a2) United States Patent
`US 8,860,337 B2
`(0) Patent No.:
`Oct. 14, 2014
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Elengaet al.
`
`US008860337B2
`
`(54) LINEAR VIBRATION MODULES AND
`LINEAR-RESONANT VIBRATION MODULES
`Inventors: Robin Elenga, Seattle, WA (US); Brian
`Mare Pepin, Oakland, CA (US); Glen
`Tompkins, Woodinville, WA (US)
`
`(75)
`
`10/1985 Wing
`4,549,535 A
`9/1987 Frandsen
`4,692,999 A
`5/1991 Patt et al.
`5,017,819 A
`ahog, Stuartetal
`tee A
`7/1993 van Namen
`5,231,337 A
`6/1995 Bluenetal.
`5,424,592 A
`4/1999 van Namen
`5,896,076 A
`9/1999 Amayaet al. oes 310/36
`5,955,799 A *
`(73) Assignee: Resonant Systems, Inc., Seattle, WA
`10/1999 Clamme
`5,973,422 A
`US
`11/2001 Zabar oe 310/17
`6,323,568 BIL*
`(US)
`12/2001 Zhan:
`6,326,706 Bl
`11/2008 Sahyoun
`7,449,803 B2
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis
`(*) Notice:
`
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35 7,474,018 B2—1/2009 Shimizuetal.
`US.C. 154(b) by 322 days.
`7,768,160 Bl
`8/2010 Sahyoun
`7,768,168 B2
`8/2010 Aschoff etal.
`(21) Appl. No.: 13/345,607
`7,771,348 B2
`8/2010 Madsenetal.
`,
`(Continued)
`Jan. 6, 2012
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`1376 833 Al
`v/2004
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2012/0133308 Al
`May31, 2012
`
`EP
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 12/782,697,
`filed on May 18, 2010, now Pat. No. 8,093,767.
`
`Primary Examiner — Karen Masih
`mm)2 PND)
`OSES OPIN
`74) Att
`, Agent,
`Firm — Olympic Patent Works,
`
`yp
`
`(51)
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 61/179,109,filed on May
`18, 2009.
`Int.cl
`(2006.01)
`HO2K 33/00
`(2006.01)
`HO2K 33/16
`,
`(52) US.Cl
`a
`SepCTerreneenegeeee318es7388..ry
`eeeneennnannepenne
`°
`°
`(58) Field of Classification Search ;
`;
`USPC ........ 318/128, 129, 114; 310/19, 36, 254, 17;
`,
`. 340/407.1
`See application file for complete search history.
`.
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`(56)
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`The current application is directed to various types of linear
`vibrational modules,
`including linear-resonant vibration
`modules, that can be incorporated in a wide variety of appli-
`ances, devices, and systemsto providevibrational forces. The
`vibrational forces are produced by linear oscillation of a
`weightormember, inturnproducedbyrapidly alternatingthe
`polarity of one or more driving electromagnets. Feedback
`control is usedto maintainthe vibrational frequency oflinear-
`resonant vibration module at or near the resonant frequency
`for the linear-resonant vibration module. Both linear vibra-
`tion modules and linear-resonant vibration modules can be
`designed to produce vibrational amplitude/frequency combi-
`nations throughout a large region of amplitude/frequency
`space.
`
`1,120,414 A
`3,728,654 A
`
`12/1914 Schoolfield et al.
`4/1973 Tada
`
`5 Claims, 20 Drawing Sheets
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`

`

`US 8,860,337 B2
`Page 2
`
`(56)
`
`Kimet al. woe 310/15
`6/2006
`2006/0138875 Al*
`9/2006
`2006/0208600 Al *
`Sahyoun wo. 310/254
`Blenket al.
`6/2011
`2011/0144426 Al
`2011/0248817 Al*
`10/2011
`Houston et al. 340/4.2
`2012/0212895 Al*
`8/2012
`Cohen et al. ww... 361/679.02
`7,859,144 Bl=12/2010 Sahyoun
`2004/0055598 Al*
`3/2004 Crowderetal.
`......... 128/203.15
`2005/0231045 Al* 10/2005 Obaetal. .
`. 310/19
`
`2005/0275508 Al* 12/2005 Orretal. wo. 340/407.1
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`Sheet 14 of 20
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 14, 2014
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`Sheet 20 of 20
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`US8,860,337 B2
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`US 8,860,337 B2
`
`1
`LINEAR VIBRATION MODULES AND
`LINEAR-RESONANT VIBRATION MODULES
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is a continuation-in-part of application
`Ser. No. 12/782,697, filed May 18, 2010 now U.S. Pat. No.
