Abstract:
A vibrator, applicable to a cell-phone or a pager for providing vibration in different directions to signal incoming messages. The vibrator includes a housing and an eccentric cam. The cam is capable of rotating around an axle to provide vibration along a horizontal plane perpendicular to the axle. In the first embodiment of the invention, an engaging structure (like a trail around the axis with different attitude with respect to the horizontal plane) is installed on the housing such that the cam is engaged to move up and down along the axle to provide vibration along an axial direction. In the second embodiment of the invention, at least a vibrating body, capable of sliding along the axial direction, is installed on the housing, such that when the cam rotates, the vibrating body is engaged to move up and down to provide vibration along the axis.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention relates to a vibrator applied to a mobile phone or a pager, and more particularly, to a vibrator producing vibration in different directions. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Along with progress of the semiconductor technology, capacity and weight of many electric devices, such as the watch, the alarm clock, the pager, or the mobile phone, are substantially reduced. These electric devices are portable to arrange schedule or access messages. For achieving the above-mentioned purposes, these electric devices generally send out a reminding signal. For example, a watch or an alarm clock usually sends out a reminding signal at a preset time, and a pager or a mobile phone usually sends out a reminding signal while receiving a telephone call. In general, the reminding signal is a specific sound or a vibration. Since the reminding sound may disturb other people, the effective vibrator is developed. 
   Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 1  is an exploded diagram of a vibrator  10  according to the prior art,  FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a combined vibrator  10  according to the prior art,  FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a vibrator  10  along line  3 — 3  in  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 4  is a top view of a vibrator  10  without a housing. A cam  16  is installed in the housings  12 A,  12 B, and the cam  16  rotates on a plane  27  around an axle  26  that is perpendicular to the plane  27  (rotates along direction  25  in  FIG. 2 ). In the housings  12 A,  12 B, besides the cam  16 , two conductive brushes  14 A,  14 B, and two magnets  18 A,  18 B are further installed. Two coils  20 A,  20 B are equipped on the cam  16  to conduct to the conductive sheets  22  and a weight adjuster  15 . The magnets  18 A,  18 B are fixed on the bottom of the housing, and one end of the brushes  14 A,  14 B is fixed on the housing  12 A and the other end is contacted to the conductive sheets  22 , as  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  show. With the brushes  14 A,  14 B, the magnets  18 A,  18 B, the conductive sheets  22 , and the coils  20 A,  20 B, the cam  16  can joint the housings  12 A,  12 B to achieve function of a motor (such as a DC motor). As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , when the brushes  14 A,  14 B are electrically connected to a driving circuit  24  (such as a battery), the driving circuit  24  can provide power energy to the coils  20 A,  20 B through the brushes  14 A,  14 B and the conductive sheets  22 . The coils  20 A,  20 B work as an electromagnet to alternately attract and repel the magnets  18 A,  18 B, and drive the cam  16  to rotate around the axle  26  along direction  25 . 
   To fully utilize functions of the vibrator  10 , the cam is designed in an asymmetric shape (shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 ), the coils  20 A,  20 B are designed asymmetric to the axle  26 , and the weight adjustor  15  is equipped on one side of the cam  16 . These designs make the center of mass  19  of the cam  16  differ from the axle  26  with an eccentric center. The center of mass  19  of the cam  16  projected on the plane  27  substantially differs from a center position of the axle  26  to provide a horizontal vibration parallel to the plane  27 . The transmission direction of the vibration is shown as direction  28  in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 . 
   Please refer to  FIG. 5 , which is a schematic diagram of another vibrator  30  according to the prior art. The coils  34 A,  34 B are installed in the housing  32 , and the flexible shaft  36  is installed in another side of the housing. One end of the shaft  36  is fixed to the housing  32 , and the other end has a magnetic pendulum  38  installed. When the coils  34 A,  34 B are electrically connected to a driving circuit  44  and receive a periodic power energy, the coils  34 A,  34 B work as an electromagnet to alternately attract and repel the pendulum  38 . The pendulum  38  swings between the coils  34 A,  34 B and produces a vibration along direction  40 . 
