Flexible drive unit and flexible drive

Abstract

The application discloses a flexible driving unit and a flexible driver, and belongs to the field of power-assisted equipment. The flexible driving unit comprises a gel layer, a flexible anode and a flexible cathode, and the gel layer is prepared from an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer. The flexible driving unit is of a laminated structure, the flexible anode, the gel layer and the flexible cathode are alternately and sequentially arranged in layers, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode or the flexible cathode. The flexible driving unit has the characteristics of great flexibility and small rigidity, which is beneficial to improving the wearing comfort of the power-assisted equipment. Moreover, the flexible driving unit only shows the expansion and contraction movement form in the surface direction of the gel layer, which is not only beneficial to increasing the movement strength of the flexible driving unit in the surface direction of the gel layer, but also makes the flexible driving unit applicable to the joint movement type power-assisted equipment or the rehabilitation training type power-assisted equipment, thereby improving the driving strength of the power-assisted equipment.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of assistive devices, in particular to a flexible driving unit and a flexible driver. BACKGROUND

[0002] An assistive device can assist to enhance human motion function. For example, a wearable assistive device is currently used to provide assistive force for human joint movement, so as to assist human movement, improve human load capacity, and relieve human physical fatigue.

[0003] In the related art, an assistive device can use a motor as a driver to provide driving force for the assistive device. However, the motor is heavy and has poor flexibility, which makes the wearing comfort of the assistive device poor. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is an electroactive polymer (EAP) that has the ability to realize bending movement, contraction movement, stretching movement and crawling movement under electrical stimulation. Polyvinyl chloride can be prepared into a polyvinyl chloride gel in combination with a plasticizer. A flexible driver with good flexibility can be prepared based on the polyvinyl chloride gel to improve the wearing comfort of the assistive device.

[0004] However, the flexible driver based on the polyvinyl chloride gel currently has small driving force in the direction of the surface of the polyvinyl chloride gel.

[0005] DISCLOSURE

[0006] In view of this, the present disclosure provides a flexible driving unit and a flexible driver, which can solve the above technical problems.

[0007] Specifically, the technical solutions include the following:

[0008] In one aspect, a flexible driving unit is provided, which includes: a gel layer, a flexible anode and a flexible cathode, the gel layer being prepared from an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer.

[0009] The flexible driving unit is of a laminated structure, the flexible anode, the gel layer and the flexible cathode are arranged in turn and alternately stacked, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode or the flexible cathode.

[0010] The flexible driving unit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is flexible and has small rigidity, so that when the flexible driving unit is used in a power-assisted device, the wearing comfort of the power-assisted device is improved, and the weight of the power-assisted device is reduced.

[0011] In particular, by increasing the number of gel layers in the flexible driving unit and controlling the same polarity of the electrodes in the top layer and the bottom layer of the flexible driving unit, the curling deformation of the flexible driving unit in the electric field towards the anode can be effectively prevented, that is, the curling deformation of the flexible driving unit will not occur when the voltage is loaded. The flexible driving unit only shows the expansion and contraction movement form in the surface direction of the gel layer, which not only facilitates to increase the movement strength of the flexible driving unit in the surface direction of the gel layer, but also makes the flexible driving unit suitable for joint movement type power-assisted devices or rehabilitation training type power-assisted devices, improves the driving strength of the power-assisted devices, and realizes efficient power assistance.

[0012] In some examples, the top layer and the bottom layer of the flexible driving unit are both flexible anodes, that is, the flexible anode / (gel layer / flexible cathode / gel layer / flexible anode) n is arranged in turn in the flexible driving unit, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, for example, n is an integer of 1-50.

[0013] In some examples, the top layer and the bottom layer of the flexible driving unit are both flexible cathodes, that is, the flexible cathode / (gel layer / flexible anode / gel layer / flexible cathode) n is arranged in turn in the flexible driving unit, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, for example, n is an integer of 1-50.

[0014] By increasing the number of gel layers in the flexible driving unit and controlling the same polarity of the electrodes in the top layer and the bottom layer of the flexible driving unit, the curling deformation of the flexible driving unit in the electric field can be effectively prevented, and at the same time, the driving force of the flexible driving unit is also improved.

[0015] In some possible implementations, the flexible driving unit further includes a flexible fiber layer located inside the gel layer, and the flexible fiber layer includes a plurality of flexible fibers parallel to each other.

[0016] For the flexible fiber layer, a plurality of flexible fibers contained therein are parallel to each other, so that the fiber lengths of the plurality of flexible fibers are all in the same direction, and the flexible fibers cannot be deformed in the fiber length direction, thereby achieving the purpose of preventing the flexible driving unit from being deformed in the fiber length direction.

[0017] For example, the plurality of flexible fibers are sequentially and spacedly distributed along the surface of the gel layer. For example, when the gel layer is in the shape of a rectangle, the plurality of flexible fibers can be sequentially and spacedly distributed along the length direction of the gel layer, and each flexible fiber extends through the width direction of the gel layer, so that the gel layer cannot be deformed in the width direction and can only be deformed in the length direction.

[0018] It can be seen that the design of the flexible fiber layer makes the deformation of the gel layer more in the specified direction in the plane, which is beneficial to making the deformation of the gel layer in the specified direction in the plane as large as possible, and is beneficial to the power assisting device to achieve more efficient and more accurate power assistance. In addition, the flexible fiber layer can also increase the mechanical properties of the flexible driving unit.

