Back to results
US 12,394,404 B2Granted
System and method for non-contact manipulation of objects via ultrasonic levitation
AssigneeUniversity of Washington
InventorsJoshua R. Smith, Jared Nakahara, Boling Yang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
System and method for non-contact manipulation of objects via ultrasonic levitation are presented herein. In one embodiment, a method for a non-contact manipulation of an object includes: generating ultrasound field by an array of ultrasound transducers; lifting the object off a dispensing device by the ultrasound field; and levitating the object by the ultrasound field.
Claims21
A method for a non-contact manipulation of an object, the method comprising:
- lifting an object off a solid surface of a dispensing device by activating a first array of ultrasound transducers and a second array of ultrasound transducers, wherein the first array of ultrasound transducers and the second array of ultrasound transducers are vertically stacked, and wherein, when activated, the first array of ultrasound transducers and the second array of ultrasound transducers generate an ultrasound field;
- after lifting the object, positioning the object between the first array of ultrasound transducers and the second array of ultrasound transducers;
- and
- levitating the object by controlling the ultrasound field.
1 more element
A device for non-contact manipulation of an object, comprising:
- a first array of ultrasound transducers configured for generating an ultrasound field;
- a second array of ultrasound transducers configured for generating the ultrasound field, wherein the first array of ultrasound transducers and the second array of ultrasound transducers are vertically stacked;
- and
- a controller configured to generate phase delay signals for the first and second arrays of ultrasound transducers;
- wherein the ultrasound field is configured for:
- lifting the object off a solid surface of a dispensing device by activating the first array of ultrasound transducers and the second array of ultrasound transducers,
- after lifting the object, positioning the object between the first array of ultrasound transducers and the second array of ultrasound transducers, and
- levitating the object by the ultrasound field.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.