282 results about "Compliant mechanism" patented technology

A micromanipulator comprising a tubular structure and a structural compliance mechanism that are formed from a tube made of an elastic and / or superelastic material. The micromanipulator is useful for intravascular interventional applications and particularly ultrasonic imaging when coupled with an ultrasound transducer. Also disclosed are medical devices for crossing vascular occlusions using radio-frequency energy or rotary cutting, preferably under the guidance of real-time imaging of the occlusion, as well as accompanying methods.

A micromanipulator comprising a tubular structure and a structural compliance mechanism that are formed from a tube made of an elastic and / or superelastic material. Fabricated with laser machining and has no mechanical joints, the micromanipulator can be manipulated in various motions and degree-of-freedoms without permanent deformation. Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) in one embodiment are implemented as main actuators of the micromanipulator. The micromanipulator can be implemented with multiple SMAs to manipulate the mechanism with multiple degree-of-freedom. In another implementation, multiple segments of the mechanisms are formed and arranged in various configurations, including a “double-helix”-like configuration, for enabling intricate motions of the micromanipulator. The micromanipulator is useful for intravascular interventional applications and particularly ultrasonic imaging when coupled with an ultrasound transducer.

Unit cell bistable elements, and particular arrangements thereof, that can transform or morph a structure from one shape to another. In certain embodiments, the current invention includes unit cell bistable elements, and particular arrangements and uses thereof, that can transform or morph a structure from one shape to another. In an embodiment, the current invention provides a method / ability to transform any four-bar compliant mechanism into a bistable compliant mechanism. It is an object of the current invention to facilitate structures morphing from one specific shape to another specific shape using unit cell bistable elements.

A MEMS actuator includes a coil stack in the form of microfabricated, electrically conductive first and second superposed layers. A magnet array is superposed in magnetic communication with the coil stack, with first and second coils being selectively, electrically actuatable to generate relative movement between the coil stack and the magnet array both in-plane and out-of-plane. In various embodiments, a plurality of the actuators are integrally coupled to a microfabricated compliant mechanism to provide a high bandwidth, six degree of freedom nanopositioner.

A suspended-load backpack designed to permit the load to move relative to the wearer during walking and running so that the large movements between the load and the wearer of the backpack reduce the fluctuations of vertical motion of the load with respect to ground. Because the hip (and thus the pack body) goes up a down a good deal during walking, a large relative movement between the wearer and the load reduces the absolute excursion of the load. This movement may be, in turn, transferred to a motor through, for example, a rack and pinion gear, to convert the mechanical movement to electrical or mechanical energy. Such movement of the suspended-load relative to the wearer also reduces the forces on the wearer's body while walking or running, thus reducing the likelihood of orthopedic injury. The suspended-load backpack includes a suspension system having a first portion connected to shoulder straps directly or through an interface and a second portion connected to the pack body and a compliant mechanism that permits the second portion of the suspension system and the pack body to move up and down relative to the first portion of the suspension system in accordance with a gait of the wearer of the backpack.

The invention discloses a two-degree-of-freedom piezoelectric driving nanometer positioning platform. The two-degree-of-freedom piezoelectric driving nanometer positioning platform is characterized in that an XY motion platform body is connected with a base through an X-axis full compliant mechanism, a Y-axis full compliant mechanism and a cross-shaped XY decoupling mechanism; laser ruler planar mirrors for checking X-direction motion and Y-direction motion are arranged on the side faces of the XY motion platform body and the base respectively; the laser ruler planar mirrors are matched with laser ruler reading heads for detecting X and Y directions respectively to finish the detection and feedback of two-degree-of-freedom motion of the nanometer positioning platform together; piezoelectric ceramic drivers are embedded into the X-axis full compliant mechanism and the Y-axis full compliant mechanism respectively. The two-degree-of-freedom piezoelectric driving nanometer positioning platform has the beneficial effects that flexible hinges are taken as a kinematic pair, and motion is transmitted and decoupled through micro-deformation, so that clearance errors introduced in an assembly process are reduced, and the accuracy of motion transmission is increased.

An apparatus (1) for manipulating a load includes a first support structure (60) for supporting the load and a second support structure (4) for supporting the load. The apparatus also includes a coupling (3) coupled between the first support structure (60) and the second support structure (4). The coupling (30) includes a compliant mechanism (340a) for providing a compliant range of motion to the load about a rotative axis where a center of gravity of the load is located away from the rotative axis. The rotative axis is a non-vertical axis.