[0019] In some possible implementation manners, the thickness of the gel layer is 10 microns-150 microns.

[0020] The thickness of the flexible anode and the flexible cathode is 5 microns-50 microns.

[0021] In some possible implementation manners, the flexible driving unit further includes two first fixing members corresponding to two ends of the plurality of gel layers, respectively, and the first fixing member is connected to the end of the corresponding gel layer.

[0022] In some possible implementation manners, the first fixing member is a flexible clamp.

[0023] In order to ensure the wearing comfort of the flexible driving unit, the first fixing member is flexible, which makes the first fixing member not only be able to fix and constrain the plurality of gel layers, but also not affect the flexibility of the flexible driving unit.

[0024] In some possible implementation manners, the electroactive polymer includes at least one of polyvinyl chloride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, nylon 6, polyvinyl alcohol, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyacrylonitrile, and silicone resin.

[0025] The above-mentioned electroactive polymers are all electret materials, and can all generate electro-actuated deformation after gelation, which are used in the flexible driving unit involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Exemplarily, polyvinyl chloride is used as the electroactive polymer, which has the advantages of large strain, fast corresponding speed, wide working frequency band, moderate working voltage, light weight, etc. under the action of electric field, and has excellent application prospect in the application of the flexible driving unit.

[0026] The plasticizer includes at least one of di-n-butyl adipate, dimethylacetamide, diethyl sebacate, diethanolamine, dioctyl sebacate, dioctyl adipate, dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, and di(2-ethyl)hexyl phthalate.

[0027] The above-mentioned plasticizer can gel the above-mentioned electroactive polymer, and then obtain a soft gel layer. In particular, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, di-n-butyl adipate is used as the plasticizer, which is combined with polyvinyl chloride. Not only can polyvinyl chloride become softer to obtain excellent gel effect, but also can help to improve the dielectric constant of the formed gel layer, so that the electroactivity of the gel layer is stronger.

[0028] In some possible implementations, the material of the flexible anode and the flexible cathode includes at least one of a flexible composite conductive material, a carbon nanotube, carbon paste, and graphene.

[0029] On the other hand, another flexible driving unit is provided, which includes a gel layer, a flexible anode, and a flexible cathode, the gel layer is prepared by using an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer;

[0030] The flexible driving unit is in a winding type structure, the gel layer is wrapped outside the flexible cathode to form a core-shell structure, and the core-shell structure and the flexible anode are arranged in a winding manner.

[0031] For the flexible driving unit in the winding type structure, when a voltage is loaded on the flexible driving unit, the core-shell structure approaches the flexible anode. Since the core-shell structure and the flexible anode are arranged in a winding manner, the core-shell structure is uniformly distributed around the flexible anode, so that the core-shell structure approaches the flexible anode, which can reduce the length of the flexible driving unit without causing curling deformation. Due to the use of the gel layer, the flexible driving unit has similar strain, strength, and response speed as the biological muscle under relatively low voltage driving. Since the gel layer, the flexible anode, and the flexible cathode are all flexible, the flexible driving unit has the characteristics of large flexibility and small rigidity. Therefore, when the flexible driving unit is used in a power-assisted device, this can improve the wearing comfort of the power-assisted device, and can reduce the weight of the power-assisted device.

[0032] In some possible implementation manners, the core-shell structure and the flexible anode are both in a strip-shaped cylinder so as to facilitate the winding operation.

[0033] In some possible implementation manners, the winding arrangement of the core-shell structure and the flexible anode comprises that the core-shell structure is wound on the flexible anode; or,

[0034] the flexible anode is wound on the core-shell structure; or,

[0035] the core-shell structure and the flexible anode are wound on each other.

[0036] In some possible implementation manners, the winding arrangement of the core-shell structure and the flexible anode is in a spiral double-winding manner.

[0037] For this implementation manner, the winding degree between the core-shell structure and the flexible anode can be adjusted by twisting or untwisting, so as to increase or reduce the contact area between the two, which is very helpful for adjusting the driving force of the flexible driving unit. For example, when twisting, the contact area between the core-shell structure and the flexible anode is increased, which is helpful for improving the driving force of the flexible driving unit. That is, for this type of flexible driving unit, the driving force of the flexible driving unit can be adjusted only by twisting or untwisting without changing the structure of the core-shell structure and the flexible anode, which has high flexibility.

[0038] In some possible implementation manners, the flexible driving unit further comprises at least one second fixing member connected with at least one of the winding start end and the winding end of the flexible driving unit. The second fixing member is used to prevent the flexible driving unit from loosening and ensure the structural stability thereof.

[0039] In some possible implementation manners, the electroactive polymer comprises at least one of polyvinyl chloride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, nylon 6, polyvinyl alcohol, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyacrylonitrile and silicone resin.

[0040] The electroactive polymers of the above type are all electroinductive materials, and can all generate electro-deformation after gelation, and are used in the flexible driving unit involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Exemplarily, polyvinyl chloride is used as the electroactive polymer, which has the advantages of large strain, fast corresponding speed, wide working frequency band, moderate working voltage, light mass and the like under the action of an electric field, and has excellent application prospect in the application of the flexible driving unit.

