Development of Small-sized Flexible Control Valve Using Vibration Motor

Recently, due to the ageing in Japanese society and the decreasing birthrate, an important problem of providing nursing care for the elderly has occurred. As a result, it is necessary to develop wearable systems to support in nursing care. To realize the system, we require not only wearable soft actuators but also compact and flexible control valve that can drive the soft actuator such as a pneumatic artificial muscle. The purpose of our study is to develop a flexible, lightweight and compact control valve which can be safe enough to be attached to the human body.In this study, we proposed and tested a new type of control valve. The valve consists of a vibration motor and a check valve that was composed of a steel ball and an orifice in flexible tube. The operating principle of the valve is as follows. The valve is normally closed as a function of check valve. When the vibration is applied, the inner ball in the check valve moves and the valve opens. By giving continuous vibration, the valve can keep open. As a result, we find that the valve can control the relatively larger flow rate compared to their weight and size.