Tunable apparatus for adjusting effective performance of particle impact damper

Abstract

An apparatus for optimizing vibration attenuation of a printed circuit board (PCB) by means of a tunable control for adjusting the volumetric storage capacity, effective mass and travel displacement of a particle impact damper (PID). The apparatus is comprised of a housing with a single or plurality of sealed storage tank(s) containing a payload of tungsten balls (or other materials) with a single or plurality of adjustment screw(s). The volumetric capacity of the storage tank is at maximum when the screw is fully withdrawn from apparatus. The volumetric capacity of the apparatus is reduced when the screw is inserted into the storage tank. The tunable adjustment screw controls the performance of the PID to dampen and attenuate (reduce) the vibration in a printed circuit board without the need to add or remove the payload of tungsten balls inside the particle impact damper.

Claims

1. A particle impact damper for use with printed circuit boards, comprising: a housing defining a chamber bounded by a plurality of surfaces; a plurality of particles disposed in the chamber and configured to move within the chamber; one or more threaded holes defined in one or more walls of the housing; and one or more threaded screws configured to be threadably inserted into the one or more threaded holes to seal the threaded holes, the one or more threaded screws being selectively adjustable to vary a distance the one or more threaded screws extend into the chamber, the one or more threaded screws configured to extend from a first position where the one or more threaded screws do not protrude into the chamber while being threadably coupled to the one or more threaded holes and a second position where the one or more threaded screws are fully inserted in the chamber and interposed between the plurality of particles, wherein adjusting the distance the one or more threaded screws extend into the chamber adjusts and tunes a volumetric capacity of the chamber and an effective mass and travel displacement of the plurality of particles in the chamber to thereby vary a damping performance of the particle impact damper.

2. The particle impact damper of claim 1, wherein the housing has one of a cube shape, a rectangular cuboid shape, a toroidal shape, and a cylindrical shape.

3. The particle impact damper of claim 1, wherein said chamber has one of a cuboid, rectangular cuboid, cylindrical, and toroidal shape.

4. The particle impact damper of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises one of a plastic, a ceramic, and a metal material.

5. The particle impact damper of claim 1, wherein the one or more threaded screws are a plurality of threaded screws.

6. The particle impact damper of claim 1, wherein the one or more threaded holes has a diameter larger than a diameter of the plurality of particles.

7. In combination with a printed circuit board, a particle impact damper comprising: a housing defining a storage chamber therein; a plurality of balls disposed in the storage chamber and configured to move within the storage chamber; one or more threaded holes defined through one or more walls of the housing; and one or more threaded screws configured to be inserted into the one or more threaded holes to seal the threaded holes, the one or more threaded screws being selectively adjustable to vary a distance the one or more threaded screws extend into the storage chamber, the one or more threaded screws configured to extend from a first position where the one or more threaded screws do not protrude into the storage chamber while still threadably coupled to the one or more threaded holes and a second position where the one or more threaded screws are fully inserted in the storage chamber and interposed between the plurality of balls, wherein adjusting the distance the one or more threaded screws extend into the storage chamber adjusts and tunes a volumetric capacity of the storage chamber and an effective mass and travel displacement of the plurality of balls in the storage chamber to thereby vary a damping performance of the particle impact damper on the printed circuit board.

8. The combination of claim 7, wherein the housing has one of a cube shape, a rectangular cuboid shape, a toroidal shape, and a cylindrical shape.

9. The combination of claim 7, wherein said storage chamber has one of a cuboid, rectangular cuboid, cylindrical, and toroidal shape.

10. The combination of claim 7, wherein the housing comprises one of a plastic, a ceramic, and a metal material.

11. The combination of claim 7, wherein the one or more threaded holes has a diameter larger than a diameter of the plurality of balls.

12. The combination of claim 7, wherein the plurality of balls comprise tungsten.

13. The combination of claim 7, wherein the housing comprises a top plate, a middle plate and a bottom plate coupleable to each other to define the housing, the storage chamber defined at least in part by a cavity in the middle plate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1A is a perspective view of one embodiment of the particle impact damper (PID) container with the adjustable screw fully withdrawn from the cavity and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of one embodiment of the particle impact damper (PID) container with the adjustable screw fully inserted into the cavity.

(2) FIG. 2A is an isometric cross sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1A with the adjustable screw withdrawn from the cavity. The cavity is shown empty without a plurality of tungsten balls for clarity.

(3) FIG. 2B is an isometric cross sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1B with the adjustable screw fully inserted into the cavity. The cavity is shown empty without a plurality of tungsten balls for clarity.

(4) FIG. 3A is an isometric cross sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 2A with the adjustable screw withdrawn from the cavity. The cavity is shown filled with a plurality of tungsten balls.

(5) FIG. 3B is an isometric cross sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 2B with the adjustable screw fully inserted into the cavity. The cavity is shown filled with a plurality of tungsten balls.