[0041] The plasticizer includes at least one of di-n-butyl adipate, dimethylacetamide, diethyl sebacate, diethanolamine, dioctyl sebacate, dioctyl adipate, dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, and di(2-ethyl)hexyl phthalate.

[0042] The plasticizer of the above kind can gel the above electrically active polymer, and then obtain a soft gel layer. In particular, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the plasticizer used is di-n-butyl adipate, which cooperates with the polyvinyl chloride, not only making the polyvinyl chloride softer to obtain excellent gel effect, but also facilitating the improvement of the dielectric constant of the formed gel layer, so that the electrically active of the gel layer is stronger.

[0043] In some possible implementations, the material of the flexible anode and the flexible cathode includes at least one of a flexible composite conductive material, a carbon nanotube, carbon paste, and graphene.

[0044] In another aspect, a flexible driver is also provided, which includes a flexible driving unit, a flexible packaging layer, an anode lead-out piece, and a cathode lead-out piece.

[0045] The flexible driving unit is as described above.

[0046] The flexible packaging layer is wrapped outside the flexible driving unit.

[0047] The anode lead-out piece is electrically connected with the corresponding flexible anode and led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer.

[0048] The cathode lead-out piece is electrically connected with the corresponding flexible cathode and led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer.

[0049] The flexible driver provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is based on the use of the flexible driving unit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, and has similar strain, strength and response speed to biological muscles under relatively low voltage driving, and shows good stability and durability. Since each component of the flexible driving unit is flexible, the flexible driver has the characteristics of large flexibility and small rigidity. When the flexible driver is used for power-assisted equipment, this facilitates the reduction of the weight of the power-assisted equipment and the improvement of the wearing comfort of the power-assisted equipment. In addition, since the flexible driving unit does not produce curling deformation towards the anode in an electric field, the flexible driving unit only shows expansion and contraction movement in the direction of the gel layer, which makes the flexible driver have stronger movement strength. At the same time, the flexible driver is suitable for preparing joint movement type power-assisted equipment or rehabilitation training type power-assisted equipment, so that the power-assisted equipment obtains stronger driving force.

[0050] In addition, the flexible driving unit is protected by using the flexible packaging layer, and the risk of electric leakage is effectively prevented. Since the flexible packaging layer is flexible, the flexible driver is a full flexible structure, and the wearing comfort of the flexible driver can be further improved. The anode lead and the cathode lead are used to connect with other electrical elements, such as a power supply, to realize the application assembly of the flexible driver.

[0051] In some possible implementation manners, the material of the flexible packaging layer includes at least one of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polybutylene terephthalate.

[0052] In some possible implementation manners, the anode lead and the cathode lead are flexible conductive leads. The flexible conductive leads not only can conduct electricity, but also are flexible, which is beneficial to further improve the wearing comfort of the flexible driver.

[0053] For example, the flexible conductive lead includes at least one of a metal adhesive tape, a conductive wire, and a conductive gauze. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0054] Figure 1 An exploded view of the layered flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] Figure 2 A combined view of the layered flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0056] Figure 3 A deformation state diagram of the layered flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0057] Figure 4 A state diagram of the layered flexible driving unit when the layered flexible driving unit is curled and deformed in an electric field;

[0058] Figure 5 A sectional view of the gel layer provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure and arranged with a flexible fiber layer;

[0059] Figure 6 A deformation state diagram of the layered flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure and arranged with a flexible fiber layer;

[0060] Figure 7 A structural diagram of the layered flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure and provided with a first fixing member;

[0061] Figure 8 A deformation state diagram of the layered flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure and provided with a first fixing member;

[0062] Figure 9A preparation process diagram of an example flexible driver including a laminated flexible driving unit is provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0063] Figure 10 A laminating process diagram of a flexible driving subunit is provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0064] Figure 11 A structure diagram of a core-shell structure is provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0065] Figure 12 A structure diagram of an example wound flexible driving unit is provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0066] Figure 13 A structure diagram of a flexible driver including a laminated flexible driving unit is provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0067] Figure 14 A structure diagram of a flexible driver including a wound flexible driving unit is provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0068] The reference signs respectively represent:

[0069] 1, a gel layer;

[0070] 2, a flexible anode;

[0071] 3, a flexible cathode;

[0072] 100, a core-shell structure;

[0073] 4, a flexible fiber layer; 41, a flexible fiber;

[0074] 5, a first fixing member;

[0075] 6, a second fixing member;

[0076] 7, a flexible encapsulation layer;

[0077] 8, an anode lead-out member;

[0078] 9, a cathode lead-out member. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0079] In order to make the technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0080] The power-assisted device can assist to enhance the motion function of human, for example, the wearable power-assisted device is currently used to provide power assistance for the joint action of human body, so as to assist the human body action, improve the load capacity of human body and relieve the physical fatigue of human body. The power-assisted device is not only widely used in mountaineering, tourism, fire fighting, disaster relief and other situations that need to carry heavy materials or equipment and vehicles cannot be used; the power-assisted device can also be used to assist the walking of disabled people, the elderly and patients with lower limb muscle weakness, or help them to do forced rehabilitation exercise. It can be seen that the power-assisted device has important significance for improving the quality of human life.