The invention specifically discloses a flexible charging butt joint mechanism for an automatic walking device. The flexible charging butt joint mechanism comprises a guiding mechanism, a flexible mechanism and a butt joint mechanism, wherein the guiding mechanism is provided with the butt joint mechanism, the guiding mechanism comprises at least a pair of mutually cooperated guide members I, II, the guide member I is installed on an automatic walking mechanism, and the guiding member II is installed on the flexible mechanism. According to the invention, the automatic walking device, after the electric power of its battery is consumed, automatically goes to a charging pile for charging, and the charging loop of the charging pile is accurately and reliably connected to the automatic walking device.

The invention discloses a controllable wedge pre-tightening mechanism for the micro platform of a compliant mechanism. The controllable wedge pre-tightening mechanism comprises a microcalliper, a pedestal, a spring, a vertical moving wedge, a horizontal moving wedge, a piezoelectric ceramic and a platform. When the piezoelectric ceramic is mounted and dismantled, the process can be finished only by wringing the microcalliper, the regulation and the maintenance are convenient, and the pre-tightening is stable. Since the extent of pre-tightening can be accurately controlled in real time through the microcalliper, the blindness of pre-tightening is avoided. The height of a vertical moving wedge inclined face is lower than that of a horizontal moving wedge inclined face, thus the scope of pre-tightening is enlarged. The controllable wedge pre-tightening mechanism for the micro platform of the compliant mechanism is an independent module, and the processing of the platform is not affected.

A MEMS actuator includes a coil stack in the form of microfabricated, electrically conductive first and second superposed layers. A magnet array is superposed in magnetic communication with the coil stack, with first and second coils being selectively, electrically actuatable to generate relative movement between the coil stack and the magnet array both in-plane and out-of-plane. In various embodiments, a plurality of the actuators are integrally coupled to a microfabricated compliant mechanism to provide a high bandwidth, six degree of freedom nanopositioner.

The embodiment of the invention provides a soft robot system which is applicable to detection operation of complex environments and unknown fields, based on SMA, self-feedback and SSMA driving, combines external feedback, and matches soft joints and rigid joints. The modules namely an SSMAs driver element module, a flexible mechanism module and foot SMA driver modules are provided, wherein electric current flowing through SSMAs is adopted to control the telescopic length of the SSMAs so as to control the integral contraction of the robot; the parallel structure of SMA and SSMA realizes SMA self-feedback and the external feedback of the SSMA, so that the accurate control on the soft robot is realized; an external 3D shell is used for connecting the front rigid part with the rear rigid part of the robot, so that the soft robot system has better flexibility; a square spring supports a flexible silica gel shell to provide restoring force and other power; two groups of SMA driver modules in front of and at back of each foot structure are controlled respectively, so that the feet motion is realized, and the motion of the robot is realized along with other units.

global stress constrained topology optimization method for compliant mechanisms based on K-S function is presented. The method comprises the following steps: (1) defining a design domain and initializing design variables; (2) punishing the stiffness of the structural element and obtaining the displacement and stress of the structure by the finite element method; (3) Using K-The S function condenses the local stress constraints of all elements into a global maximum stress constraint. (4) sloving Sensitivity of cross-strain energy objective function, sensitivity of volume and maximum stress constraint; 5) modifying that sensitivity of the sensitivity filtering technology; (6) Moving asymptotic algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem, and the optimal topology is obtained by iterating until the convergence criterion is satisfied. The S-function condenses the large number of constraints caused by the stresses in all elements into a global constraint, which greatly improves the computational efficiency. The topology optimization method of the invention enables the compliant mechanism configuration to avoid the hinge-like structure, meets the strength requirements, and alleviates the stress concentration phenomenon.

The invention discloses a pilot-operated type water hydraulic pressure digital proportional direction valve, which comprises a main valve and two pilot valves, wherein the pilot valves are positioned on the left side and the right side of the main valve respectively and are arranged on the main valve through an end face in a matching way; each pilot valve comprises a variable liquid resistor and a fixed liquid resistor which is connected in series with the variable liquid resistor; a control port communicated with the end face of a valve core of the main valve is positioned between the variable liquid resistor and the fixed liquid resistor; and the pressure of the control port can be changed by changing the resistance value of the variable liquid resistor so as to control the valve core of the main valve and control the direction and the flow rate of a liquid flow. In the invention, pulse code modulation (PCM) pilot control is adopted, so that the proportional direction valve can be simply and reliably controlled, and has high precision, high frequency and long service life; and the main valve has high flow rate. The pilot valves consist of a switching valve and a damping hole, have low leakage, high pollution resistance and high interference resistance and can be used in a marine environment containing a large number of solid impurities. The valve cores of the pilot valves are driven through piezoelectric ceramics, perform amplification displacement through a compliant mechanism and have simple driving mechanism structures, quick response and long service life.

