Disk with adjustable outer diameter
AssigneeInventions, Plus LLC
InventorsArthur Wells, Kyle McGann, John Parmigiani
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus includes a hub and multiple thin, flat, deformable panels. Each panel is a trapezoid with parallel base and top. The panels are foldably connected together base-to-top to form a closed ring. A proximal end portion side of each panel is attached the hub. A proximal portion of each panel is wound around the hub; a distal portion of each panel extends tangentially away from the hub. Proximal portions of each panel winding around the hub decreases an apparatus outer diameter; proximal portions of each panel unwinding from around the hub increases the apparatus outer diameter.
Claims24
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) a round hub characterized by a hub outer diameter DH;
- and
- (b) a plurality of thin, flat, deformable panels, each panel having the shape of a trapezoid with a base, a top parallel to the base, a proximal side, and a distal side, the panels being foldably connected together base-to-top to form a closed ring, a proximal end portion of each panel being attached to an outer circumferential surface of the hub, a proximal portion of each panel being wound around the hub and a distal portion of each panel extending tangentially away from the hub,
- (c) the apparatus being movable between a retracted arrangement and an expanded arrangement through intermediate arrangements therebetween, length of the proximal portion of each panel that is wound around the hub varying between a maximum wound length in the retracted arrangement and a minimum wound length in the expanded arrangement, so that an apparatus outer diameter DA across the hub and panels can vary from a minimum diameter DR in the retracted arrangement through intermediate diameters to a maximum diameter DE in the expanded arrangement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.