[0081] In the related art, the power-assisted device mostly uses a motor as a driver to provide driving force to the power-assisted device by using the motor to achieve the purpose of making the power-assisted device act. However, the motor as a driver is heavy and has poor flexibility, which makes the wearing comfort of the power-assisted device poor. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is an electroactive polymer (EAP) that has the ability to realize bending motion, contraction motion, stretching motion and crawling motion under electrical stimulation. Polyvinyl chloride can be prepared into a polyvinyl chloride gel in cooperation with a plasticizer, and a flexible driver with good flexibility can be prepared based on the polyvinyl chloride gel to improve the wearing comfort of the power-assisted device. However, the flexible driver based on the polyvinyl chloride gel will produce a curling motion towards the anode in an electric field, which further makes the driving force of the flexible driver in the direction of the surface of the polyvinyl chloride gel smaller.

[0082] It can be seen that it is necessary to provide a flexible power-assisted device which not only has good wearing comfort to better fit the human body and meet the ergonomics, but also is expected to have a larger driving force in the direction of the surface of the gel.

[0083] According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a flexible driving unit, which comprises: a gel layer 1, a flexible anode 2 and a flexible cathode 3, and the gel layer 1 is prepared from an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flexible driving unit is a laminated structure, and the flexible anode 2, the gel layer 1 and the flexible cathode 3 are arranged in turn and alternately laminated, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode 2 or the flexible cathode 3. Figure 1 and FIGS. 1 and 2, the flexible driving unit is a laminated structure, and the flexible anode 2, the gel layer 1 and the flexible cathode 3 are arranged in turn and alternately laminated, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode 2 or the flexible cathode 3. Figure 2 As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flexible driving unit is a laminated structure, and the flexible anode 2, the gel layer 1 and the flexible cathode 3 are arranged in turn and alternately laminated, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode 2 or the flexible cathode 3.

[0084] The topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode 2 or the flexible cathode 3, which means that the polarity of the electrodes of the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit is the same, either both cathodes or both anodes. Wherein, Figure 2 As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flexible driving unit is a laminated structure, and the flexible anode 2, the gel layer 1 and the flexible cathode 3 are arranged in turn and alternately laminated, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode 2 or the flexible cathode 3.Figure 3 The topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are both flexible cathodes 3.

[0085] The gel layer 1 is prepared by using an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer, wherein the electroactive polymer is a high polymer material that can be deformed under external electric excitation, and has the ability to realize bending movement, contraction movement, stretching movement and crawling movement under electric excitation. The plasticizer can gel the electroactive polymer, and is beneficial to improving the dielectric constant of the gel layer 1, so as to obtain a soft and good electroactive gel layer 1.

[0086] In the preparation of the gel layer 1, the electroactive polymer and the plasticizer are fully mixed and uniform under the action of a solvent to form a gel raw material liquid. After film coating and solidification by using the gel raw material liquid, the solvent volatilizes, and the flexible gel layer 1 is formed. It can be seen that the gel layer 1 has electroactive properties, and can produce peristaltic deformation towards the anode in an electric field. Meanwhile, in an electric field, the gel layer 1 shows expansion and contraction movement in its surface direction, so that it can realize bending movement, contraction movement, stretching movement and crawling movement under electric excitation.

[0087] The flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is used to insulate and isolate the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 by using the gel layer 1. The gel layer 1, the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 cooperate to make the gel layer 1 be able to deform in an electric field. Due to the use of the gel layer 1, the flexible driving unit has similar strain, strength and response speed to biological muscles under relatively low voltage driving. Since the gel layer 1, the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 are all flexible, the flexible driving unit has the characteristics of large flexibility and small rigidity. Thus, when the flexible driving unit is used for a power-assisted device, this is beneficial to improving the wearing comfort of the power-assisted device, and is beneficial to reducing the weight of the power-assisted device.

[0088] Generally, the gel layer 1 not only produces stretching and contraction movement in its surface direction (the surface direction can be seen from the double arrow direction in Figure 4 or in combination with

[0089] the gel layer 1 also produces curling movement towards the anode direction in an electric field., which shows the curling motion of the flexible driving unit in the electric field. Wherein, the face direction of the gel layer 1 described herein refers to the direction of the surface of the gel layer 1, and the corresponding face direction is also different according to the structure of the gel layer 1. For example, when the gel layer 1 is a surface layer structure, the face direction herein can include the contact surface of the gel layer 1 in contact with the electrode, and can further include the surface perpendicular to the contact surface, for example, the surface along the thickness direction of the gel layer 1. When the gel layer 1 is a strip-shaped columnar structure, the face direction herein is the surface along the radial direction of the gel layer 1 and the surface along the length direction of the gel layer 1.

[0089] It is found that the occurrence of the curling motion of the gel layer 1 as shown in Figure 4 not only reduces the intensity of the stretching and shrinking motion of the gel layer 1 in the face direction, but also is not conducive to the application in the assistive device which is expected to only have the stretching and shrinking motion in the face direction. For example, such assistive device can be used for the motion assist of key joints such as ankle joint, knee joint, hip joint and elbow joint, or such assistive device can also be used for rehabilitation training.