The invention belongs to the field of a compliant mechanism and relates to a zero-pivot and large-corner crossed reed type flexible hinge. The zero-pivot and large-corner crossed reed type flexible hinge at least comprises a left external rotary part (1), a right external rotary part (2), a rigid middle part (3), a left crossed reed (4) and a right crossed reed (5), wherein the left crossed reed (4) and the right crossed reed (5) are arranged in a manner that crossed lines are collinear; the reed arraying manner of the right crossed reed (5) and the reed arraying manner of the left crossed reed (4) are symmetrical along the crossed lines; the upper end or the lower end of the left crossed reed (4) is connected with the left external rotary part (1), and the lower end or the upper end of the left crossed reed (4) is connected with the rigid middle part (3); the upper end or the lower end of the right crossed reed (5) is connected with the right external rotary part (2), and the lower end or the upper end of the right crossed reed (5) is connected with the rigid middle part (3); the left external rotary part (1) and the rigid middle part (3) are connected through the left crossed reed (4) to form a left flexible hinge; the right external rotary part (2) and the rigid middle part (3) are connected through the right crossed reed (5) to form a right flexible hinge; and ideal rotary central shafts of the left flexible hinge and the right flexible hinge are coaxial.

A laser resonator is provided that includes a cavity bounded by an end mirror and output coupler, and one or more gain media between the end mirror and output coupler. The laser resonator also includes a modal corrector mirror between the end mirror and output coupler. The modal corrector mirror includes a controllable-profile faceplate including an optically-treated front surface, and an array of static actuators. Each static actuator includes an adjustable element, and a compliant mechanism located between the adjustable element and faceplate. The adjustable element is configured to exert a selectable, localized push-pull force on the faceplate via the compliant mechanism, and the compliant mechanism is configured to scale the respective force.

The invention discloses a space micro-gripper based on compliant mechanisms. The space micro-gripper comprises plane gripping branch chains with a symmetric structure and microprobes. Five pairs of symmetric circular flexible hinges are adopted in the gripping branch chains to achieve two stages of amplification of input displacement of the space micro-gripper, wherein three pairs of flexible hinges are symmetrically distributed on the two sides to achieve the first stage of amplification of input displacement, and the other two pairs of flexible hinges are used for achieving the second stage of amplification. A clamping groove structure is adopted for perpendicularly and symmetrically assembling the two gripping branch chains in a cross form, the two gripping branch chains are connected together in the manner of nesting an upper groove and a lower groove so that the drive positions of the two gripping branch chains can be the same, and the two gripping branch chains are driven by one driver at the same time. Four gripping arms of the two gripping branch chains are each provided with one corresponding microprobe, the microprobes are sleeved with the gripping branch chains in a threaded connection manner so that the elongation of the microprobes can be adjusted, and adjustability of the size of a gripping opening is achieved. The four microprobes are symmetrically arranged to form the square space gripping opening, and when gripped objects are in four-point contact, objects in irregular shapes can be gripped. The designed space micro-gripper can be used for the fields of bioengineering, micro electro mechanical systems, nanoscale science and technology, optical engineering and the like.

The invention relates to a variable camber wing trailing edge based on a compliant mechanism. The variable camber wing trailing edge based on the compliant mechanism is fixed at the rear end of a wingand provided with an elastic upper trailing edge skin and an elastic lower trailing edge skin. The trailing edge upper skin is fixed to a wing upper skin; and the trailing edge lower skin can retractinto a wing lower skin. An upper surface skin and a lower surface skin are connected by using a compliant driving mechanism; a connecting rod mechanism is additionally arranged between two points, with invariable distance, of the wing upper and lower skins before and after the deformation of a wing trailing edge to restrict the shape of the wing in the deformation process. Under the driving of adriving motor 1, the variable camber wing trailing edge based on the compliant mechanism enable a driving force to act upon the trailing edge skins by using the compliant mechanism so as to drive thetrailing edge upper skin to be bent downwards; and under the action of a driving motor 2, the trailing edge lower skin of the wing is driven to retract into the wing and is bent downwards. Through theadoption of two driving devices, the flexible trailing edge is guided to deform so as to change the aerodynamic performance of the wing.

