Variable stiffness electroactive polymer systems
First Claim
1. A system for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
- a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa; and
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer in order to cause a corresponding setting or change in the stiffness of the device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to systems that provide variable stiffness and/or variable damping using an electroactive polymer transducer. Systems described herein offer several techniques that provide variable and controlled stiffness and/or damping. A transducer may be implemented using open loop control, thereby providing simple systems that inactively deliver a desired stiffness and/or damping performance. Alternately, closed loop control techniques permit electroactive polymer transducer designs that actively adapt the stiffness and/or damping performance of a system. Further, transducers may be implemented in a device whose stiffness changes with deflection of the polymer.
283 Citations
96 Claims
-
1. A system for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa; and
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer in order to cause a corresponding setting or change in the stiffness of the device. - 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. A system for providing damping using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa; and
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer; and
dissipative electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to dump electrical energy in response to a change in the electrical state. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. A system for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa; and
open loop control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer in order to cause a corresponding setting or change in the stiffness of the device. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
-
-
55. A system for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa;
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer in order to cause a corresponding setting or change in the stiffness of the device; and
a sensor configured to detect a parameter related to the desired stiffness and provide feedback to the control electronics. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
-
-
67. A system for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes; and
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state that results in a desired deflection for the polymer, the desired deflection corresponding to a structural state of the device that results in the desired stiffness for the device, wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
-
-
74. A system for providing damping using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa;
an open loop control source in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state that results in a desired damping for the device; and
dissipative electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to dump electrical energy in response to a change in the electrical state. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77)
-
-
78. A system for providing damping using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa;
dissipative electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to dump electrical energy in response to a change in the electrical state;
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state that results in a desired damping for the device; and
a sensor configured to detect a parameter related to the desired damping and provide feedback to the control electronics. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81, 82)
-
- 83. A method for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the transducer comprising at least two electrodes and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes, the method comprising applying a substantially constant voltage to the at least two electrodes using control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa.
-
85. A method for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the transducer comprising at least two electrodes and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes, the method comprising applying a substantially constant charge to the transducer using control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa.
- 86. A method for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the transducer comprising at least two electrodes and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes, the method comprising applying an electrical state to the transducer, using control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes, that that places the polymer in a stiffness regime that provides the desired stiffness wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa.
-
89. A system for providing a desired stiffness for a portion of footwear, the system comprising:
-
footwear designed or configured for human usage, the footwear comprising a portion of the footwear capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the portion, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the portion wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa; and
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer in order to cause a corresponding setting or change in the stiffness of the footwear. - View Dependent Claims (90, 91, 92)
-
-
93. A method for resisting motion of a mechanical interface included in a device, the device including an electroactive polymer transducer comprising at least two electrodes an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the method comprising:
- a) actuating the polymer out of phase from motion of the mechanical interface that causes the polymer to contract, and b) absorbing electrical energy in generator mode out of phase from motion of the mechanical interface that causes the polymer to expand wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus at most about 100 MPa.
- View Dependent Claims (94, 95)
-
96. A system for providing a desired stiffness using an electroactive polymer transducer, the system comprising:
-
a device comprising a mechanical interface capable of displacement, a transducer comprising at least two electrodes, and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and coupled to the mechanical interface, the polymer arranged in a manner that allows deflection of the polymer corresponding to displacement of the mechanical interface wherein, during operation of the transducer a portion of the polymer is deflected and wherein the portion of the polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 MPa; and
control electronics in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes and designed or configured to set or change an electrical state of the transducer in order to cause a corresponding setting or change in the stiffness of the device.
-
Specification