MECHANISM FOR CHANGING THE SHAPE OF A CONTROL SURFACE
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a structure having a first side and a second side substantially opposite to the first side;
a flexible skin attached to the first side and the second side of the structure; and
a plurality of deformable assemblies moveably connected to the structure, in which each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a vertex and a base, wherein the each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a height that is capable of changing to change a shape of the structure and a shape of the flexible skin.
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Abstract
An apparatus comprises a structure having a first side, a second side substantially opposite to the first side, a flexible skin, and a plurality of deformable assemblies. The flexible skin is attached to the first side and the second side of the structure. The plurality of deformable assemblies is moveably connected to the structure, in which each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a vertex and a base. The each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a height that is capable of changing to change a shape of the structure and a shape of the flexible skin.
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Citations
60 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a structure having a first side and a second side substantially opposite to the first side; a flexible skin attached to the first side and the second side of the structure; and a plurality of deformable assemblies moveably connected to the structure, in which each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a vertex and a base, wherein the each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a height that is capable of changing to change a shape of the structure and a shape of the flexible skin. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An apparatus comprising:
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a structure having a first side and a second side substantially opposite to the first side; a plurality of bays located within the structure; a flexible skin attached to the first side and the second side of the structure; a plurality of deformable assemblies moveably connected to the structure, in which each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a vertex and a base, wherein the each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a height that is capable of changing to change a shape of the structure and a shape of the flexible skin; a plurality of connection structures connected to the plurality of deformable assemblies, wherein each connection structure in the plurality of connection structures has a vertex and a plurality of members extending from the vertex to an associated deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies, and wherein a first member of the plurality of members is connected to the vertex of the associated deformable assembly and a number of other members in the plurality of members are connected to a base of the associated deformable assembly; and an actuator system connected to a first vertex of a first deformable assembly in a first bay of the plurality of bays and a second vertex of a second deformable assembly in the first bay, wherein a first number of the plurality of deformable assemblies has a first number of vertices linked in series to the first vertex, wherein a second number of the plurality of deformable assemblies has a second number of vertices linked in series to the second vertex, and wherein the actuator system is capable of moving the first vertex and the second vertex to change the shape of the structure and the shape of the flexible skin attached to the structure. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. An apparatus comprising:
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a structure having a first side, a second side substantially opposite to the first side, and a base rotatably connected to a frame; a plurality of bays located within the structure; a flexible skin attached to the first side and the second side of the structure; a plurality of deformable assemblies moveably connected to the structure, in which each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a vertex, and a base, wherein the vertex has a height that is capable of changing to change a shape of the structure and a shape of the flexible skin; a plurality of connection structures connected to the plurality of deformable assemblies, wherein each connection structure in the plurality of connection structures has a vertex and a plurality of members extending from the vertex to an associated deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies, wherein a first member of the plurality of members is connected to the vertex of the associated deformable assembly and a number of other members in the plurality of members is connected to a base of the associated deformable assembly and wherein vertices in a number of connection structures in the plurality of connection structures are connected in series to each other; a polyhedron structure having a first vertex and a second vertex forming an edge of the polyhedron structure;
a first elongate member extending from a third vertex of the polyhedron structure to the base of the structure; and
a second elongate member extending from a fourth vertex to a first vertex in a first connection structure in the number of connection structures; andan actuator connected to the base of the structure, wherein the actuator is capable of moving the base to rotate the structure, and wherein movement of the base is capable of causing the polyhedron structure to move the first vertex in the first connection structure such that the vertex of the associated deformable assembly changes height to change the shape of the structure and the shape of the flexible skin attached to the structure. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. An apparatus comprising:
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a structure, wherein the structure has a base rotatably attached to a frame; a flexible skin attached to the structure; an array of bays in the structure having a quadrilateral shape and capable of changing shape; and a plurality of diagonal members connected to corners in the array of bays and wherein the plurality of diagonal members is capable of changing a length in connection with each other to change the quadrilateral shape of the array of bays to change a shape of the structure and wherein one of the plurality of diagonal members is capable of rotating the structure with a control surface about the frame. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49)
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50. A method for controlling a control surface, the method comprising:
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identifying a desired shape for the control surface comprising a structure having a first side and a second side substantially opposite to the first side;
a flexible skin attached to the first side and the second side of the structure; and
a plurality of deformable assemblies moveably connected to the structure, wherein each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a vertex and a base, and wherein the each deformable assembly in the plurality of deformable assemblies has a height that is capable of changing to change a shape of the control surface; andactivating a motion generation system connected to the vertex to move the vertex to change the height of a number of deformable assemblies in the plurality of deformable assemblies to change the shape of the control surface to the desired shape. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification