Claims
- 1. A method of providing a variable resistance from a resistive member including a resistive resilient material, the method comprising:
electrically coupling a first conductor with the resistive member at a first location over a first contact area; electrically coupling a second conductor with the resistive member at a second location over a second contact area; changing at least one of the first location, the second location, the first contact area, and the second contact area to produce a change in resistance between the first conductor and the second conductor, the resistance between the first conductor and the second conductor including a straight resistance component and a parallel path resistance component, the straight resistance component increasing as the distance between the first location and the second location increases and decreasing as the distance between the first location and the second location decreases, the parallel path resistance component having preset desired characteristics based on selected first and second locations and selected first and second contact areas.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second locations and first and second contact areas are selected to provide a parallel path resistance component which is at least substantially constant with respect to changes in the distance between the first location and the second location, so that the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location increases as the distance between the first location and the second location increases and decreases as the distance between the first location and the second location decreases.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second locations and first and second contact areas are selected such that the straight resistance component is substantially larger than the parallel path resistance component and the change in the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location is at least substantially equal to the change in the straight resistance component between the first conductor and the second conductor.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the distance between the first location and the second location is at least substantially constant and the straight resistance component is at least substantially constant, so that the change in the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location is at least substantially equal to the change in the parallel path resistance component between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second locations and first and second contact areas are selected such that the parallel path resistance component is substantially larger than the straight resistance component and the change in the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location is at least substantially equal to the change in the parallel path resistance component between the first conductor and the second conductor.
- 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of stretching the resistive member between the first location and the second location to increase the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location.
- 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of applying a pressure on the resistive member between the firs contact location and the second location to decrease the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location.
- 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of increasing the temperature of the resistive member between the first location and the second location to increase the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location or decreasing the temperature of the resistive member between the first location and the second location to decrease the resistance between the first conductor at the first location and the second conductor at the second location.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the resistive resilient material comprises electrically conductive materials contained in a resilient material selected from the group consisting of silicone (e.g., HB/VO rated), natural rubber (NR), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), butyl rubber (IR), butadiene rubber (BR), chloro sulfonic polyethylene (Hypalon®), Santoprene® (TPR), neoprene, chloroprene, Viton®, elastomers, and urethane.
- 10. A method of providing a variable resistance from a resistive member including a resistive resilient material, the method comprising:
electrically coupling a first conductor with the resistive member at a first contact location over a first contact area; electrically coupling a second conductor with the resistive member at a second contact location over a second contact area, the second contact location being spaced from the first contact location by a variable distance; changing at least one of the first location, the second location, the first contact area, and the second contact area to produce a change in resistance in the resistive member, measured between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location, as the resistive member deforms along the second conductor.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the first and second contact locations and first and second contact areas are selected such that the change in the resistance in the resistive member as measured between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location is substantially equal to the change in a parallel path resistance component of the resistance in the resistive member as measured between the first conductor and the second conductor.
- 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistive member has a resistive surface with an outer boundary contacting the first and second conductors at the first and second contact locations, respectively, the first and second contact locations being disposed within the outer boundary and away from the outer boundary of the resistive surface.
- 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first contact location is fixed on the resistive surface.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the second contact location is movable on the resistive surface relative to the first contact location.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the resistance in the resistive member as measured between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location has a parallel path resistance component which decreases with an increase in a distance between the first contact location and the second contact location.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the parallel path resistance component decreases in a substantially linear manner with an increase in the distance between the first contact location and the second contact location over at least a portion of the resistive surface.
- 17. The method of claim 14 wherein the first contact area at the first contact location is constant and the second contact area at the second contact location is constant.
- 18. The method of claim 13 wherein the first contact location is fixed in a central region of the resistive surface.
- 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the second conductor includes a second conductor surface; and wherein at least one of the resistive surface and the second conductor surface comprises a convex, curved surface to provide rolling contact between the resistive surface and the second conductor surface.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the second conductor surface includes a conductive portion and a nonconductive portion, the conductive portion increasing in proportion and the nonconductive portion decreasing in proportion with an increase in distance from the first contact location over at least a part of the second conductive surface.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the conductive portion gradually increases in proportion and the nonconductive portion gradually decreases in proportion with an increase in distance from the first contact location.
- 22. The method of claim 19 wherein one of the resistive surface and the second conductor surface comprises a convex, curved surface, and the other one of the resistive surface and the second conductor surface comprises a planar surface.
- 23. The method of claim 19 wherein the second conductor surface is annular with an outer boundary and an inner boundary, the inner boundary of the second conductor surface being spaced from the first contact location on the resistive surface.
- 24. The method of claim 18 wherein the resistive member is resiliently supported at the first contact location by a spring.
- 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the first conductor comprises the spring.
- 26. The method of claim 18 wherein the first conductor is energized with a voltage.
- 27. The method of claim 12 wherein the distance between the first and second contact locations is fixed.
- 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the first and second contact locations are fixed.
- 29. The method of claim 27 wherein the first contact location is fixed in a central region of the resistive surface.
- 30. The method of claim 27 wherein the resistive surface is deformable to make variable contact with the first and second conductors to produce at least one of a variable first contact area and a variable second contact area.
- 31. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistive member has a resistive surface for contacting the first and second conductors at the first and second contact locations, respectively, the resistive surface having an outer boundary and a thickness which is smaller than a square root of a surface area of the resistive surface.
- 32. The method of claim 31 wherein the first contact location is fixed in a central region of the resistive surface.
- 33. The method of claim 32 wherein the first contact area at the first contact location is constant and the second contact area at the second contact location is constant.
- 34. The method of claim 33 wherein the resistance between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location decreases initially as the distance between the first contact location and the second contact location increases until the second contact location approaches closely toward the boundary location, whereupon the resistance increases until the second contact location reaches the boundary of the resistive surface.
- 35. The method of claim 31 wherein the first contact location is disposed at or near the boundary of the resistive surface; and wherein the second contact location is movable on the resistive surface, the resistance between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location increasing with an increases in distance between the first contact location and the second contact location.
- 36. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistance between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location increases when the resistive member undergoes a stretching deformation between the first contact location and the second contact location.
- 37. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistance between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location decreases when the resistive member is subject to a pressure between the first contact location and the second contact location.
- 38. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistance between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location increases when the resistive member undergoes a rise in temperature between the first contact location and the second contact location and decreases when the resistive member undergoes a drop in temperature between the first contact location and the second contact location.
- 39. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistance in the resistive member as measured between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location is equal to the sum of a straight resistance component and a parallel path resistance component, the straight resistance component increasing as the distance between the first contact location and the second contact location increases and decreasing as the distance between the first contact location and the second contact location decreases, the parallel path resistance component having preset desired characteristics based on selected first and second contact locations and selected first and second contact areas.
- 40. The method of claim 10 wherein the resistive resilient material comprises electrically conductive materials contained in a resilient material selected from the group consisting of silicone (e.g., HB/VO rated), natural rubber (NR), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), butyl rubber (IR), butadiene rubber (BR), chloro sulfonic polyethylene (Hypalon®), Santoprene® (TPR), neoprene, chloroprene, Viton®, elastomers, and urethane.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/060,046, filed Jan. 28, 2002, which is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/318,183, filed May 25, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,323, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09318183 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
10060046 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10060046 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10188513 |
Jul 2002 |
US |