[0090] In particular, the flexible anode 2, the gel layer 1 and the flexible cathode 3 are arranged in turn and alternately, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode 2 or the flexible cathode 3.

[0091] Since the arrangement of the flexible anode 2 in the flexible driving unit is symmetrical, the curling motion of each gel layer 1 in the anode direction can be offset by each other, thereby achieving the purpose of preventing the curling deformation of the flexible driving unit in the electric field. In addition, by increasing the number of gel layers 1 in the flexible driving unit, the overall thickness of the flexible driving unit is also increased accordingly, which is particularly advantageous for the flexible driving unit to resist curling motion. The greater the thickness of the flexible driving unit, the stronger its ability to resist curling motion. Further, by increasing the number of gel layers 1 in the flexible driving unit, each gel layer 1 is kept in parallel in the electrical connection relationship, so that when the loading voltage is unchanged, the more the number of gel layers 1, the greater the driving force of the flexible driving unit.

[0092] It can be seen that the flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure will not produce curling deformation towards the anode in the electric field, that is, the flexible driving unit will not produce curling deformation motion when the loading voltage is applied. When the loading voltage is applied, the flexible driving unit only shows the expansion and contraction motion form in the face direction of the gel layer 1 (see Figure 2 the deformation form indicated by the double-headed arrow), which not only facilitates to increase the motion intensity of the flexible driving unit in the face direction of the gel layer 1, but also makes the flexible driving unit suitable for joint motion type assistive device or rehabilitation training type assistive device, improves the driving intensity of such assistive device, and realizes efficient assist.

[0093] For the flexible driving unit of the above-mentioned laminated structure, when the polarities of the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are the same, the number of the gel layers 1 is at least two, and correspondingly, the number of at least one of the flexible anodes 2 and the flexible cathodes 3 is also multiple. The following will be exemplified respectively for some specific arrangement modes:

[0094] (1.1) In some implementations, referring to Figure 2 , the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are both flexible anodes 2, that is, the flexible anodes 2 / (gel layers 1 / flexible cathodes 3 / gel layers 1 / flexible anodes 2)n are arranged in turn in the flexible driving unit, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, for example, n is an integer between 1 and 50, further exemplified, n is an integer between 1 and 30, n is an integer between 1 and 20, n is an integer between 1 and 10, n is an integer between 1 and 5, etc.

[0095] In some examples (1.1.1), as shown in the attached Figure 2 , a five-layer structure flexible driving unit is provided, n is 1, the number of gel layers 1 is two, the number of flexible anodes 2 is two, and the number of flexible cathodes 3 is one, arranged in turn in the direction from top to bottom, flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3 / gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2.

[0096] For the gel layer 1 located above, it has a tendency to curl towards the flexible anode 2 close to the top, and for the gel layer 1 located below, it has a tendency to curl towards the flexible anode 2 close to the bottom, so that the two gel layers 1 interact, the tendency of the two to curl upwards and the tendency to curl downwards cancel each other out, so that the flexible driving unit does not produce curling motion.

[0097] In some examples (1.1.2), a nine-layer structure flexible driving unit (not shown in the figure) is provided, n is 2, flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3 / gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3 / gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2 are arranged in turn.

[0098] For the above-mentioned four gel layers 1, each has a tendency to curl towards the flexible anode 2 connected thereto, and since the tendencies of the four gel layers 1 to curl are symmetrical and opposite to each other, the tendencies of the four gel layers 1 to curl can be cancelled out, so that the flexible driving unit does not produce curling motion.

[0099] (1.2) In some possible implementations, as shown in the attached Figure 3As shown, the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are both flexible cathode 3, that is, in the flexible driving unit, the flexible cathode 3 / (gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3)n are arranged in sequence, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, for example, n is an integer between 1 and 50, further for example, n is an integer between 1 and 30, n is an integer between 1 and 20, n is an integer between 1 and 10, n is an integer between 1 and 5, and the like.

[0100] In some examples (1.2.1), as shown in FIG. 1A, a flexible driving unit with a five-layer structure is provided, n is 1, the number of gel layers 1 is two, the number of flexible cathodes 3 is two, and the number of flexible anodes 2 is one, arranged in sequence in the direction from top to bottom as flexible cathode 3 / gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3. Figure 4

[0101] For the gel layer 1 located above, it has a tendency to curl towards the flexible anode 2 below, and for the gel layer 1 located below, it has a tendency to curl towards the flexible anode 2 above, so that the two gel layers 1 interact, and the tendency of the two to curl upwards and the tendency to curl downwards cancel each other out, so that the flexible driving unit does not produce curling motion.

[0102] In some examples (1.2.2), a flexible driving unit with a nine-layer structure is provided (not shown in the figure), n is 2, and flexible cathode 3 / gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3 / gel layer 1 / flexible anode 2 / gel layer 1 / flexible cathode 3 are arranged in sequence.

[0103] For the four gel layers 1 described above, each has a tendency to curl towards the flexible anode 2 connected thereto, and since the tendencies of the four gel layers 1 to curl are symmetrical and opposite to each other, the tendencies of the four gel layers 1 to curl can be cancelled out, so that the flexible driving unit does not produce curling motion.