`8,093,767, which claims the benefit of Provisional Patent
`Application No. 61/179,109, filed May 18, 2009.
`
`
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`The current application is related to vibration-generating
`devices and, in particular, to vibration modules that can be
`incorporated into a wide variety of different types of electro-
`mechanical devices and systems to produce vibrations of
`selected amplitudes and frequencies over a wide range of
`amplitude/frequency space.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`Vibration-inducing motors and mechanisms have been
`used for many years in a wide variety of different consumer
`appliances, toys, and other devices and systems. Examples
`include vibration signals generated by pagers, vibration-
`driven appliances, such as hair-trimming appliances, electric
`toothbrushes, electric toy football games, and many other
`appliances, devices, and systems. The most commonelectro-
`mechanical system used for generating vibrations is an inten-
`tionally unbalancedelectric motor.
`FIGS. 1A-B illustrate an unbalanced electric motor typi-
`cally used for generating vibrations in a wide variety of dif-
`ferent devices. As shown in FIG. 1A, a small, relatively low-
`powerelectric motor 102 rotates a cylindrical shaft 104 onto
`which a weight 106 is asymmetrically or mounted. FIG. 1B
`showsthe weight asymmetrically mounted to the shaft, look-
`ing downat the weight andshaft in the direction ofthe axis of
`the shaft. As shown in FIG. 1B, the weight 106 is mounted
`off-center on the electric-motor shaft 104. FIGS. 2A-Billus-
`
`trate the vibrational motion producedby the unbalanced elec-
`tric motor shown in FIGS. 1A-B. As shown in FIGS. 2A-B,
`the asymmetrically-mounted weight creates an elliptical
`oscillation of the end of the shaft, normal to the shaft axis,
`when the shaft is rotated at relatively high speed by the
`electric motor. FIG. 2A showsdisplacementofthe weight and
`shaft from the stationary shaft axis as the shaft is rotated,
`looking downon the weightand shaft along the shaft axis, as
`in FIG. 1B. In FIG. 2A, a small mark 202 is provided at the
`periphery ofthe disk-shaped end the ofelectric-motorshaft to
`illustrate rotation of the shaft. When the shaft rotates at high
`speed, a point 204 on the edge ofthe weighttracesan ellipsoid
`206 and the center of the shaft 208 traces a narrower and
`smaller ellipsoid 210. Were the shaft balanced, the center of
`the shaft would remain at a position 212 in the center of the
`diagram during rotation, but the presence of the asymmetri-
`cally-mounted weight attached to the shaft, as well as other
`geometric and weight-distribution characteristics of the elec-
`tric motor, shaft, and unbalanced weight together create
`forces that move the end of the shaft along the elliptical path
`210 when the shaft is rotated at relatively high speed. The
`movement can be characterized, as shown in FIG. 2B, by a
`major axis 220 and minor axis 222. of vibration, with the
`direction of the major axis of vibration equalto the direction
`of the majoraxis of the ellipsoids, shown in FIG. 2A,and the
`length of the major axis corresponding to the amplitude of
`vibration in this direction. In many applications, in which a
`
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`linear oscillation is desired, designers seek to force the major-
`axis-amplitude/minor-axis-amplitude ratio to be as large as
`possible, but, because the vibration is produced bya rota-
`tional force, it is generally not possible to achieve linear
`oscillation. In manycases, the path traced by the shaft center
`may beclose to circular. The frequency of vibration of the
`unbalancedelectric motor is equal to the rotational frequency
`ofthe electric-motorshaft, andis therefore constrained by the
`rate at which the motor canrotate the shaft. At low rotational
`
`
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`speeds, little vibration is produced.
