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AssigneeStretchsense Limited
InventorsBenjamin Marc O'Brien, Todd Alan Gisby, Antoni Edward Harbuz, Samuel Schlatter
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In one aspect the invention provides a method of fabricating a laminate of flexible and compliant layers of material, such as used to provide a dielectric elastomer sensor. According to the method a flexible and compliant layer of material which is affixed to a substrate to avoid strain during processing is bonded to another layer of flexible and compliant material and released from the substrate to form a laminate. The layer of flexible and compliant material affixed to the substrate may be inspected prior to bonding.
A dielectric elastomer device operable to deform in operation to vary one or more electrical characteristics to allow sensing of deformation by sensing of the electrical characteristics of the device, the device comprising two or more layers of material bonded together over one or more bonding regions on the layers, wherein the layers are bonded while one or more of the layers was releasably affixed to a substrate to prevent deformation prior to bonding.
A product operable to provide one or more layers operable to be used in the manufacturing of dielectric elastomer devices, the product comprising one or more layers of electrically conductive elastomer affixed to a substrate, the layer of elastomer being operable to comply in the operation of the manufactured dielectric elastomer device to deform to allow one or more electrical characteristics of the manufactured device to vary for monitoring by an electrical circuit to monitor stretch in the device, the first layer being releasable from the substrate to allow the substrate to be removed from the layer of material after the layer is bonded to another layer of material, whereby the layer of elastomer device is protected by the substrate from deforming prior to bonding with the other layer of elastomer.
A method of fabricating a laminate device comprising first and second layers of material the method comprising the steps of the first layer being provided on a substrate, bonded to the second layer to form the laminate, and released from the substrate.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.