Actuator

• US 10,030,637 B2
• Filed: 10/20/2016
• Issued: 07/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Asai, Katsuhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Laurenzi, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): MIAN, SHAFIQ A
• Application Number:
  US15/298,293
• Publication Number:
  US 20170175718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• Field of Search: 310307, 310365, 310367, 442208-210, 442228-230, 60527-529
• CPC Class Codes: F03G 7/06 using expansion or contraction of bodies due to heating, cooling, moistening, drying or the like using thermal expansion of non-vaporising liquids F01K

Abstract

An actuator includes a first actuator unit including first actuator fibers and a second actuator unit including second actuator fibers located between plate members. The first and second actuator fibers stretch or contract when temperature changes. A spring rate of the second actuator fibers is higher than that of the first actuator fibers. A maximum displacement amount of the second actuator unit is smaller than that of the first actuator unit. The temperature of the first actuator fibers is controlled in a case where a displacement amount of one plate member relative to the other plate member is smaller than a first displacement amount, and the temperature of the first actuator fibers and the temperature of the second actuator fibers are controlled in a case where the displacement amount is equal to or larger than the first displacement amount and equal to or smaller than a maximum displacement amount.

Claims

1. An actuator comprising:

a first actuator unit including one or more first actuator fibers;

a second actuator unit including one or more second actuator fibers;

a base; and

a displacement member,

wherein each of the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers has a structure in which a high polymer fiber bundle is wound spirally,

wherein the high polymer fiber bundle includes one or more twisted high polymer fibers,

wherein each of the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers stretches or contracts when temperature of the high polymer fiber bundle that each of the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers includes is changed,

wherein the first actuator unit stretches or contracts by using the one or more first actuator fibers, and the second actuator unit stretches or contracts by using the one or more second actuator fibers,

wherein a spring rate of each of the one or more second actuator fibers is higher than a spring rate of each of the one or more first actuator fibers,

wherein a maximum displacement amount of the second actuator unit is smaller than a maximum displacement amount of the first actuator unit,

wherein the first actuator unit and the second actuator unit are located between the base and the displacement member,

wherein temperature of the one or more first actuator fibers is controlled and temperature of the one or more second actuator fibers is not controlled in a case where a displacement amount of the displacement member relative to the base is smaller than a first displacement amount, and

wherein the temperature of the one or more first actuator fibers is controlled and the temperature of the one or more second actuator fibers are controlled in a case where the displacement amount of the displacement member relative to the base is equal to or larger than the first displacement amount and equal to or smaller than a maximum displacement amount of the displacement member relative to the base.

2. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein

the displacement member includes a plurality of electrode units;

the plurality of electrode units correspond to the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers;

in a case where the displacement amount is smaller than the first displacement amount, the temperature of the one or more first actuator fibers is controlled by electricity application using a corresponding one of the plurality of electrode units, and no electricity is applied to the one or more second actuator fibers; and

in a case where the displacement amount is equal to or larger than the first displacement amount and is equal to or smaller than the maximum displacement amount, the temperature of the one or more first actuator fibers and the temperature of the one or more second actuator fibers are controlled by electricity application using the corresponding plurality of electrode units.

3. The actuator according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit including a first controller that controls electricity application to the one or more first actuator fibers and a second controller that controls electricity application to the one or more second actuator fibers.

4. The actuator according to claim 3, wherein

the control unit causes the first controller and the second controller to make an amount obtained by subtracting the first displacement amount from a displacement amount of the first actuator unit equal to a displacement amount of the second actuator unit in a case where the displacement amount of the displacement member is equal to or larger than the first displacement amount and equal to or smaller than the maximum displacement amount.

5. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein

the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers are aligned in a line.

6. The actuator according to claim 5, wherein

the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers are disposed so as to be symmetrical with respect to an intermediate line between two actuator fibers located at ends of the line.

7. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein

each of the one or more first actuator fibers has a first spring shape including a first coil diameter, a first spring pitch, and a first wire diameter that is a wire diameter of the high polymer fiber bundle of the one or more first actuator fibers;

each of the one or more second actuator fibers has a second spring shape including a second coil diameter that is equal to the first coil diameter, a second spring pitch that is equal to the first spring pitch, and a second wire diameter that is a wire diameter of the high polymer fiber bundle of the one or more second actuator fibers and is equal to the first wire diameter; and

the length of each of the one or more first actuator fibers and the length of each of the one or more second actuator fibers are different from each other.

8. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein

the one or more second actuator fibers includes a plurality of actuator fibers having different spring rates;

and

the plurality of actuator fibers having the different spring rates are different from each other in terms of a displacement range in which tension acts.

9. The actuator according to claim 8, wherein

the one or more second actuator fibers includes actuator fibers having different lengths.

10. The actuator according to claim 9, wherein

one of conditions required to strain the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers to the same degree is that the displacement amount is equal to or larger than the first displacement amount and equal to or smaller than the maximum displacement amount.

11. The actuator according to claim 6, wherein

the ends include a first end and a second end;

the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers are disposed in a first order from the intermediate line toward the first end and are disposed in the first order from the intermediate line toward the second end; and

in the first order, reciprocals of the spring rates of the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers linearly increase or linearly decrease.

12. The actuator according to claim 6, wherein

the ends include a first end and a second end;

the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers are disposed in a first order from the intermediate line toward the first end and are disposed in the first order from the intermediate line toward the second end; and

in the first order, reciprocals of the spring rates of the one or more first actuator fibers and the one or more second actuator fibers exponentially increase or exponentially decrease.

13. The actuator according to claim 6, wherein

the ends include a first end;

the one or more second actuator fibers located between the intermediate line and the first end and at the first end include at least n actuator fibers where n is an integer of 3 or larger, and a spring rate of an actuator fiber located between two actuator fibers included in any three actuator fibers included in the n actuator fibers is smaller than a largest one of spring rates of the three actuator fibers and is larger than a smallest one of the spring rates of the three actuator fibers.

14. The actuator according to claim 8, wherein

the one or more first actuator fibers and the plurality of second actuator fibers having the different spring rates are aligned in a line, and reciprocals of the spring rates of the first actuator fibers and the plurality of second actuator fibers having the different spring rates linearly change, in at least part of the line, in one direction or another direction opposite to the one direction along the line.

15. The actuator according to claim 8, wherein

the one or more first actuator fibers and the plurality of second actuator fibers having the different spring rates are aligned in a line, and reciprocals of the spring rates of the first actuator fibers and the plurality of second actuator fibers having the different spring rates exponentially change, in at least part of the line, in one direction or another direction opposite to the one direction along the line.