   The conventional vibrators  10 ,  30  have a limitation of the vibration direction. As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , the vibrator  10  can only produce a vibration parallel to the plane  27 , and can do nothing to the perpendicular vibration. Similarly, as  FIG. 5  shows, the vibrator  30  can only produce a vibration along directions  42 A,  42 B. These conventional vibrators are limited in the vibration direction, and may be easily counteracted. For example, if the vibrator  30  is compressed against the directions  42 A,  42 B, the vibration will be reduced and counteracted. Similarly, if the vibrator  10  is compressed against the direction  28 , the vibration will be also reduced and counteracted. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a vibrator and related apparatus for providing vibration in different directions to solve the above-mentioned problem. 
   According to the claimed invention, the horizontal vibration is produced by an eccentric cam, and the vertical vibration is produced by an engaging structure. In an embodiment, the engaging structure has an engaging track fixed in the housing and contacting a surface of the cam, and the engaging track equipped around the axle is uneven to make the cam move up and down while rotating. In another embodiment, the engaging structure has electromagnets fixed in the housing, and the electromagnets produce a magnetic field periodically according to the electric power to make the cam move up and down along an axial direction in the housing. In addition, the claimed invention can has a sliding member and a sliding track equipped in the housing along the axial direction. Each sliding track corresponds to one sliding member to help the sliding member slide up and down in the housing while rotating. In all embodiments, the claimed vibrator provides vibration in horizontal and vertical directions, and can be applied to electric devices, such as the mobile phone or the pager. 
   These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded diagram of a vibrator according to the prior art. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a combined vibrator according to the prior art. 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a vibrator of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of a vibrator of  FIG. 2  without housing. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of another vibrator according to the prior art. 
       FIG. 6  is an exploded diagram of a vibrator according to the present invention. 
       FIGS. 7 ,  8  are schematic diagrams of a combined vibrator according to the present invention. 
       FIGS. 9 ,  10  are cross-sectional views of a vibrator of  FIGS. 7 ,  8 . 
       FIG. 11  is a top view of a vibrator of  FIGS. 7 ,  8  without housing. 
       FIG. 12  is a schematic diagram of an engaging structure. 
       FIG. 13  is a schematic diagram of an engaging structure at different vertical positions. 
       FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of an engaging structure of  FIG. 13 . 
       FIG. 15  is an exploded diagram of another vibrator according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 16  is a schematic diagram of a combined vibrator of  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional view of a vibrator of  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 18  is a top view of a vibrator of  FIG. 15  without housing. 
       FIG. 19  is a schematic diagram of an engaging structure of  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 20  is a schematic diagram of an engaging structure of  FIG. 15  at different vertical positions. 
       FIG. 21  is a cross-sectional view of an engaging structure of  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 22  is a schematic diagram of another vibrator according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 23  is a cross-sectional view of a vibrator of  FIG. 22 . 
       FIG. 24  is a schematic diagram of another vibrator according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 25  is a cross-sectional view of a vibrator of  FIG. 24 . 
       FIG. 26  is a functional diagram of a vibrator applied to an electric apparatus. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Please refer to  FIG. 6  to  FIG. 11 .  FIG. 6  is an exploded diagram of a vibrator  50  in an embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 8  are schematic diagrams of the combined vibrator  50 ,  FIG. 9 ,  FIG. 10  are cross-sectional views of the vibrator  50  along line  9 — 9  and  10 — 10 , and  FIG. 11  is a top view of a vibrator  50  without housing. A cam  56  rotating around an axle  66 , an elastomer  74 , two magnets  58 A,  58 B and two conductive brushes  54 A,  54 B are installed in the housings  52 A,  52 B. Two coils  60 A,  60 B and the conductive sheets  62  are equipped on the cam  56 . As  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 10  show, the magnets  58 A,  58 B are fixed on the bottom of the housing  52 B, and one end of the brushes  54 A,  54 B is fixed on the housing  52 A and the other end is contacted to the conductive sheets  62  (for detailed explanation, portions of the housings  52 A,  52 B are omitted in  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 10 ). When the brushes  54 A,  54 B are respectively connected to a driving circuit  64 , the driving power is transmitted from the conductive sheets  62  to the coils  60 A,  60 B to drive the cam  56  to work as an electromagnet. The cam  56  equals a rotor in a motor, and alternately attracts and repels the magnets  58 A,  58 B to rotate around the axle  66  along direction  70 . 
