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US 2019/0168393 A1Published application
Robotic Finger Shape Recovery
AssigneeX Development LLC
InventorMarc Strauss
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robotic finger with a stiffening member is provided that includes a front facing member for gripping and a back end member that supports the front facing member. The front facing member is conformable about a target object and includes the stiffening member that alleviates bendset by returning the front facing member to an initial state when the front facing member is no longer conformed about the target object.
Claims20
A robotic finger comprising:
- a first member comprising a plurality of rigid sections that are rotatably connected end-to-end through respective first joints;
- a second member comprising:
- a spine comprising a substrate material and at least one stiffening member affixed to the substrate material, wherein the spine is configured to deform from an initial shape in response to an external force, and wherein the at least one stiffening member is configured to return the spine to the initial shape upon removal of the external force, and
- a plurality of flexible sections along the spine that are connected end-to-end at respective second joints;
- and
- a plurality of linkages connecting the first member and the second member so as to align the plurality of flexible sections with the plurality of rigid sections side-by-side, wherein a respective linkage connects a respective first joint of the first member to a respective second joint of the second member.
3 more elements
A deformable robotic finger element comprising:
- a spine comprising a substrate material and at least one stiffening member affixed to the substrate material, wherein the spine is configured to deform from an initial shape and conform about a target object, wherein the at least one stiffening member is configured to return the spine to the initial shape when the deformable robotic finger element is not conformed about a target object, and
- wherein the stiffening member is an elastic solid material,
- the deformable robotic finger element further comprising a compliant material over-molded onto the spine such that the compliant material extends from one end of the spine to an opposite end of the spine.
(canceled)
A robotic finger comprising:
- a first member comprising a plurality of rigid sections that are rotatably connected end-to-end through respective first joints;
- a second member comprising:
- a spine comprising a substrate material and at least one spring steel rod embedded in the substrate material, wherein the spine is configured to deform from an initial shape in response to an external force, and wherein the at least one spring steel rod is configured to return the spine to the initial shape upon removal of the external force, and
- a plurality of flexible sections along the spine that are connected end-to-end at respective second joints, wherein each of the plurality of flexible sections comprise a material over-molded onto the substrate material;
- and
- a plurality of linkages connecting the first member and the second member so as to align the plurality of flexible sections with the plurality of rigid sections side-by-side, wherein a respective linkage connects a respective first joint of the first member to a respective second joint of the second member.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.