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US 5,309,056 AGranted
Entropic electrothermal actuator with walking feet
AssigneeRockwell International Corporation
InventorGordon W. Culp
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The entropic echinoid 2 applies force to an object 6 with the cummulative effect of myriad feet 8 activated by fluid expansion pulses from electrical resistance heaters 30. Each heater lying in a fluid filed socket 10 of a substrate 4 and activated by a signal from a corresponding foot position sensing capacitor 26. The entropic echinoid is useful in high temperature environments for motors, actuators, bearings and clutches.
Claims32
An electrothermal actuator comprising,
- a substrate having a plurality of sockets containing fluid,
- an object bounding the fluid proximate the sockets,
- each socket containing a foot, the foot bounded by the socket and the object,
- each socket having at least one heater for creating pressure pulses in the fluid to position the foot relative the object,
- a means of activating the heaters thereby moving the object.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.