mass that reduces undesired vibrational noise that can be produced by operation of the bearings in the bearing housing. |
| Novelty: Apparatus (I) comprises: a target object supported for rotation about its central rotational axis; an actuator assembly connected to the target object for rotation within the axis and adapted to impart vibration to the target object; a drive control input for receiving a drive control signal; and a spin drive rotationally coupled to the target object for spinning the target object and the actuator assembly about the axis, while the actuator assembly vibrates the target object. |
| Filed: 1/8/2007 |
| Application Number: US2007620886A |
| Tech ID: SD 7846.1 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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