Morphable body
AssigneesToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Georgia Tech Research Corporation
InventorsYuyang Song, Masato Tanaka, Mingzhe Li, Hang Qi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A body can be configured to be selectively morphable. One or more body support members can be operatively connected to an outer surface of the body. The one or more body support members can be arranged in a pattern to define at least one morphing region. A contracting member (e.g., a shape memory polymer) can be operatively connected to the outer surface of the body. When activated, the contracting member can contract, which can cause the body to morph (e.g., bend) from a non-activated configuration into an activated configuration.
Claims20
A morphable body comprising:
- a body, the body being inflatable;
- and
- one or more body support members operatively connected to the body, the one or more body support members being arranged in a first pattern to define a morphing region and in a second pattern to define a non-morphing region, the first pattern including a plurality of linear segments that are substantially parallel to each other, the second pattern including a grid pattern with a first plurality of linear segments and a second plurality of linear segments that are transverse to each other;
- and
- a contracting member operatively connected to the body, the contracting member being a shape memory material,
- when activated, the contracting member contracts to cause the body to morph from a non-activated configuration into an activated configuration, and
- when subsequently deactivated, the contracting member maintains the activated configuration of the body.
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A system comprising:
- a morphable body including:
- a body, the body being inflatable;
- one or more-body support members operatively connected to the body, the one or more body support members being arranged in a pattern to define a morphing region;
- and
- a contracting member operatively connected to the body, when activated, the contracting member contracts to cause the body to morph from a non-activated configuration into an activated configuration, the contracting member being a shape memory material;
- and
- a processor operatively connected to selectively activate and deactivate the contracting member, the processor being configured to:
- cause the contracting member to be activated;
- and
- cause the contracting member to be deactivated, the activated configuration of the body being maintained by the contracting member.
A method of controlling a morphable body, the morphable body including a body, one or more body support members operatively connected to the body, and a contracting member operatively connected to the body, the method including:
- activating the contracting member such that the contracting member contracts to cause the body to morph from a non-activated configuration into an activated configuration;
- and
- deactivating the contracting member such that the activated configuration of the body is maintained by the contracting member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.