[0104] The above-mentioned laminated flexible driving unit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, since the arrangement of the flexible anode 2 in the flexible driving unit is symmetrical, the tendencies of the gel layers 1 to curl towards the anode direction can be cancelled out by each other, thereby achieving the purpose of preventing the flexible driving unit from producing curling deformation in an electric field.

[0105] ​Furthermore, by increasing the number of gel layers 1 in the flexible actuation unit, the overall thickness of the flexible actuation unit is also increased accordingly, which is particularly advantageous for the flexible actuation unit to resist curling motion. The greater the thickness of the flexible actuation unit, the stronger its ability to resist curling motion. Further, by increasing the number of gel layers 1 in the flexible actuation unit, the individual gel layers 1 are kept in parallel in terms of electrical connection. Thus, when the applied voltage remains constant, the more gel layers 1 there are, the greater the driving force generated by the flexible actuation unit.

[0106] In summary, by increasing the number of gel layers 1 in the flexible driving unit and controlling the polarity of the electrodes of the top and bottom layers of the flexible driving unit to be the same, the present disclosure embodiments can effectively prevent the flexible driving unit from curling and deforming in the electric field, and at the same time, this also helps to improve the driving force of the flexible driving unit.

[0107] In the layered flexible actuation unit, the gel layer 1 is a layered structure with contact surfaces. For example, the contact surfaces can be rectangular planes, parallelogram planes, or other planes with regular or irregular geometric shapes. In some examples, the gel layer 1 is a rectangular surface structure. Correspondingly, the flexible anode 2 and flexible cathode 3 are also layered structures with contact surfaces, with the contact surfaces of the flexible anode 2 and flexible cathode 3 respectively attached to two opposite contact surfaces of the gel layer 1.

[0108] In the flexible driving unit provided in this embodiment, the gel layer 1 expands or contracts in the direction of its contact surface under an electric field (correspondingly, the gel layer 1 also expands or contracts in the thickness direction). For example, when the gel layer 1 is rectangular, the gel layer 1 undergoes stretching or contracting motion in its length direction.

[0109] Furthermore, as shown in the appendix Figure 5 and attached Figure 6 As shown, the flexible drive unit with a stacked structure provided in the embodiments of this disclosure further includes: a flexible fiber layer 4, which is located inside the gel layer 1, and includes multiple flexible fibers 41 that are parallel to each other.

[0110] For the flexible fiber layer 4, there are multiple flexible fibers 41 that are parallel to each other, such that the fiber lengths of the multiple flexible fibers 41 are all in the same direction.

[0111] Since the flexible fiber 41 cannot be stretched in its length direction, the gel layer 1 in the flexible driving unit is limited by the fiber in the length direction of the fiber, and thus cannot be deformed, including curling deformation and stretching deformation. As can be seen, in an electric field, the flexible fiber layer 4 cannot be stretched in the length direction of the fiber, and thus achieves the purpose of preventing the gel layer 1, that is, the flexible driving unit, from being stretched in the length direction of the fiber in an electric field (as shown in Figure 5 As shown, the length direction of the flexible fiber 41 is the same as the width direction of the gel layer 1, so that the gel layer 1 is deformed only in the length direction indicated by the double arrow, and cannot be deformed in the width direction of the gel layer 1.

[0112] In addition, since the flexible fiber 41 has flexibility, the flexible driving unit can be forced to bend in the width direction under the action of external force in a non-electric driving mode, so as to facilitate the product application of the flexible driving unit. At the same time, the presence of the flexible fiber layer 4 also helps to enhance the mechanical properties of the flexible driving unit.

[0113] Exemplarily, as shown in the accompanying drawings, Figure 5 As shown, a plurality of flexible fibers 41 are sequentially and spacedly distributed along the surface of the gel layer 1. For example, when the gel layer 1 is in the shape of a cuboid, the plurality of flexible fibers 41 can be sequentially and spacedly distributed along the length direction of the gel layer 1, and each flexible fiber 41 penetrates the width direction of the gel layer 1, so that the gel layer 41 cannot be stretched in the width direction in an electric field, and can only be stretched in the length direction.

[0114] The flexible fiber layer 4 can be obtained by arranging a plurality of flexible fibers 41 in a certain direction in the gel raw material liquid corresponding to the gel layer 1 during preparation of the gel layer 1, and the plurality of flexible fibers 41 are parallel to each other. After the gel raw material liquid is solidified, the flexible fiber layer 4 is embedded in the gel layer 1.

[0115] For example, a plurality of flexible fibers 41 are sequentially and spacedly distributed along the length direction of the gel layer 1, and each flexible fiber 41 penetrates both ends of the gel layer 1 in the width direction, and the end of the flexible fiber 41 is flush with the corresponding end of the gel layer 1 in the width direction. The distance between any two adjacent fibers can be the same or different, and the number and arrangement of the flexible fibers 41 in the gel layer 1 can be determined according to the strength requirement of the flexible driving unit.

[0116] Exemplarily, the length direction of the flexible fiber 41 is the same as the width direction of the gel layer 1, which means that the gel layer 1 cannot be deformed in the width direction, so that the gel layer 1 has a larger deformation amount in the length direction (as shown in Figure 5The flexible driving unit can be designed as shown in FIG. 6, that is, the flexible fiber layer 4 is arranged in the length direction of the gel layer 1, so that the deformation direction of the gel layer 1 in the plane is more accurately controllable. Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 6, the flexible driving unit exhibits a deformation phenomenon in the length direction of the gel layer 1.

