Artificial muscle assemblies comprising a reinforced housing

An artificial muscle assembly comprising:

• a plurality of artificial muscle arranged in a stack, each artificial muscle comprising:
• a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region, the housing including a first film layer and a second film layer, the first film layer comprising:
• an outer protective layer having an outer elasticity;
• a reinforcing layer provided on an inner surface of the outer protective layer, the reinforcing layer having a reinforcing elasticity greater than the outer elasticity of the outer protective layer;
• an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing and between the first film layer and the second film layer;
• and
• a dielectric fluid housed within the housing.

A method for actuating an artificial muscle assembly, the method comprising:

• generating a voltage using a power supply electrically coupled to an electrode pair of an artificial muscle, the artificial muscle comprising:
• a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region, the housing including a first film layer and a second film layer, the first film layer comprising:
• an outer protective layer having an outer elasticity;
• and
• a reinforcing layer provided on an inner surface of the outer protective layer, the reinforcing layer having a reinforcing elasticity greater than the outer elasticity of the outer protective layer;
• the electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing and between the first film layer and the second film layer;
• and
• a dielectric fluid housed within the housing;
• and
• applying the voltage to the electrode pair of the artificial muscle, thereby actuating the electrode pair from a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that the dielectric fluid is directed into the expandable fluid region of the housing and expands the expandable fluid region.