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  Collision reaction force measurement apparatusRelated Patent Categories: Measuring And Testing, Testing By Impact Or Shock, Specimen Impactor DetailThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070068221. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of application No. 11/022,767, filed Dec. 28, 2004, and now pending, which claims the benefit of priority Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-280050, filed Sep. 27, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a collision reaction force measurement apparatus, and, in particular, a collision reaction force measurement apparatus for measuring a collision reaction force applied to a portable electronic device or such when it drops. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] For example, for a so-called portable electronic device such as a cellular phone, a notebook-type persona computer or such, in addition to miniaturization and reduction of a product weight, enhancement of various functions has been achieved, and simultaneously, it is demanded that such a product should have a sufficient mechanical strength against a dropping impact presumable in consideration of how it is used. As a method of evaluating a mechanical strength of a product against a dropping impact, there is a method of using a collision reaction force measurement apparatus. Unlike another measurement method in which the measurement is carried out with an acceleration sensor or a strain gage directly attached to the product itself, the method of using the collision reaction force measurement apparatus is advantageous in that since a sensor cable or such which may affect an actual dropping position of the measurement target object is not required, it is possible to carry out highly reproducible evaluation. [0006] As a specific example of the collision reaction force measurement apparatus, a configuration shown in FIG. 1 may be considered. In this configuration, a collision table 1 is provided on a load cell 2, a measurement target object 3 is made to drop on the collision table 1, and then, a collision reaction force thus occurring is measured by the load cell 2. However, in the collision reaction force measurement apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 1, if the measurement target object collides at a position deviated from a center of the load cell 2, a relevant impact is applied to the load cell 2 in a form of a torque, and as a result, it may be difficult to accurately measure the collision reaction force. [0007] Japanese Patent No. 3404291 discloses a method for solving this problem for example in which thee load cells 2-a, 2-b and 2-c arranged at vertexes of a triangle are provided, and then, as a result of combining measurement outputs of the respective ones of the load cells 2-a, 2-b and 2-c, a collision reaction force of a measurement target object X is obtained finally. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] However, in the collision reaction force measurement apparatus shown in FIG. 2 configured by the combination of the collision table 1 and the load cell 2, as mentioned above, an accurate measurement result may not be expected unless the measurement target object X drops and collides at the center of the collision table 1. On the other hand, upon treating a portable electronic device for which an appearance design is sought as a result of freely curved surfaces being used in various ways, it may be difficult to achieve a measurement condition fulfilling such a requirement that the measurement target object should be made to drop and collide at the center of the collision table. Furthermore, when a configuration in which, as shown in FIG. 2, the three load cells 2-a, 2-b and 2-c supporting the collision table 1 are used, the following problem may occur. [0009] That is, for example, when a measurement target object such as a cellular phone is made to drop from a height of 1.5 m, a collision reaction force has a high frequency (approximately 1 kHz). Therefore, if the measurement target object collides at a position deviated from the center of the collision table as shown in FIG. 2, a time interval required until each load cell 2 reacts to the collision may become different among the respective load cells 2-a, 2-b and 2-c according to distances between the actual collision point and locations of the respective load cells 2. Thereby, measured waveforms obtained by the respective load cells 2-a, 2-b and 2-c may have phase difference thereamong, as shown in FIG. 3A. If these waveforms shown are combined as they are, a waveform shown in FIG. 3B is obtained. This waveform may not accurately express an actual collision reaction force due to the phase difference mentioned above. [0010] Further, when such a collision reaction force measurement apparatus in the related art is used, even though it may be possible to evaluate a force applied to the measurement target object when the measurement target object collides, it is difficult to evaluate as to which position of the measurement target object the force is actually applied at. [0011] According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a collision surface receiving a collision of a measurement target object and a measurement part measuring a collision reaction force occurring when the predetermined object collides against the collision surface are provided. The collision surface includes a plurality of collision surface elements, and also, the measurement part includes a plurality of measurement part elements provided for the plurality of collision surface elements, respectively. [0012] As a result of configuring the collision reaction force measurement apparatus as mentioned above, it is possible to accurately measure a collision reaction force applied when the measurement target drops on the collision surface, even when the measurement target object drops at any position thereof. Furthermore, since the collision reaction force applied at the time of collision of the measurement target object can be measured by the plurality of measurement part elements, it is possible to evaluate a spatial distribution of the collision reaction force applied. [0013] That is, in the related art described above with reference to FIG. 1, since the single load cell is used to carry out the measurement, a collision force acts as a torque to the load cell when the measurement target object collides at a position separate from the center of the load cell. As a result, accurate measurement of collision reaction force cannot be achieved in the related art. Further, even when the method described above with reference to FIG. 2 is applied in which the three or more load cells are disposed along a circumference and a final measurement value is obtained from combining the respective measurement values of these load cells, measurement accuracy may degrade due to difference in the transmission time of the collision reaction force required for the respective load cells from the actual collision point. [0014] In contrast thereto, according to the present invention, the collision surface is finely divided into the respective collision surface elements, and also, the measurement part elements are allocated for the respective ones of the collision surface elements in a one-to-one corresponding manner. Thereby, it is possible to achieve accurate measurement when a measurement target object drops at any position on the collision surface. [0015] Furthermore, according to the related art, the collision reaction force is obtained from the measurement value of the single load cell or a combination of measurement values of the plurality of load cells. Therefore, it is not possible to evaluate a distribution of a force actually applied to the measurement target object. In contract thereto, according to the present invention, collision impact applied by the measurement target object may be received by the many measurement part elements. Then, as a result of the measurement values of the respective ones of the measurement part elements being used separately, it is possible to obtain a two-dimensional distribution of the collision reaction force concerning the collision surface, and thereby, it is possible to carry out effective evaluation as to how much the collision reaction force occurs at each part of the measurement target object. [0016] Other objects and further features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0017] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a collision reaction force measurement apparatus in one example of the related art; [0018] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a collision reaction force measurement apparatus in another example of the related art; [0019] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a problem which may occur in the related art shown in FIG. 2; [0020] FIG. 4A shows a perspective view of a collision reaction force detection part of a collision reaction force measurement apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Continue reading... 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