[0117] As can be seen, the design of the flexible fiber layer 4 makes the deformation amount of the gel layer 1 under the electric field more embodied in other directions in the plane (for example, as described above, the gel layer 1 does not deform in the width direction in the electric field, so that the deformation amount of the gel layer 1 is more embodied in the length direction thereof), which is significantly beneficial to making the stretching and contraction deformation amount of the gel layer 1 in other directions in the plane as large as possible, and is beneficial to the power assisting device to achieve more efficient and more accurate power assistance.

[0118] The design of the flexible fiber layer 4 provides the following idea: by changing the arrangement direction or arrangement mode of the flexible fiber 41 therein, the deformation direction of the gel layer 1 in the plane is adjusted accordingly, the deformation direction of the gel layer 1 is constrained, so that the gel layer 1 only stretches and deforms in a specified direction under the action of the electric field, which makes the driving mode of the flexible driving unit have high flexibility.

[0119] The flexible fiber 41 involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be a man-made fiber or a synthetic fiber. Taking the synthetic fiber as an example, it includes but is not limited to polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, polyurethane fiber, polyacrylonitrile fiber, polyvinyl acetal fiber, polyvinyl chloride fiber, polyolefin fiber, etc. In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the diameter of the flexible fiber 41 can be 10-150 microns, which includes but is not limited to 10 microns, 20 microns, 50 microns, 70 microns, 100 microns, 105 microns, 110 microns, 115 microns, 120 microns, 125 microns, 130 microns, 135 microns, 140 microns, 145 microns, 150 microns, etc., wherein the diameter of the flexible fiber 41 can be less than or equal to the thickness of the gel layer 1.

[0120] The flexible driving unit as described in the implementation manner (1) provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, for the gel layer 1, the thickness thereof can be 10-150 microns, which includes but is not limited to 10 microns, 20 microns, 50 microns, 70 microns, 100 microns, 105 microns, 110 microns, 115 microns, 120 microns, 125 microns, 130 microns, 135 microns, 140 microns, 145 microns, 150 microns, etc. According to different application scenarios, a suitable thickness of the gel layer 1 can be adaptively selected, for example, the thickness of the gel layer 1 can be 10-50 microns, 30-70 microns, 40-80 microns, 50-100 microns, 60-120 microns, 100-150 microns, etc.

[0121] The thickness of the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 can be the same or different. The thickness of each of them can be 5-50 microns, including but not limited to 5 microns, 10 microns, 15 microns, 20 microns, 25 microns, 30 microns, 35 microns, 40 microns, 45 microns, etc. According to different application scenarios, the appropriate electrode thickness can be adaptively selected. For example, the thickness of the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 can be 5-20 microns, 10-30 microns, 15-40 microns, 20-50 microns, 30-50 microns, etc.

[0122] As described above, when the flexible driving unit includes a plurality of gel layers 1, in order to fix the plurality of gel layers 1 and prevent the gel layers 1 from moving in the stacked state, as shown in FIG. 2, the gel layers 1 are fixed by the first fixing member 5. Figure 7 As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible driving unit provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes two first fixing members 5, which correspond to the two ends of the plurality of gel layers 1 one by one, and the first fixing member 5 is connected with the end of the corresponding gel layer 1.

[0123] Among them, the first fixing member 5 is only connected with the end of the gel layer 1, so as to achieve the purpose of fixing the plurality of gel layers 1 to each other, and the first fixing member 5 will not be connected with or in contact with the electrode, so as to avoid affecting the in-plane stretching and deformation of the gel layer 1, as shown in FIG. 3. Figure 8 In the presence of the first fixing member 5, the flexible driving unit still exhibits the desired deformation.

[0124] For example, when the gel layer 1 is in a rectangular shape, the two ends of the plurality of gel layers 1 in the length direction can be fixed and constrained by one first fixing member 5 respectively.

[0125] In order to ensure the wearing comfort of the flexible driving unit, the first fixing member 5 is flexible, which makes the first fixing member 5 not only realize the fixation and constraint of the plurality of gel layers 1, but also will not affect the flexibility of the flexible driving unit.

[0126] The fixation mode of the first fixing member 5 to the gel layer 1 includes but is not limited to clamping fixation, perforation fixation, binding fixation, etc., and the structure of the first fixing member 5 is correspondingly related according to the specific fixation mode.

[0127] For example, the first fixing member 5 is a flexible clamp, for example, the flexible clamp includes a first clamping piece, a second clamping piece and a connecting piece, the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece are respectively connected with the opposite two sides of the connecting piece, and the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece have elasticity. In the normal state, the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece can be tightly attached to clamp the end of the plurality of gel layers 1, and under the action of external force, the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece are forced to open to take out the plurality of gel layers 1. It can be seen that the first fixing member 5 in the form of a flexible clamp not only has a simple structure, strong clamping force, but also is convenient to disassemble and assemble, and is beneficial to simplify the assembly of the flexible driving unit.

