Soft actuators and artificial muscles
US6109852A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 5, 1999 |
| Grant date | Aug 29, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 5, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T74/20311
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A chemical (coating and reduction)/mechanical/electrical treatment of ion-exchange materials (preferably ion-exchange membranes) to convert them to artificial muscles. The figure is a perspective view of an actuator of the invention showing the treated membrane actuator (A) with electrodes (25 and 26) placed at one end of the membrane, the electrodes being further attached to a power source (35). Artificial muscles created by the inventive method are capable of undergoing electrically-controllable large deformations resembling the behavior of biological muscles. A typical flap muscle of 0.2-0.4 mm thickness, 2-5 mm width and 20 mm length manufactured by the inventive process can achieve a completely reversible maximum deflection of 12-15 mm under a maximum voltage of 2.0-2.5 volts.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.