Joint restraint system for an animated figure
AssigneeUniversal City Studios LLC
InventorsTimothy Fitzgerald Garnier, Aaron Chandler Jeromin, Akiva Meir Krauthamer, Eric Ross Boxer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An animated figure includes an appendage having a joint. The animated figure also includes a joint restraint device coupled to the appendage. The joint restraint device includes a membrane defining an internal volume and granules disposed within the internal volume. Additionally, the joint restraint device is configured to compact the granules against each other to restrain motion of the joint in response to a vacuum pressure applied to the membrane.
Claims20
An animated figure, comprising:
- an appendage comprising a joint;
- and
- a joint restraint device coupled to the appendage, the joint restraint device comprising a membrane defining an internal volume and a plurality of granules disposed within the internal volume, wherein the joint restraint device is configured to compact the plurality of granules against each other to restrain motion of the joint in response to a vacuum pressure applied to the membrane.
A joint restraint device for an animated figure, the joint restraint device comprising:
- a membrane defining an internal volume;
- a conduit configured to fluidly couple the internal volume to a vacuum source;
- a valve configured to selectively open an air flow path between the internal volume and the vacuum source via the conduit;
- and
- a plurality of granules disposed within the internal volume of the membrane, wherein the plurality of granules is configured to compact against each other to form a relatively rigid body in response to a vacuum pressure applied to the internal volume.
An appendage control system for an animated figure, the appendage control system comprising:
- a plurality of actuators, wherein each actuator of the plurality of actuators is configured to move a respective appendage relative to a respective joint of the animated figure;
- a plurality of joint restraint devices, wherein each joint restraint device of the plurality of joint restraint devices comprises:
- a resilient membrane defining an internal volume;
- and
- a plurality of granules disposed within the internal volume, wherein the plurality of granules is configured to form a relatively rigid body around a respective joint of the plurality of joints in response to a vacuum pressure applied to the internal volume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.