Thin and light vibrators that leverage the inverse piezoelectric effect with a diaphragm mechanism are promising vibrotactile actuators owing to their form factors and high temporal and frequency response. However, generating perceptually sufficient displacement in the low-frequency domain is challenging. This study presents a lever mechanism mounted on a diaphragm vibrator to enhance the vibrotactile intensity of low-frequency vibrotactile stimuli. The lever mechanism is inspired by the tactile contact lens consisting of an array of cylinders held against the skin on a sheet that enhances micro-bump tactile detection. We built an experimental apparatus including our previously developed thin-film diaphragm-type vibrator, which reproduced the common characteristic of piezoelectric vibrators: near-threshold displacement (10 to 20 μm) at low frequency. Experiments demonstrated enhanced vibrotactile intensity at frequencies less than 100 Hz with the lever mechanism. Although the arrangement and material of the mechanism can be improved, our findings can help improve the expressiveness of diaphragm-type vibrators.

中文翻译：

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隔膜式振动器的杠杆机构可增强振动触觉强度

利用隔膜机构的逆压电效应的薄而轻的振动器由于其形状因素和高时间和频率响应而成为有前途的振动触觉执行器。然而，在低频域中产生感知上足够的位移具有挑战性。这项研究提出了一种安装在隔膜振动器上的杠杆机构，以增强低频振动触觉刺激的振动触觉强度。杠杆机构的灵感来自于触觉隐形眼镜，该隐形眼镜由一系列紧贴皮肤的圆柱体组成，可增强微凸块触觉检测。我们建造了一个实验装置，包括我们之前开发的薄膜隔膜型振动器，它再现了压电振动器的共同特性：低频下的近阈值位移（10至20μm）。实验证明，杠杆机构可在频率低于 100 Hz 时增强振动触觉强度。尽管机构的布置和材料可以改进，但我们的发现可以帮助提高隔膜式振动器的表现力。