Apparatus for branched scissor linkage and associated auxetic mechanisms
AssigneeThe Board of Regents for Oklahoma State University
InventorsHENRY SEGERMAN, WILLIAM SEGERMAN
Life of this patent
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Abstract
According to one embodiment, there is taught herein a family of “branched” variants of the traditional scissor mechanism, in which each stage is formed from more than two arms, joined at their midpoints by a branched rivet. In one embodiment arms in adjacent stages are joined at their endpoints with joints that allow for rotation in a single plane. Each resulting mechanism has one degree of freedom in its motion. It deploys from a compact, collapsed state to an extended state. One embodiment is a grasping member that is mechanically coupled to a scissor mechanism so that when scissor mechanism is collapsed the grasping member is open. Then, when the scissor mechanism is extended the grasping member becomes closed.
Claims16
A scissor mechanism, comprising:
- (a) a branched rivet containing three or more radially projecting coplanar protrusions spaced apart around a perimeter of said branched rivet;
- and
- (b) at least three equal length arms, each of said arms being rotatably mounted on one of said protrusions, and each of said arms being rotatable about said protrusion in a single plane.
A scissor mechanism, comprising:
- (a) a first branched rivet containing three or more radially projecting coplanar first protrusions spaced apart around a perimeter of said branched rivet;
- (b) at least three equal length first arms, each of said first arms being rotatably mounted on one of said first protrusions, each of said first arms being rotatable about said first protrusion in a single plane, and each of first arms having an upper hinge component on a lower terminus thereof;
- (c) a second branched rivet containing three or more radially projecting coplanar second protrusions spaced apart around a perimeter of said second branched rivet, wherein a number of said second protrusions is equal to a number of said first protrusions;
- and
- (d) at least three equal length second arms, each of said second arms being rotatably mounted on one of said second protrusions, each of said second arms being rotatable about said second protrusion in a single plane, each of said second arms having a lower hinge component rotatably mated with one of said upper hinge components on said one of said first arms, each of said lower and upper hinge components being rotatable in a single plane.
A scissor mechanism, comprising:
- (a) a first branched rivet containing three or more radially projecting coplanar first protrusions spaced apart around a perimeter of said branched rivet;
- (b) at least three equal length first arms, each of said first arms being rotatably mounted on one of said first protrusions of said first arm, each of said first arms being rotatable about said first protrusion in a single plane,
- wherein a first one of said first arms is rotatably attached at an upper terminus to a first connector, and
- wherein a second one of said first arms is rotatably attached at an upper terminus to a second connector;
- (c) a second branched rivet containing three or more radially projecting coplanar second protrusions spaced apart around a perimeter of said second branched rivet, wherein a number of said second protrusions is equal to a number of said first protrusions;
- and
- (d) at least three equal length second arms, each of said second arms being rotatably mounted on one of said second protrusions, each of said second arms being rotatable about said second protrusion in a single plane,
- wherein a first one of said second arms is rotatably attached at an upper terminus to said first connector;
- and
- wherein a second one of said second arms is rotatably attached at an upper terminus to said second connector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.