`While effective in producing vibrations, there are many
`problems associated with the unbalanced-electric-motor
`vibration-generating units, such as that shown in FIG. 1A,
`commonly usedin the various devices, systems, and applica-
`tions discussed above. First, unbalancing the shaft of an elec-
`tric motor not only produces useful vibrations that can be
`harnessed for various applications, but also produces destruc-
`tive, unbalanced forces within the motor that contribute to
`rapid deterioration of motor parts. Enormouscare andeffort
`is undertaken to precisely balance rotating parts of motors,
`vehicles, and other types ofmachinery, and the consequences
`ofunbalancedrotating parts are well knownto anyone,famil-
`iar with automobiles, machine tools, and other such devices
`and systems. The usefullifetimes of many devices and appli-
`ances, particularly hand-held devices and appliances, that
`employ unbalancedelectric motors for generating vibrations
`may range from a few tens of hours to a few thousands of
`hoursof use, after which the vibrational amplitude produced
`by the devices declines precipitously as the electric motor and
`other parts deteriorate.
`A second problem with unbalancedelectric motors is that
`they are relatively inefficientat producing vibrational motion.
`A far greater amount of poweris consumed by an unbalanced
`electrical motor to produce a given vibrational force than the
`theoretical minimum power required to produce the given
`vibrational force. As a result, many hand-held devices that
`employ unbalancedelectric motors for generating vibrations
`quickly consumebatteries during use.
`A third problem with unbalanced electric motors, dis-
`cussed above,is that they generally produce elliptical vibra-
`tional modes. Although such modes may be useful in particu-
`lar applications, many applications can better use a linear
`oscillation, with greater directional concentration of vibra-
`tional forces. Linear oscillation cannot generally be produced
`by unbalancedelectric motors.
`A fourth, and perhaps most fundamental, problem associ-
`ated with using unbalancedelectric motors to generate vibra-
`tionsis that only a very limitedportionofthetotal vibrational-
`force/frequency space is accessible to unbalanced electric
`motors. FIG. 3 showsa graphofvibrational force with respect
`to frequency for various types of unbalancedelectric motors.
`The graph is shown as a continuous hypothetical curve,
`although, of course, actual data would be discrete. As shown
`in FIG.3, for relatively low-power electric motors used in
`hand-held appliances, only a fairly narrow range of frequen-
`cies centered about 80 Hz (302 in FIG.3) generate a signifi-
`cant vibrational force. Moreover, the vibrational force is rela-
`tively modest. The bulk of energy consumed by an
`unbalancedelectric motor is used to spin the shaft and unbal-
`anced weight and to overcomefrictional and inertial forces
`within the motor. Only a relatively small portion of the con-
`sumed energy is translated into desired vibrational forces.
`Because of the above-discussed disadvantages with the
`commonly employed unbalanced-electric-motor vibration-
`generation units, designers, manufacturers, and, ultimately,
`users of a wide variety of different vibration-based devices,
`appliances, and systems continue to seek moreefficient and
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`US 8,860,337 B2
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`3
`capable vibration-generating units for incorporation into
`many consumerappliances, devices, and systems.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`The current application is directed to various types oflinear
`vibrational modules,
`including linear-resonant vibration
`modules, that can be incorporated in a wide variety of appli-
`ances, devices, and systems to provide vibrational forces. The
`vibrational forces are produced by linear oscillation of a
`weight or member, in turn producedbyrapidly alternating the
`polarity of one or more driving electromagnets. Feedback
`control is used to maintain the vibrational frequencyoflinear-
`resonant vibration moduleat or near the resonant frequency
`for the linear-resonant vibration module. Both linear vibra-
`tion modules and linear-resonant vibration modules can be
`
`designed to produce vibrational amplitude/frequency combi-
`nations throughout a large region of amplitude/frequency
`space.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIGS. 1A-B illustrate an unbalanced electric motor typi-
`cally used for generating vibrations in a wide variety of dif-
`ferent devices.
`
`FIGS. 2A-B illustrate the vibrational motion produced by
`the unbalanced electric motor shown in FIGS. 1A-B.
`
`FIG. 3 showsa graph of vibrational force with respect to
`frequency for various types of unbalancedelectric motors.
`FIGS. 4A-Gillustrate one particular LRVM,and operation
`of the particular LRVM,that represents one implementation
`of the linear-resonant vibration module to which current
`
`application is directed.
`FIGS. 5A-Billustrate an H-bridge switch that can be used,
`in various embodimentsof the current application, to change
`the direction of current applied to the coil that drives linear
`oscillation within a
`linear-resonance vibration module
`
`(“LRVM”).
`FIG.6 provides a block diagram of the LRVM,illustrated
`in FIGS. 4A-G, that represents one implementation of the
`linear-resonantvibration module to which currentapplication
`is directed.
