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US 9,157,551 B2Granted
Reconfigurable microactuator and method of configuring same
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorsZhishan Hua, Erdogan Gulari, Mark A. Burns, Rohit Pal, Onnop Srivannavit
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microactuator may be configured by activating a source of electromagnetic radiation to heat and melt a selected set of phase-change plugs embedded in a substrate of the microactuator, pressurizing a common pressure chamber adjacent to each of the plugs to deform the melted plugs, and deactivating the source of electromagnetic radiation to cool and solidify the melted plugs.
Claims7
A reconfigurable latchable microactuator system comprising:
- a substrate assembly having opposing outer surfaces and including a substrate, a plurality of actuation cells having opposing end surfaces and being embedded in the substrate, and a membrane defining one of the outer surfaces and being arranged to cover one of the end surfaces of each of the actuation cells, each of the actuation cells being configured to melt if heated by a source of electromagnetic radiation;
- and
- a helmet chip operatively arranged with the substrate assembly, including the membrane, to form a common pressure chamber adjacent to the actuation cells, each of the actuation cells being further configured to deform when melted if subjected to pressure via the pressure chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.