The invention discloses a light beam precision pointing device based on a resolution multiplied compliant mechanism, comprising a mirror bracket component, a driving mechanism and a control mechanism. The mirror bracket component is connected with the driving mechanism through the resolution multiplied compliant mechanism, the resolution multiplied compliant mechanism comprises a base and a flexible hinge fixed on the base and the mirror bracket component is fixed at the top of the flexible hinge; the driving mechanism comprises two drive motors used for pushing the flexible hinge and fixed on the base and the two drive motors are symmetrically arranged at two sides of the lower part of the flexible hinge. The invention has the advantages of compact structure, convenient processing, simple assembling, no friction loss, no movement clearance, no need for lubrication, high locating precision, network control, simple and convenient use, high reliability, strong adaptability and wide application range.

The invention discloses a 3-PRR micro-displacement platform based on a symmetrical variable cross-section compliant mechanism, wherein three micro-displacement driving devices are all mounted on a fixed platform; three branch chains connecting a movable platform with the fixed platform are arranged evenly; and in each branch chain, a lever amplification mechanism is connected with the fixed platform through a flexible hinge and a symmetrical trapezoidal compliant mechanism is connected with the lever amplification mechanism through the flexible hinge. One end of the symmetrical folding leaf spring type compliant mechanism is connected with the lever amplification mechanism through the flexible hinge, while the other of the symmetrical folding leaf spring type compliant mechanism is connected with a rigid connecting rod through the flexible hinge; the rigid connecting rod is connected with the movable platform through the flexible hinge; and the movable platform is capable of realizing planar three-freedom degree micro-motion. The symmetrical trapezoidal compliant mechanism of the 3-PRR micro-displacement platform is capable of avoiding incomplete contact of the driving devices when the elastic resistance is as low as possible; as a result, the motion accuracy is improved; and due to the amplification function of the lever amplification mechanism of the 3-PRR micro-displacement platform and the low resistance feature of the symmetrical folding leaf spring type compliant mechanism, large stroke output of the micro-displacement platform can be realized.

The invention discloses a piezoelectric valveless micropump suction cup based on a parallel connection compliant mechanism. The piezoelectric valveless micropump suction cup based on the parallel connection compliant mechanism comprises a monocrystalline silicon substrate, a copper-based composite film, the compliant mechanism and a piezoelectric stack driver. The compliant mechanism is provided with a deformation displacement input part, a deformation displacement output part and a locating groove. The piezoelectric stack driver is fixedly clamped at a hollowed-out position in the upper portion of the deformation displacement input part and is closely attached to the deformation displacement input part. The copper-based composite film located on the upper layer and the monocrystalline silicon substrate located on the lower layer are bonded together and assembled through epoxy structure bonding glue to form a thin film micropump. The thin film micropump is clamped into the locating groove of the compliant mechanism and is sealed in a bonding mode. The lower end face of the deformation displacement output part is attached to the upper plane of the copper-based composite film in a bonding mode. The compliant mechanism amplifies unidirectional deformation displacement generated after the piezoelectric stack driver is powered on, and then transmits the unidirectional deformation displacement to the copper-based composite film to drive the thin film micropump to operate, gas in an adsorption cavity formed in the lower portion of the monocrystalline silicon substrate is extracted, and negative pressure of the suction cup is generated. The piezoelectric valveless micropump suction cup based on the parallel connection compliant mechanism is small in size, light in weight, free of noise, and capable of being used as an adsorption device of a wall-climbing robot.

A comb-tooth-shaped capacitor is a common structural type of a micro-actuator and a micro-sensor of MEMS devices. Gaps between teeth of the comb-tooth-shaped capacitor are only several micrometers, and a gap between a positive plate and a negative plate needs to be fine controlled. The invention provides a comb-tooth capacitor accurate assembly method based on a bi-stable state compliant mechanism. The comb-tooth capacitor accurate assembly method based on the bi-stable state compliant mechanism can improve fine control of the gap between the positive plate and the negative plate of the comb-tooth-shaped capacitor, so that a batch of MEMS devices with the same structure have the same and estimable capacitance, and uniformity of performance of the static MEMS devices at the time of lot manufacturing is improved.