   As  FIG. 11  shows, in the vibrator  50 , the cam  56  is designed in an asymmetric shape, the coils  60 A,  60 B are designed asymmetric to the axle  66 , and a weight adjustor  55  is equipped on one side of the cam  56 . These designs make the center of mass  76  of the cam  56  differ from the axle  66  with an eccentric center. The center of mass  76  of the cam  56  projected on the plane  72  substantially differs from a center position of the axle  66  to provide a horizontal vibration parallel to the plane  72 . The transmission direction of the vibration is shown as direction  68  in  FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 8 . 
   Besides the horizontal vibration, the claimed invention can further produce a vertical vibration. An engaging structure with an uneven engaging track is equipped on the bottom of the housing  52 B and the cam  56 . The engaging track can make the cam  56  move up and down while rotating and produce the vertical vibration. Please refer to  FIG. 12 , which is a schematic diagram of an engaging structure of a vibrator  50 . A spiral engaging track  78 A is designed on the housing  52 B, and a corresponding engaging track  78 B is also designed on the bottom of the cam  56 . As shown in  FIG. 12 , the engaging track  78 A spirals up from position  80 A along direction  70 , and suddenly drops from position  80 B to the original height  80 A after rotating a circle. Similarly, the engaging track  78 B of the cam  56  also has a corresponding spiral. When the cam  56  is installed in the vibrator  50 , the engaging tracks  78 A,  78 B will contact and engage each other, and lead the cam  56  move up and down while rotating along direction  70 . Hence, the vertical vibration can be produced along direction  82 A,  82 B. 
   For insuring the tightness of the engaging tracks  78 A,  78 B while rotating, an elastomer  74  can be further equipped, as shown in  FIG. 6  to  FIG. 10 . The elastomer  74  is a sheet metal with one end fixed on the housing  52 A and the other end contacting the cam  56 . The elastomer  74  pushes the cam  56  to insure the tightness of the engaging tracks  78 A,  78 B while rotating. Please refer to  FIG. 13 ,  FIG. 14 , which are schematic diagrams of the engaging structure at different vertical positions (for detailed explanation, portions of the housings  52 A,  52 B are omitted). As  FIG. 13 ,  14  show, when the vibrator  50  is in state Sa, the cam  56  starts to rotate around the axle  66  from position  80 A along direction  70 . When in state Sb, the cam  56  moves up with the engaging tracks  78 A. In the embodiment of the claimed invention, the brushes  54 A,  54 B are flexible conductive metals and can keep contacting the conductive sheets  62  while moving up and down. Furthermore, if the brushes  54 A,  54 B have sufficient flexibility, the brushes  54 A,  54 B can substitute the elastomer  74 . 
   After rotating a circle, the cam  56  is near to state Sc and at position  80 B. As the rotation continues, the cam  56  suddenly falls to position  80 A and produces a vertical vibration. The vertical vibration is produced along directions  82 A,  82 B. The position of the cam  56  is repeatedly circulated between Sa, Sb, and Sc. Combining the horizontal and vertical vibrations, the vibrator  50  can provide vibration in multiple directions. 
     FIG. 15  to  FIG. 18  show another embodiment of the claimed invention.  FIG. 15  is an exploded diagram of another vibrator  90 ,  FIG. 16  is a schematic diagram of an assembled vibrator  90 ,  FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional view along line  17 — 17  in  FIG. 16 , and  FIG. 18  is a top view of the vibrator  90  without housing. An eccentric cam  96  rotating around an axle  106 , two conductive brushes  94 A,  94 B, and two magnets  98 A,  98 B are installed in the housings  92 A,  92 B. Two coils  100 A,  100 B and the conductive sheets  102  are equipped on the cam  96 . One end of the brushes  94 A,  94 B is fixed on the housing  92 A and the other end is contacted to the conductive sheets  102  (for detailed explanation, portions of the housings  92 A,  92 B are omitted in  FIG. 15  to  FIG. 18 ). When the brushes  94 A,  94 B are respectively connected to a driving circuit  104 , the driving power is transmitted from the conductive sheets  102  to the coils  100 A,  100 B to drive the cam  96  to work as an electromagnet. The cam  96  alternately attracts and repels the magnets  98 A,  98 B and rotates along direction  110 . 
   As  FIG. 18  shows, in this embodiment, although the cam  96  has a circular shape, it can utilize the coils  100 A,  100 B and a weight adjustor  95  to achieve an asymmetric design. The center of mass  116  of the cam  96  projected on the plane  112  substantially differs from a center position of the axle  106  to provide a horizontal vibration parallel to the plane  112 . The transmission direction of the vibration is shown as direction  116  in  FIG. 16 . 