(6) FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1A with the top cover plate removed, exposing the cavity storage tank and bottom plate. The adjustable screw is shown fully withdrawn from the cavity. The cavity is shown empty without a plurality of tungsten balls for clarity.

(7) FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1B with the top cover plate removed, exposing the cavity and bottom plate. The adjustable screw is shown fully inserted into the cavity. The cavity is shown empty without a plurality of tungsten balls for clarity.

(8) FIG. 5A is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 4A shown filled with a plurality of tungsten balls.

(9) FIG. 5B is an exploded view of the apparatus of FIG. 4B shown filled with a plurality of tungsten balls for clarity.

(10) FIG. 6 is an exploded view of FIG. 1A.

(11) FIG. 7 is an exploded view of FIG. 1B.

(12) FIG. 8A is a front facing section view of FIG. 3A.

(13) FIG. 8B is a front facing section view of FIG. 3B.

(14) FIG. 9A is square shaped PID container with a single adjustable screw.

(15) FIG. 9B is a rectangular shaped PID container with a single adjustable screw.

(16) FIG. 9C is a cylindrical shaped PID container with a single adjustable screw.

(17) FIG. 9D is a toroidal shaped PID container with a single adjustable screw.

(18) FIG. 10A is similar to FIG. 9A with a plurality of adjustable screws.

(19) FIG. 10B is similar to FIG. 9B with a plurality of adjustable screws.

(20) FIG. 10C is similar to FIG. 9C with a plurality of adjustable screws.

(21) FIG. 10D is a toroidal shaped PID container with a plurality of adjustable screws.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(22) Referring first to FIGS. 1A and 1B, is an apparatus, known as a particle impact damper (PID), generally designated at 10, that can hold one or more (e.g., a plurality of) particles 30 (see e.g., FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6 and 7). Optionally, the particles 30 can be made of tungsten. Alternatively, the particles 30 can be made of other suitable materials (e.g., other suitable metals, ceramics, and plastics etc.). Optionally, the particles 30 can be spherical in shape. Alternatively, the particles 30 can have other suitable shapes (e.g., ovoid, diamond, cylindrical, etc.). The particles 30 can optionally be arranged in any random array pattern 32 within the PID 10, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. The particles 30 are housed in a storage chamber 50 in the PID 10, as shown for example in FIGS. 4A, 5A and 6A.

(23) The apparatus 10 can be any suitable shape, such as square (e.g., a cube with a side surface that is a square) as shown in FIG. 9A, rectangular cuboid (e.g., cuboid with a side surface that is a rectangle) as shown in FIG. 9B, cylindrical as shown in FIG. 9C, toroidal as shown in FIG. 9D, or any other suitable shape or combination of shapes. The PID 10 can optionally include a top plate 12, a middle plate 13 and a bottom plate 14. Optionally, one or more of the top plate 12 and bottom plate 14 can be coupled to the middle plate 13. Alternatively, one or both of the top plate 12 and bottom plate 14 can form a single piece (e.g., monolithic, with no seams) with the middle plate 13.

(24) A single or plurality of movable inserts, such as adjustment screws, 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d or 11e that can be removably coupled to any one or a plurality of sides on apparatus 10 as shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D. The one or more particles 30 can optionally be made of tungsten, another suitable metal, powder or any other suitable material in the apparatus 10, as discussed further below. The sectional view of particles 30 is shown FIGS. 3A, 3B, 8A and 8B. The top plate 12 of apparatus or PID 10 is generally designated in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 6, 7, 8A and 8B.

(25) FIGS. 1A, 1B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6, 7, 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D shows a single movable insert, e.g., adjustment screw 11, that can be removably coupled to the apparatus 10. The adjustment screw head (slot) 17 designated in FIG. 1A, 1B, 4A or 4B may have any suitable shape, size, design, style or material and sized to couple to a tool (e.g., Allen wrench, screw driver, Philips screw driver) to movably adjust the adjustment screw. The screw threads 41 in FIGS. 1A, 4A, 5A, 6 and 7, can be of any number, style, fine, course, depth or composition. Though the figures show the movable inserts as adjustment screws 11, other suitable movable inserts can be used, such as a movable plunger that extends into the holes 18.

(26) FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D shows a single or plurality of movable inserts, e.g., adjustment screws, 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d or 11e that can be removably coupled to any one, all or a plurality of sides (e.g., side walls) on apparatus 10. The single or plurality of adjustment screws 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d or 11e can be located grouped together or distributed as preferred.

(27) FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 8A and 8B shows a sectional view of a single adjustment screw 11 that can be removably coupled to the apparatus 10. The sectional view of screw head (slot) 17 may have any suitable shape, size, design, style or material. The sectional view of screw threads 41 in FIGS. 2A, 3A and 8A can be of any number, style, fine, course, depth or composition.

(28) A hole 18 (e.g., tapped hole) shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 6 and 7 in top plate 12 can have threads 19 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 that corresponds to screw threads 41 in the adjustment screw 11.

