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US 6,679,055 B1Granted
Electrothermal quadmorph microactuator
AssigneeZyvex Corporation
InventorMatthew D. Ellis
Life of this patent
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AssigneeZyvex Corporation
InventorMatthew D. Ellis
Estimating the term…
In a microactuator having substantially parallel beams, the free ends of the beams are detached from the substrate and rigidly interconnected with one another. Differential thermal expansion of the beams causes deflection of the free ends as a unit laterally away from the thermally expanded beam. Depending on the choice of thermally expanded beam, the deflection can be either in or out of the plane parallel to the substrate. Selective heating is achieved for example by passing electric current through a pair of beams in series. Each beam has an independent electrical contact pad at the base end, and all beams are connected together electrically at the free end. A voltage is applied across the selected beam pads, whereas the non-selected beam pads are disconnected. Multiple microactuators can be combined cooperatively, e.g., to move a stage in a plurality of directions.
A system operable to provide independently controllable movement in a plurality of directions, said system comprising:
A method operable to provide independently controllable movement in a plurality of directions, said method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.