`
`FIGS. 7A-C provide control-flow diagramsthat illustrate
`the control program, executed by the CPU, that controls
`operation of an LRVMthat represents one implementation of
`the linear-resonant vibration module to which current appli-
`cation is directed.
`
`FIG. 8 represents the range of frequencies and vibrational
`forces that can be achieved by different implementations of
`LRVMand LRVMcontrol programsthat represent embodi-
`ments of the current application.
`FIG. 9 showsa plot of the amplitude/frequency space and
`regions in that space that can ,be operationally achieved by
`unbalanced electrical motors and by LRVMsthat represent
`embodiments of the current application.
`FIGS. 10-17 show a variety of different alternative imple-
`mentations of LRVMsthat represent different embodiments
`ofthe current application.
`FIG. 18 illustrates an enhancement of an implementation
`of the linear-resonant vibration module to which current
`application is directed shownin FIG. 16.
`FIG. 19 illustrates plots of amplitude versus frequency for
`a high-Q and a low-Q vibration device.
`FIG.20 illustrates portions of amplitude/frequency space
`accessible to various types of vibration modules.
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`FIG.21 illustrates the dependence between frequency and
`amplitude in a low-Q linear vibration module as well as a
`modified dependence that can be obtained by control cir-
`cuitry.
`FIGS. 22A-23illustrate interesting vibrational modespro-
`duced by driving a linear-resonant vibration module simulta-
`neously at two different frequencies.
`FIGS. 24A-25 illustrate incorporation of paramagnetic
`flux paths into a linear vibration module.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`The current application is directed to various linear vibra-
`tion modules (““LRMs”), including various types of linear-
`resonant vibration modules (““LRVMs”), that can be used
`within a wide variety ofdifferent types ofappliances, devices,
`and systems, to generate vibrational forces. The LVMs and
`LRVMsthat represent embodiments of the current applica-
`tion are linear in the sense that the vibrational forces are
`
`produced bya linear oscillation of a weight or component
`within the LVM or LRVM,rather than as a by-product of an
`unbalanced rotation, as in the case of currently employed
`unbalanced electric motors. The linear nature of the LRVM
`
`vibration-inducing motion allows the problems associated
`with unbalanced-electric-motor vibrators, discussed above,
`to be effectively addressed. An oscillating linear motion does
`not produce destructive forces that quickly degrade and wear
`out an unbalanced electric motor. A linearly oscillating
`mechanism is characterized by parameters that can be
`straightforwardly varied in order to produce vibrations of a
`desired amplitude and frequency over a very broad region of
`amplitude/frequency space. In many implementations of
`LRVMsand LVMs, the vibration amplitude and vibration
`frequency can be independently controlled by a user through
`user-input features, including buttons, sliders, and other types
`ofuser-input features. Combining a linearly oscillating vibra-
`tion-inducing mechanism with feedback control, so that the
`frequencyof vibration falls close to the resonant frequency of
`the LRVM,results in optimal power consumption with
`respect to the amplitude and frequencyofvibration produced
`by the LRVM.Clearly, linear oscillation within a LRVM
`translates into highly direction vibrational forces produced by
`an appliance or device that incorporates the LRVM.
`FIGS. 4A-Gillustrate one particular LRVM,and operation
`of the particular LRVM,that represents one implementation
`of the linear-resonant vibration module to which current
`application is directed. FIGS. 4A-G all use the sameillustra-
`tion conventions, next discussed with reference to FIG. 4A.
`The LRVMincludes a cylindrical housing 402 within which
`a solid, cylindrical mass 404, or weight, can movelinearly
`along the inner, hollow, cylindrically shaped chamber 406
`within the cylindrical housing or tube 402. The weightis a
`magnet, in the described an implementation of the linear-
`resonant vibration module to which current application is
`directed, with polarity indicated by the “+” sign 410 on the
`right-hand end and the “-” sign 412 on the left-hand end of
`the weight 404. The cylindrical chamber 406 is capped by two
`magnetic disks 414 and 416 with polarities indicated by the
`“+ sion 418 and the “—” sign 419. The disk-like magnets 414
`and 418 are magnetically oriented opposite from the mag-
`netic orientation of the weight 404, so that when the weight
`movesto either the extremeleft or extreme right sides of the
`cylindrical chamber, the weight is repelled by one of the
`disk-like magnets at the left or right ends of the cylindrical
`chamber. In other words, the disk-like magnets act muchlike
`springs, to facilitate deceleration and reversal of direction of
`motion ofthe weight and to minimize or prevent mechanical-
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`US 8,860,337 B2
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`5
`impactforces of the weight and the end caps that closeoff the
`cylindrical chamber. Finally, a coil of conductive wire 420
`girdles the cylindrical housing, or tube 402 at approximately
`the mid-point of the cylindrical housing.
