Apparatus for moving a pair of opposing surfaces in response to an electrical activation
AssigneeViking Technologies, L.C.
InventorJeff Moler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for moving a pair of opposing surfaces in response to an electrical activation having a support including a rigid non-flexing portion, at least one pivotable arm portion extending from the rigid non-flexing portion, a pair of opposing surfaces with one opposing surface on the at least one pivotable arm portion for movement relative to one another, and a force transfer member operably positioned for driving the at least one pivotable arm portion in rotational movement. An actuator is operably engaged between the rigid portion and the force transfer member to drive the force transfer member in movement relative to the rigid portion to pivot the at least one pivotable arm portion in response to an electrical activation of the actuator.
Claims22
An apparatus for moving at least one of a pair of opposing surfaces in response to an electrical activation comprising:
- a support including a rigid non-flexing portion, at least one pivotable arm portion extending from the rigid portion, a pair of opposing surfaces with one opposing surface on the at least one pivotable arm portion for movement relative to one another, and a force transfer member operably positioned for driving the at least one pivotable arm portion in rotational movement;
- and
- an actuator operably engaged between the rigid portion and the force transfer member to drive the force transfer member relative to the rigid portion to pivot the at least one pivotable arm portion in response to an electrical activation of the actuator.
A method for optimizing hinge geometry comprising the steps of:
- developing preliminary geometry based on defined force and displacement requirements;
- performing two dimensional stress analysis to optimize orientation of hinge geometry;
- designing a three dimensional model of the optimized orientation of the hinge geometry;
- conducting finite element stress analysis on the three dimensional model to predict performance;
- analyzing separate curves for force versus displacement for a support and a piezoelectric actuator;
- identifying an intersection of the curves;
- determining if the intersection of the curves satisfies the predefined force and displacement requirements;
- if the intersection of the curves does not satisfy the predefined force and displacement requirements, returning to the developing step;
- if the intersection of the curves does satisfy the predefined force and displacement requirements, conducting finite element stress analysis of the three dimensional model using values corresponding to the intersection of the curves;
- determining if performance of the three dimensional model with finite element stress analysis using values corresponding to the intersection of the curves is verified against application requirements;
- and
- if performance is not verified, returning to the developing step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.