Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Electro-acoustic audio transducer – Electromagnetic
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-24
2001-07-03
Kuntz, Curtis (Department: 2643)
Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices
Electro-acoustic audio transducer
Electromagnetic
C381S086000, C381S333000, C381S389000, C381S395000, C601S047000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256397
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus for offering the feeling of presence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Insofar, the present inventor has proposed a lot of body-sensible acoustic apparatuses in which, during an audio reproduction, employing a low sound region of about 20 to 150 Hz in the audio signal as a supply source, a vibrator is driven by the low sound region signal to make a generated vibration felt to give more increased feeling of presence, thereby to bring an effect medically and in psychotherapy.
Further, a flight simulator which stimulates a flight of airplane to swing a simulated cockpit in accordance with a flight condition by a large scale hydraulic pressure apparatus has been employed for offering the feeling of presence. Another apparatus gives a user such a feeling as driving a motorbike or a roller coaster by swinging a saddle back and forth, right and left, and upward and downward. In this apparatus, an actuation of a motor attached to the saddle is controlled by CPU to enhance the user's feeling of presence.
The present invention relates to provide a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus for enhancing the feeling of presence in simulation, while listening to the music or playing a game.
Conventionally, in an electric-mechanical vibration transducer that has been employed for acoustically body-sensible apparatus, a large mass permanent magnet is hung within a mounting container and a coil is fixed in the container (hereinafter referred to as transducer).
When a user listens to the music on a chair, which is vibrated in a low sound region by the transducer attached thereto, a feeling of presence in an imaginary world induced by the music played in a hall is obtained.
Further, in some game unit, a user's body is inclined or swung corresponding to a situation. For that purpose, as described previously, there is an apparatus that swings a cockpit by means of a hydraulic apparatus, a motor, an air cylinder or the like is employed for a swinging apparatus. The air cylinder, however, requires a complicated piping system for an air injection/exhaustion apparatus, and the motor is more frequently used for swinging and vibrating apparatuses due to its structural simplicity.
A swinging apparatus is effectively achieved to tremble a human body supporting platform by rotating a regularly/reversely, or by repeating the injecting and exhausting the air into and from an air cylinder, in which one reciprocating operation makes one cycle (1 Hz), capable of realizing relatively large swinging motion at a low frequency. When using the motor, a regular/reverse rotation must be repeated in accordance with the frequency, and it is greatly difficult to realize a rotation by a desirable rotation angle (amplitude) in the range of tens of Hz to hundreds of Hz. It is the same situation as in case of an air cylinder used for an apparatus.
Therefore, since in the apparatus using a motor or an air cylinder a response speed to an input of a swinging signal or a vibrating signal is low, it is difficult to obtain a swinging motion with feeling of speed and impact. The above problem is solved, as an example, by excessively inclining and swinging a seat of the game machine, and correspondingly inclining and swinging the body of a player who steers on the seat during a motorbike race simulation (a video game). For example, when the simulated motorbike slowly runs on a wavy road, the player's body swings slowly, and when it slowly runs on a gravel road, the player feels a rugged impact.
However, when the simulated bike runs fast on the gravel road, successive large impacts generated on the road cannot be reproduced. This is because the frequency of the input signal is too high for the motor to follow the high frequency by rotating regularly/reversely. Therefore, the inclination and the swinging motions do not agree with the driving condition, thereby deteriorating a pleasure of the game and making the player lose his interest. Some players of the game machine do not sit but stand while steering the simulated motorbike.
In summarizing the example of a simulated motorbike or roller coaster, the actual swinging motion thereof includes a slowly but largely right and left swinging motion and a vibrating motion with various impacts. Therefore, it is possible to produce satisfying game machines incorporating the conventional swinging apparatus with use of a motor, an air cylinder or the like. That is, though the above vibrating apparatus is suitable to provide a body-sensible impact, it is constructively impossible for the apparatus to offer a large right and left swinging motion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus which gives a user a swinging motion and impact to enhance the feeling of presence.
To achieve the above object of the invention, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus, wherein an arm is hung at the central lower portion of a swinging and vibrating stand as well as an iron core is attached to the arm, the upper position of the arm being rotatably supported above the iron core, the swinging and vibrating stand being capable of inclining in every direction, a plurality of electromagnets being placed peripherally in the horizontal direction of the iron core, and the electromagnets being driven by the swinging signal and the vibrating signal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus, the electromagnets are placed at four positions horizontally about the iron core.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, in a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus, the swinging and vibrating stand is capable of inclining in every direction as serving the central lower portion of the swinging and vibrating stand as a bearing as well as the electromagnets are placed at four positions horizontally about the iron core, with the electromagnets being placed at the lower portion of the iron core and the electromagnets being driven by the swinging signal and the vibrating signal.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, in a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus, the swinging signal is an wave form of a fluctuation element with longer wavelength than the vibrating signal, and the vibrating signal is an audio signal in a low sound region.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, in a body-sensible swinging and vibrating apparatus, when sound or picture is outputted for audio, movies, video games or the like, the swinging and vibrating stand is activated by the swinging signal and the vibrating signal harmonized with the picture or the sound.
The swinging and vibrating stand may be used as a driver's seat, seat, couch, bed or the like, which depends on the setting condition of the apparatus for a user how to use the apparatus.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3455296 (1969-07-01), Mccales
patent: 3556088 (1971-01-01), Leonardini
patent: 4064376 (1977-12-01), Yamada
patent: 4641345 (1987-02-01), Takahashi
patent: 5894263 (1999-04-01), Shimakawa
Bodysonic Laboratory, Inc.
Harvey Dionne N.
Kuntz Curtis
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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