`FIGS. 4B-Gillustrate operation of the LRVM shown in
`FIG. 4A. Whenan electric current is applied to the coil 420 in
`a first direction 422, a corresponding magnetic force 424 is
`generated in a direction parallel to the axis of the cylindrical
`chamber, which accelerates. the weight 404. in the direction
`ofthe magnetic force 424. When the weight reaches a pointat
`or close to the corresponding disk-like magnet 414, as shown
`in FIG. 4C, a magnetic force due to the repulsion of the
`disk-like magnet 414 and the weight 404, 426, is generated in
`the opposite direction, decelerating the weight and reversing
`its direction. As the weight reverses direction, as shown in
`FIG. 4D,current is applied in an opposite direction 430 to the
`coil 420, producing a magnetic force 432 in an opposite
`direction from the direction of the magnetic force shown in
`FIG. 4B, which accelerates the weight 404 in a direction
`opposite to the direction in which the weight is accelerated in
`FIG. 4B. As shown in FIG. 4E, the weight then movesright-
`ward until, as shown in FIG. 4F, the weight is decelerated,
`stopped, and then accelerated in the opposite direction by
`repulsion ofthe disk-like magnet 416. An electrical currentis
`then applied to the coil 420 in the same direction 434 as in
`FIG.4B, again accelerating the solid cylindrical mass in the
`same direction as in FIG. 4B. Thus, by a combination of a
`magnetic field with rapidly reversing polarity, generated by
`alternating the direction of current applied to the coil, and by
`the repulsive forces between the weight magnetandthe disk-
`like magnets at each end of the hollow, cylindrical chamber,
`the weight linearly oscillates back and forth within the cylin-
`drical housing 402, imparting a directional force at the ends of
`the cylindrical chamber with each reversal in direction.
`Clearly, the amplitude of the vibration and vibrational
`forces producedare related to the length of the hollow cham-
`ber in which the weight oscillates, the current applied to the
`coil, the mass of the weight, the acceleration of the weight
`producedby the coil, and the massofthe entire LRVM.All of
`these parameters are essentially design parameters for the
`LRVM,and thus the LRVM can be designed to produce a
`wide variety of different amplitudes.
`The frequency of the oscillation of the solid, cylindrical
`massis determined by the frequency at which the direction of
`the current applied to the coil is changed. FIGS. 5A-Billus-
`trate an H-bridge switch that can be used, in various embodi-
`ments of the current application, to change the direction of
`current appliedto the coil that drives linear oscillation within
`an LRVM.FIGS. 5A-B both use the sameillustration con-
`
`to FIG. 5A. The
`ventions, described next with respect
`H-bridge switch receives, as input, a directional signal d 502
`and direct-current (“DC”) power 504. The direction-control
`signal d 502 controls four switches 506-509, shownastran-
`sistors in FIG. 5A. When the input control signal d 502 is
`high, or “1,” as shown in FIG. 5A, switches 508 and 509 are
`closed and switches 506 and 507 are open, and therefore
`current flows, as indicated by curved arrows, such as curved
`arrow 510, from the power-source input 504 to ground 512 in
`a leftward direction through the coil 514. When the input-
`control signal d is low, or “O,’ as shown in FIG. 5B,. the
`direction of the current through the coil is reversed. The
`H-bridge switch, shown in FIGS. 5A-B, is but one example of
`various different types of electrical and electromechanical
`switches that can be used to rapidly alternate the direction of
`current within the coil of an LRVM.
`FIG.6 provides a block diagram of the LRVM,illustrated
`in FIGS. 4A-G, that represents one implementation of the
`
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`linear-resonantvibration module to which currentapplication
`is directed. The LRVM,in additionto the cylindrical housing,
`coil, and internal components shown in FIG. 4A, includes a
`powersupply, a user interface, generally comprising electro-
`mechanical buttons or switches, the H-bridge switch, dis-
`cussed above with reference to FIGS. 5A-B, a central pro-
`cessing unit
`(“CPU”), generally a small,
`low-powered
`microprocessor, and one or more electromechanical sensors.
