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US 9,764,220 B2Granted
Jamming methods and apparatus
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsSteven Keating, Neri Oxman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reconfigurable device comprises flexible bladder that encloses a jammable material. The geometry of the device can be altered by unjamming the jammable material (making it flexible), changing the shape of the device while it is flexible, and then jamming the jammable material (making it rigid). In some applications of this invention, a joint connects rigid arms. The ends of the rigid arms are enclosed in the bladder. By varying the stiffness of the jammable material in the bladder, the stiffness of the joint can be controlled.
Claims7
A joint that comprises, in combination:
- (a) a first rigid structural member and a second rigid structural member;
- (b) a jammable material, the rigidity of which jammable material depends on the density of the jammable material, such that the jammable material becomes more rigid as the density of the jammable material increases in response to an increase in pressure;
- (c) a flexible container;
- and
- (d) means for changing the density of the jammable material sufficiently to vary the rigidity of the jammable material;
- wherein
- (i) the jammable material is positioned inside the flexible container,
- (ii) an end of the first rigid structural member is inside the flexible container and is in direct physical contact with the jammable material, and
- (iii) an end of the second rigid structural member is inside the flexible container and is in direct physical contact with the jammable material.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.