Design and Experiment Using Flexible Bumps for Piezoelectric-Driven Hydraulically Amplified Braille Dot Display

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a piezoelectric-driven hydraulically amplified Braille-flexible bump device that enables the flexible formation of Braille characters. A piezoelectric vibrator is used to excite fluid resonance in a cavity, and displacement is realized by compressing the fluid, allowing Braille character dots to be formed. First, the structural design and working principle of the device, as well as the method used to drive the fluid, are explained. Expressions for the output displacement and amplification ratio of the flexible film and piezoelectric vibrator are then obtained through kinetic analysis of the system unit. Subsequently, the structural parameters that affect the output displacement and the liquid amplification are described. Finally, experimental tests of the system are explained. The results indicate that the output displacement of the contact formed by the flexible film reaches 0.214 mm, satisfying the requirements of the touch sensitivity standard for the blind, when the fluid cavity diameter measures 31 mm and the resonance frequency is 375.4 Hz. The corresponding water discharge is 8.8 mL. This study proves that constructing a Braille bump device in this way is both feasible and effective.

Keywords

• piezoelectric drive
• Braille display
• fluid drive