`All of these components are packaged together as an LRVM
`within a vibration-based appliance, device, or system.
`As shown in FIG. 6, the LRVM 600 is controlled by a
`control program executed by the CPU microprocessor 602.
`The microprocessor may contain sufficient on-board.
`memory to store the control program andother values needed
`during execution of the control program, or, alternatively,
`may be coupled to a low-powered memory chip 604 orflash
`memory for storing the control program. The CPUreceives
`inputs from the user controls 606 that together comprise a
`user interface. These controls may include any of various
`dials, pushbuttons, switches, or other electromechanical-con-
`trol devices. As one example, the user controls may include.
`a dial to select a strength of vibration, which correspondsto
`the current applied to the coil, a switch to select one ofvarious
`different operational modes, and a power button. The user
`controls generate signals input to the CPU 608-610. A power
`supply 612 provides power, as needed, to user controls 614, to
`the CPU 616 and optional, associated memory,
`to the
`H-bridge switch 618, and, when needed, to one or more
`sensors 632. The voltage and current supplied by the power
`supply to the various components mayvary, depending on the
`operational characteristics and requirements of the compo-
`nents. The H-bridge switch 620 receives a control-signal
`input d 622 from the CPU. The power supply 612 receives a
`control input 624 from the CPUto control the current sup-
`plied to the H-bridge switch 618 for transfer to the coil 626.
`The CPU receives input 630 from one or more electrome-
`chanical sensors 632 that generate a signal corresponding to
`the strength of vibration currently being produced by the
`linearly oscillating mass 634. Sensors may include one or
`more ofaccelerometers, piezoelectric devices, pressure-sens-
`ing devices, or other types of sensors that can generate signals
`corresponding to the strength of desired vibrational forces.
`FIGS. 7A-C provide control-flow diagramsthatillustrate
`the control program, executed by the CPU, that controls
`operation of an LRVMthat represents one implementation of
`the linear-resonant vibration module to which current appli-
`cation is directed. FIG. 7A provides a control flow diagram
`for the high-level control program. The program begins
`execution, in step 702, upon a power-on event invoked by a
`user through a powerbutton or other user control. In step 702,
`variouslocal variables are set to default values, including the
`variables: (1) mode, which indicates the current operational
`modeof the device; (2) strength, a numerical value corre-
`sponding to the current user-selected strength of operation,
`correspondingto the electrical current applied to the coil; (3)
`Iv10, a previously sensed vibrational strength; (4) Ivl1, a cur-
`rently sensed vibrational strength; (5) freq, the current fre-
`quency at which the direction of current is alternated in the
`coil; (6) d, the control output to the H-bridge switch; and (7)
`inc, a Boolean value that indicates that the frequencyis cur-
`rently being increased. Next, in step 704, the control program
`waits for a next event. The remaining steps represent a con-
`tinuously executing loop, or event handler, in which each
`event that occurs is appropriately handled by the control
`program.In certain implementations of the control program,
`events may be initiated by interrupt-like mechanisms and
`stacked for execution while, in more primitive implementa-
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`US 8,860,337 B2
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`7
`tions, certain events that overlap in time may be ignored or
`dropped. In the implementation illustrated in FIGS. 7A-C,
`twotimers are used, one for controlling the change in direc-
`tion ofthe current applied to the coil, ata currently established
`frequency, and the other for controlling a monitoring interval
`at which the control program monitors the vibrational force
`currently produced. Rather than using a formal timer mecha-
`nism, certain implementations may simply employ counted
`loops or other simple programming techniques for periodi-
`cally carrying out tasks. When an event occurs, the control
`program begins a series of tasks, thefirst of which is repre-
`sented by the conditional step 706, to determine what event
`has occurred and appropriately handle that event. When the
`frequency timer has expired, as determined in step 706, the
`value of the output signal d is flipped, in step 708, and output
`to the H-bridge switch, with the frequencytimerbeingreset to
`trigger a next frequency-related event. The frequency-timer
`interval is determined by the current value ofthe variable freq.
`Otherwise, when the event is a monitor timer expiration
`event, as determinedin step 710, then a routine “monitor”is
`called in step 712. Otherwise, when the event correspondsto
`a change in the user input through the user interface, as
`determinedin step 714, the routine “control”is called in step
`716. Otherwise, when the event is a power-down event, as
`determined in step 718, resulting from deactivation of a
`powerbutton by the user,