   For providing the vertical vibration, the periphery of the cam  96  is designed a spiral engaging track  118 , and the springs  114 A,  114 B and the sliding members  108 A,  108 B are designed in the housings  92 A,  92 B. The vertical fillisters  122 A,  122 B are designed in two sides of the housings  92 A,  92 B for allowing the sliding members  108 A,  108 B to slide. One side of each sliding member  108 A,  108 B contains a prominence  120 A,  120 B, and each fillister  122 A,  122 B contains a hole  124 A,  124 B facing the cam  96 . The prominences  120 A,  120 B can engage the engaging track  118  through the holes  124 A,  124 B. As shown in  FIG. 16 ,  17 , when the vibrator  90  is combined, the sliding members  108 A,  108 B engage the engaging track  118  with the prominences  120 A,  120 B and form the engaging structure. When the cam  96  rotates around the axle  106 , the spiral engaging track  118  will drive the sliding members  108 A,  108 B to slide in the fillisters  122 A,  122 B and produce a vertical vibration. For insuring the engaging relation of the sliding members  108 A,  108 B and the engaging track  118 , the springs  114 A,  114 B are equipped in the vibrator  90 . One end of each spring is fixed to the inside wall of the fillister, and the other end is connected to the corresponding sliding member. When the sliding members  108 A,  108 B slide up and down, the springs  114 A,  114 B can provide a restoring force. 
   Please refer to  FIG. 19  to  FIG. 21 .  FIG. 19  is a schematic diagram of the engaging track  118  of the cam  96 ,  FIG. 20  is a schematic diagram of the sliding members  108 A,  108 B at different vertical positions, and  FIG. 21  is a cross-sectional view of the vibrator  90  along line  17 — 17  in  FIG. 16 . As  FIG. 19  shows, the sliding members  108 A,  108 B have the prominences  120 A,  120 B engaging with the engaging track  118  (portions of the cam  96  are omitted for detailed explanation). In the embodiment of  FIG. 19 , the engaging track  118  has two segments that spiral up and suddenly down, and these two segments link together to form the whole engaging track  118 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 20 ,  21 , the sliding members  108 A,  108 B engage the engaging track  118  at the lowest position, and the cam  96  starts to rotate along direction  110 . After rotating 90 degrees around the axle  106 , the sliding members  108 A,  108 B slide up with the engaging track  118  in state Tb. After rotating 180 degrees from the state Ta, the sliding members  108 A,  108 B slide up to the highest position with the engaging track  118  in state Tc. After state Tc, the engaging track  118  suddenly stops, and the sliding members  108 A,  108 B suddenly fall to the lowest position from Tc to Ta (the springs  114 A,  114 B can insure that the sliding members  108 A,  108 B are back to the lowest position). The vertical vibration can be provided by the repeated movement of the sliding members  108 A,  108 B. Combining the horizontal and vertical vibrations, the vibrator  90  can provide vibration in multiple directions. 
   When designing the vibrator  90 , quantity of the sliding member and the engaging track can be changed according to requirements. For example, the vibrator can be designed with one sliding member (and one corresponding fillister), and the engaging track can be designed with one or multiple segments. The number of segments can decide the frequency of moving the sliding member up and down. In the preferred embodiment, two (or more than two) sliding members are designed symmetrically to the axle, which provides symmetric biasing with respect to the axle. In addition, the engaging track can be designed protrudent and the sliding member can be designed hollow to achieve the engaging relation. The sliding member can be a high density and heavy material (such as metal) to enhance the vertical vibration of the vibrator  90 . 
   In the above-mentioned vibrators  50 ,  90 , there are conductive sheets, coils, brushes and magnets in the cam and the housing to work as a motor, but an external motor can also drive the cam in the present invention. Please refer to  FIGS. 22 ,  23 .  FIG. 22  is a schematic diagram of a vibrator  130  in another embodiment according to the present invention, and  FIG. 23  is a cross-sectional view of the vibrator  130 . Similar to the vibrator  90 , the vibrator  130  also has an eccentric cam  136  in the housing  132  rotating around the axle  134 . A weight adjustor  142  makes the center of mass of the cam  136  differ from the axle  134  with an eccentric center, and a spiral engaging track  138  is designed on the periphery of the cam  136 . In the housing  132 , two sliding members  140 A,  140 B and the corresponding springs  142 A,  142 B are designed to achieve the engaging relation. 