The invention relates to a pneumatic serial-connection flexible hinge multi-finger paw of a compliant mechanism. The multi-finger paw consists of a palm and three flexible fingers, and the palm has a rectangular structure and a hexagonal structure; the structure of each flexible finger is identical, and each flexible finger structure mainly consists of an internal guide air cylinder and a serial-connection flexible hinge; the multi-finger paw is driven by an air cylinder to produce a grasping force, the multi-finger paw is applied to a fragile object or used for grasping a specially-shaped object with a varied shape and varied size; and the flexible finger of the multi-finger paw is a compliant mechanism, and the serial-connection flexible hinge is a deformation element of the compliant mechanism. The pneumatic serial-connection flexible hinge multi-finger paw has the characteristics that: a good flexible degree of freedom and good buffering performance can be realized for an outer load, and the flexible adaptability is good. The pneumatic serial-connection flexible hinge multi-finger paw belongs to the technical field of the robot and mechatronics; and the pneumatic serial-connection flexible hinge multi-finger paw is connected with a robot main body and particularly suitable for the production and logistics field such as the grasping, sorting and packaging of food, agricultural products and light products.

Docking stations that can include a durable, movable plug connector are provided. For example, the plug connector can rotate and retract into or extend out of an opening of the docking station housing, thereby reducing the likelihood of breakage caused by misuse. A pivoting retraction mechanism can be rotatably coupled to the plug connector to allow the plug connector to be movable. The retraction mechanism can be a compliant mechanism that is formed from a single piece of material. The plug connector can be biased in a first position by a biasing element that also returns the plug connector to the first position after moving. The opening in the docking station that accommodates the plug connector's full range of motion may only be slightly larger than the plug connector.

The invention relates to a static microrelay based on a bistable compliant mechanism, belonging to static relays used in a micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS). Bistable fully-compliant beams of the static microrelay adopt two compliant beams, wherein one end of the left compliant beam is fixed on a left insulated anchor point, and the other end of the left compliant beam is fixed on a member; one end of the right compliant beam is fixed on a right insulated anchor point, and the other end of the right compliant beam is also fixed on the member; under the voltage drive, a movable comb tooth drives the bistable fully-compliant beams to transversely move and rapidly overturn to a second stable position; a movable contact is in bridging connection with a left fixed contact and a right fixed contact which are fixed on a lower insulated anchor point so as to switch a circuit on; and the relay is rapidly skipped to return to a first stable position when an aelotropic driving voltage is applied. The static microrelay substitutes a traditional linear elasticity structure by adopting the bistable compliant mechanism so as to improve the response speed and the stable holding capacity and has the characteristics of simple mechanism, short-distance drive, low energy consumption and strong anti-jamming capacity.

The invention belongs to the field of compliant mechanisms and relates to a fully compliant tetra-stable mechanism and an implementation method thereof. The fully compliant tetra-stable mechanism comprises a compliant bistable mechanism and a compliant fixed guide mechanism, wherein the compliant bistable mechanism is a bistable compliant mechanism; the compliant fixed guide mechanism is provided with a guide block; the upper and lower ends of the guide block are respectively connected with two groups of compliant beams, totally four groups of compliant beams; the lower ends of the two groups of compliant beams at the lower end of the guide block are fixed and the upper ends of the two groups of compliant beams at the upper end of the guide block are connected with a shuttle of the compliant bistable mechanism. The implementation method of the tetra-stable mechanism is formed according to the fully compliant tetra-stable mechanism. The fully compliant tetra-stable mechanism has little energy consumption, simple structure, low cost, good stability and high repeatability precision and dispenses with external force or friction effect and assembly.

The invention discloses a flexible mechanism with a negative poisson ratio characteristic. The flexible mechanism is formed by stacking a plurality of same flexible units, wherein the flexible units are symmetrical flexible Sarrus mechanisms. The flexible mechanism is characterized by comprising two same isosceles trapezoid flat plates and four same rectangular flat plates, wherein the six flat plates are connected through notch type flexible hinges to form a single-degree-of-freedom spatial six-rod flexible mechanism; the six flat plates are a first isosceles trapezoid plate, a second isosceles trapezoid plate, a first rectangular plate, a second rectangular plate, a third rectangular plate and a fourth rectangular plate respectively; the notch type flexible hinges are arranged on opposite sides of each flat plate; the flexible units are periodically stacked through a shared flat plate to form a hollow cylindrical flexible mechanism; when the flexible mechanism is subjected to pressure in the axis direction of a cylinder, the mechanism generates axis shrinkage and radial shrinkage; when the flexible mechanism is subjected to tension in the axis direction of the cylinder, the flexible mechanism generates axis extension and radial extension; and the flexible mechanism can be used in a precise snakelike robot to adjust the size of the robot.