Flexure device

A flexure device, comprising:

• a first plurality of flexure units and a second plurality of flexure units coupled to one another in series along an axis, each flexure unit having
• a coupler body,
• a flexure body at least partially surrounding the coupler body, and
• a single flexible member coupling the flexure body and the coupler body to one another, wherein the single flexible member is operable to facilitate relative rotational movement between the flexure body and the coupler body about the axis, and
• wherein the coupler bodies of the first and second pluralities of flexure units are fixedly coupled to one another, the flexure bodies of the first plurality of flexure units are fixedly coupled to one another, and the flexure bodies of the second plurality of flexure units are fixedly coupled to one another,
• such that the flexure bodies of the first plurality of flexure units are rotatable relative to the coupler bodies of the first and second pluralities of flexure units about the axis, and the flexure bodies of the second plurality of flexure units are rotatable relative to the coupler bodies of the first and second pluralities of flexure units about the axis to facilitate rotation of the flexure bodies of the first plurality of flexure units relative to the flexure bodies of the second plurality of flexure units about the axis.

A multi-axis flexure device, comprising:

• a first support base;
• a second support base;
• a central coupler;
• a first flexure device rotatably coupling the first support base and the central coupler to one another to facilitate rotation about a first axis;
• and
• a second flexure device rotatably coupling the second support base and the central coupler to one another to facilitate rotation about a second axis,
• each flexure device comprising a first flexure comprising a flexible member, a second flexure comprising a flexible member, and a flexure coupler coupled to the first and second flexures,
• wherein the first flexure of the first flexure device is coupled to the first support base to facilitate relative rotation between the first support base and the flexure coupler of the first flexure device about the first axis, and the second flexure of the first flexure device is coupled to the central coupler to facilitate relative rotation between the central coupler and the flexure coupler of the first flexure device about the first axis,
• wherein the first flexure of the second flexure device is coupled to the second support base to facilitate relative rotation between the second support base and the flexure coupler of the second flexure device about the second axis, and the second flexure of the second flexure device is coupled to the central coupler to facilitate relative rotation between the central coupler and the flexure coupler of the second flexure device about the second axis, and
• wherein the flexure coupler comprises a plurality of coupler bodies, and each flexible member is coupled to one of the plurality of coupler bodies and coupled to one of a plurality of flexure bodies to form a flexure unit, the flexure bodies of the first flexure device coupling the first flexure device to the first support base and the central coupler, and the flexure bodies of the second flexure device coupling the second flexure device to the second support base and the central coupler.

A multi-axis flexure device, comprising:

• a first support base;
• a second support base;
• a central coupler;
• a first flexure device rotatably coupling the first support base and the central coupler to one another to facilitate rotation about a first axis;
• a second flexure device rotatably coupling the second support base and the central coupler to one another to facilitate rotation about a second axis, wherein each of the first and second flexure devices comprises a plurality of first flexures, a plurality of second flexures, and a plurality of flexure couplers coupled to the first and second flexures;
• a first bridge connector coupled between two of the plurality of flexure couplers of the first flexure device to separate at least two of the plurality of first flexures of the first flexure device from one another along the first axis;
• and
• a second bridge connector coupled between two of the plurality of flexure couplers of the second flexure device to separate at least two of the plurality of first flexures of the second flexure device from one another along the second axis;
• wherein the first flexure of the first flexure device is coupled to the first support base to facilitate relative rotation between the first support base and the flexure coupler of the first flexure device about the first axis, and the second flexure of the first flexure device is coupled to the central coupler to facilitate relative rotation between the central coupler and the flexure coupler of the first flexure device about the first axis, and
• wherein the first flexure of the second flexure device is coupled to the second support base to facilitate relative rotation between the second support base and the flexure coupler of the second flexure device about the second axis, and the second flexure of the second flexure device is coupled to the central coupler to facilitate relative rotation between the central coupler and the flexure coupler of the second flexure device about the second axis.

A flexure unit, comprising:

• a coupler body;
• a flexure body at least partially surrounding the coupler body;
• and
• a single flexible member coupling the flexure body and the coupler body to one another, wherein the flexible member is operable to facilitate relative rotational movement between the flexure body and the coupler body about an axis;
• wherein the coupler body comprises one or more openings configured to facilitate coupling the flexure unit to another flexure unit.