   What is different from the vibrator  90  is that a motor  144  is located in the housing  132  to drive the cam  136  through an axle  146 . The motor  144  receives a driving power from a driving circuit  148  and rotates the axle  146  to drive the cam  136 . The coils, conductive sheets, brushes and magnets are not needed in the cam  136  and the housing  132 . When the motor  144  drives the cam  136  through the axle  146 , the eccentric cam  136  can produce a horizontal vibration along direction  128 , and the engaging track  138  can drive the sliding members  140 A,  140 B to produce a vertical vibration along direction  149 A,  149 B. Thus, the vibrator  130  can provide vibration in multiple directions. The vibrator  50  can be also achieved with a motor similar to that of the vibrator  130 . 
   Please refer to  FIGS. 24 ,  25 .  FIG. 24  is a schematic diagram of another vibrator  150 , and  FIG. 25  is a cross-sectional view of the vibrator  150 . An eccentric cam  156  is located in the housing  152  of the vibrator  150 , and the cam  156  can produce a horizontal vibration along direction  160  when rotating around the axle  158 . The cam  158  in the housing  152  can be driven by a motor similar to that of the vibrator  130 . These related structures are disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments, and are not described again. 
   Besides the horizontal vibration, for producing the vertical vibration, the coils  154 A,  154 B are equipped on the top and bottom of the housing  152 . The cam  156  is a magnet and can slide up and down along the axle  158 . When the coils  154 A,  1154 B receive the AC driving power from the driving circuit  166 , it can work as an electromagnet to attract and repel the cam  156 . The cam  156  will slide up and down along direction  162 A,  162 B and produce a vertical vibration. When designing the vibrator  150 , if the cam  156  is driven by a motor, the cam  156  or the weight adjustor  155  can be made by a magnet material for sliding up and down with the magnet field of the coils  154 A,  154 B. 
   The vibration in multiple directions of the claimed invention is suitable for use in mobile phones, pagers, watches, or alarm clocks for reminding users. Please refer to  FIG. 26 , which is a functional diagram of a vibrator  180  applied to an electric apparatus  170 . The electric apparatus  170  can be a mobile phone or a pager, which is equipped with a signal circuit  172 , a control circuit  174 , an interface circuit  176 , a driving module  178  and a vibrator  180 . The control circuit  174  controls operation of the electric apparatus  170 , and the signal circuit  172  receives the wireless signal and decodes it. The interface circuit  176  is a human-machine interface including a speaker, a display and/or buttons. The driving module  178  includes a driving circuit  182  for providing a driving power to the vibrator  180 . The vibrator  180  is similar to the above-mentioned vibrators  50 ,  90 ,  130 ,  150  or other vibrators achieved according to the present invention. If the vibrator  180  is achieved by the vibrator  150 , the driving module  182  will have two driving circuits, with one driving circuit driving the electromagnets  154 A,  154 B to produce a periodic magnet field and the other driving the cam  156  to rotate. 
   While operating the electric apparatus  170 , the user can input a control instruction through the button or touch panel of the interface circuit  176 , and the control circuit  174  receives this instruction from the interface circuit  176  and controls the operation of the electric apparatus  170 . After the signal circuit  172  receives a wireless signal from the wireless communication network, the control circuit  174  can control the driving module  178  to provide a driving power to the vibrator  180 . Then, the vibrator  180  sends a vibrational reminding signal to remind the user. The user can receive the message through the interface circuit  176  to control the electric apparatus  170 . The control circuit  174  can show the decoded message through the interface circuit  176  with images on a display or voice in a speaker. In addition, if the electric apparatus  170  is a mobile phone, the sound waves of the user can be transferred to an electrical signal through a microphone of the interface circuit, and the electrical signal can be transmitted to the wireless communication network to achieve a wireless sound communication. 
   In contrast to the prior art, the vibrator according to the present invention can provide a vibration in different directions so that can effectively remind the user even though the electric apparatus may be compressed or counteracted in some direction. In addition, in the embodiments of the claimed invention, the vibrator almost does not need to increase its capacity to achieve the function, and is suitable for portable electric apparatuses. 
   Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.