Systems and devices for absorbing vibrations and/or flexural waves acting upon a structure
AssigneesToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTomohiro Miwa, Miki Nakahara, Xiaoshi Su, Debasish Banerjee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are systems for absorbing and/or isolating vibrations and/or flexural waves acting upon a structure using scatterers. In one example, a scatterer includes a pair of supports separated from each other by a distance, a flexible material extending between the supports, and a mass disposed on the flexible material. The flexible material acts as a spring and damper in a mass-spring-damper system, while the mass acts as a mass in a mass-spring-damper system. This scatterer may also include the ability to be switched on/off by placing a member within a cavity defined between the supports and the flexible material.
Claims13
A scatterer comprising:
- a pair of supports separated from each other by a distance;
- a flexible material extending between the supports;
- a mass disposed on the flexible material;
- and
- a member configured to be selectively placed within a cavity defined between the pair of supports and the flexible material that prevents flexing of the flexible material when located within the cavity.
A system for absorbing a flexural wave acting on a structure, the system comprising:
- a pair of scatterers disposed on the structure and separated from each other by a separation distance;
- each of the scatterers comprise:
- a pair of supports;
- a flexible material extending between the pair of supports, a cavity being defined between the pair of supports and the flexible material;
- a mass connected to the flexible material;
- and
- a member configured to be selectively placed within the cavity that prevents flexing of the flexible material when located within the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.