(29) A sectional view of hole 18 (e.g., tapped hole) in top plate 12 with threads 19 is shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 8A and 8A that corresponds to screw threads 41 in the adjustment screw 11. The top plate 12 can have a top surface 20 that is optionally planar (e.g., flat).

(30) The top plate 12 shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 6 and 7 is optionally coupled to middle plate 13 in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6 and 7 by adhesive, prepreg, fasteners or other suitable mechanism 15 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The middle plate 13 can have a top surface 21 that is optionally planar (e.g., flat), as shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B. Optionally, the top plate 12 can be parallel to the middle plate 13.

(31) The middle plate 13 is optionally coupled to the bottom plate 14 in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6 and 7 by an adhesive, prepreg, fasteners or other suitable mechanism 16 as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, or another mechanism (e.g. welds). The sectional view of 16 is shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 8A and 8B. Optionally, the middle plate 13 can be parallel to the bottom plate 14.

(32) The bottom plate 14 is optionally coupled to the middle plate 13 by adhesive, prepreg, fasteners or other suitable mechanism 16, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B, or other means (e.g., welds). The bottom plate 14 can have a top surface 40 that is optionally planar (e.g., flat), as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

(33) Optionally, the top plate 12 can be removably or permanently coupled to the middle plate 13, by an adhesive 15 or other suitable mechanism (e.g., prepreg, fasteners, welds), as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 8A and 8B. Optionally, the bottom plate 14 can be removably or permanently coupled to the middle plate 13 by an adhesive 16 or other suitable mechanism (e.g., prepreg, fasteners, welds, etc.).

(34) The embodiment of the storage chamber 50 is formed by a top surface perimeter outline 51 shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6 and 7 and a bottom surface perimeter outline 53 shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, 6 and 7 connected by a side wall 52 shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, 6 and 7. The storage chamber 50 can optionally be filled with air in addition to the one or more particles (e.g., tungsten balls) 30. Alternatively, the storage chamber 50 can be under vacuum. In another alternative, the storage chamber 50 can be filled with another gas, such as an inert gas.

(35) The sectional view of the storage chamber 50 is shown in FIGS. 2A, 3A and 8A.

(36) The maximum volumetric capacity of the storage chamber 50 is formed when the adjustment screw 11 is fully withdrawn (removed) from the storage chamber.

(37) The minimum volumetric capacity of the storage chamber 50 is designated as 54 when the adjustment screw 11 is fully inserted into the storage chamber as shown in FIGS. 4A, 5A and 7. In other words, the storage chamber is designated as 50 whenever the adjustment screw 11 is fully withdrawn (e.g., removed) from the storage chamber and the storage chamber is designated as 54 whenever the adjustment screw 11 enters (e.g., is present at any place inside of) the storage chamber.

(38) The sectional view of the storage chamber 54 is shown in FIGS. 2B, 3B and 8B.

(39) The minimum volumetric capacity of the storage chamber 54 is formed when the adjustment screw 11 is fully inserted into the storage chamber.

(40) The volumetric capacity of the storage chamber 54 is continuously adjustable (e.g., tunable) through a full range by withdrawing the adjustment screw 11 fully out of the storage chamber 50 or by inserting the adjustment screw 11 fully into the storage chamber 54, or any partially adjusted setting therefrom.

(41) Adjustment (e.g., tuning) the volumetric capacity of the storage chamber 54 advantageously allows the control of the effective mass and travel displacement of tungsten balls 30 inside the PID container 10 without the need to physically add or remove tungsten balls or other forms of stored payload, thereby adjusting (e.g., tuning) the damping effect provided by the PD.

(42) While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the systems and methods described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present inventions is defined only by reference to the appended claims.

(43) Features, materials, characteristics, or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment, or example are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described in this section or elsewhere in this specification unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The protection is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The protection extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

(44) Furthermore, certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimed combination can, in some cases, be excised from the combination, and the combination may be claimed as a subcombination or variation of a sub combination.

(45) Moreover, while operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular order, such operations need not be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Other operations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in the example methods and processes. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the described operations. Further, the operations may be rearranged or reordered in other implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the actual steps taken in the processes illustrated and/or disclosed may differ from those shown in the figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps described above may be removed, others may be added. Furthermore, the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Also, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products.

(46) For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. Not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.

(47) Conditional language, such as can, could, might, or may, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

(48) Conjunctive language such as the phrase at least one of X, Y, and Z, unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require the presence of at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z.

(49) Language of degree used herein, such as the terms approximately, about, generally, and substantially as used herein represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms approximately, about, generally, and substantially may refer to an amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount. As another example, in certain embodiments, the terms generally parallel and substantially parallel refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly parallel by less than or equal to 15 degrees, 10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees, 1 degree, or 0.1 degree.

(50) The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by the specific disclosures of preferred embodiments in this section or elsewhere in this specification, and may be defined by claims as presented in this section or elsewhere in this specification or as presented in the future. The language of the claims is to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to the examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.