[0128] In some examples, when the flexible driving unit is loaded with voltage, the flexible driving unit expands in the plane, which can generate deformation along the length direction of the gel layer 1, so that the gel layer 1 expands in the length direction, and when the flexible driving unit is de-energized, the flexible driving unit shrinks in the plane to generate a contraction force, and the power-assisted movement is realized under the action of the contraction force.

[0129] In some examples, the stress output by the flexible driving unit is up to 60 kilopascals, and the strain is up to 10%. Wherein, the "stress" referred to here refers to the ratio of force to force area, that is, the ratio of the output force of the flexible driving unit to the force area of the flexible driving unit; the strain here refers to the ratio of the difference between the size (such as length) after deformation and the size (such as length) before deformation of the flexible driving unit to the corresponding size (such as length) before deformation.

[0130] For the above-mentioned flexible driving unit with a laminated structure, in combination with Figure 9 It can be prepared by the following preparation method:

[0131] Preparation of the gel layer 1 includes: uniformly mixing the electroactive polymer and the plasticizer according to the mass ratio, mixing the mixture of the electroactive polymer and the plasticizer with the solvent, and fully dissolving the electroactive polymer and the plasticizer with the solvent to obtain a gel raw material solution. Wherein, the mass ratio of the mixture to the solvent is 1:(3-10).

[0132] Through a film forming process (such as a film casting, coating process, etc.), a liquid film layer is obtained, and after the solvent in the liquid film layer volatilizes, a gel layer 1 with a specific thickness can be prepared.

[0133] In particular, when the gel layer 1 contains a flexible fiber layer 4, it is necessary to arrange the flexible fiber 41 in the gel layer 1 forming area in a specific way in advance before forming the liquid film layer, and then form the liquid film layer in the area where the flexible fiber 41 is located through the film forming process. After the liquid film layer is solidified, the gel layer 1 with the embedded flexible fiber layer 4 can be obtained.

[0134] A flexible anode 2 and a flexible cathode 3 are respectively formed on the opposite two surfaces of the gel layer 1, for example, by using a screen printing method, to form a flexible driving subunit.

[0135] The plurality of flexible driving subunits are processed to obtain a flexible driving unit.

[0136] The processing of the flexible driving subunit includes but is not limited to the following: one is to stack the plurality of flexible driving subunits and fix and constrain them by the first fixing member 5 to obtain the flexible driving unit. This method is simple to operate and has high preparation efficiency.

[0137] Alternatively, two is to continue to form the gel layer 1 on the flexible anode 2 and / or the flexible cathode 3 of the flexible driving subunit, and then continue to form the corresponding flexible electrode layer on the newly formed gel layer 1, and so on. After the solvent of the current layer is volatilized, the next layer is coated until the flexible driving unit with the desired number of layers is obtained.

[0138] The multi-layer stacking mode of the plurality of flexible driving subunits includes manual stacking and film stacking, wherein, referring to Figure 10 , the film stacking uses the opposed roller mechanism of a film laminating machine to tightly fit the two contact surfaces of the stacking.

[0139] On the other hand, the disclosure provides another flexible driving unit, which includes a gel layer 1, a flexible anode 2 and a flexible cathode 3. The gel layer 1 is prepared by using an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer. The flexible driving unit has a winding type structure, as shown in Figure 11 , the gel layer 1 is wrapped outside the flexible cathode 3 to form a core-shell structure 100; as shown in Figure 12 , the core-shell structure 100 is arranged in a winding manner with the flexible anode 2.

[0140] In this implementation, the flexible cathode 3 is located outside the gel layer 1 to form the core-shell structure 100, wherein the flexible cathode 3 serves as the core layer and the gel layer 1 serves as the shell layer. The gel layer 1 wraps the flexible cathode 3 inside in the circumferential direction. The two ends of the flexible cathode 3 can be exposed to the corresponding end of the gel layer 1 for lead wires.

[0141] When the flexible anode 2 is arranged in a winding manner with the core-shell structure 100, the flexible anode 2 is equivalent to being located outside the gel layer 1. In this way, the gel layer 1 can effectively isolate the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3.

[0142] In the disclosure, the winding arrangement of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 includes but is not limited to: winding the core-shell structure 100 on the flexible anode 2, or winding the flexible anode 2 on the core-shell structure 100, or winding the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 on each other.

[0143] In some examples, the core-shell structure 100 is wound on the flexible anode 2, or the flexible anode 2 is wound on the core-shell structure 100, and their corresponding winding modes include but are not limited to: annular winding, spiral winding, etc., that is, the winding path of the component being wound can be annular or spiral.

[0144] In some examples, the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are wound on each other, that is, both are wound, and they can be combined in any winding mode (i.e., weaving mode) as long as a flexible driving unit of an integrated structure can be formed. Among them, one core-shell structure 100 and one flexible anode 2 can be wound on each other, multiple core-shell structures 100 and one flexible anode 2 can be wound on each other, multiple flexible anodes 2 and one core-shell structure 100 can be wound on each other, and multiple core-shell structures 100 and multiple flexible anodes 2 can be wound on each other. By adjusting the number of core-shell structures 100 and / or flexible anodes 2, the driving force of the flexible driving unit can be adjusted accordingly.

[0145] For example, referring to Figure 12 , one core-shell structure 100 and one flexible anode 2 are wound in a spiral double-winding mode (which is similar to rope weaving), so that the flexible driving unit formed is in the form of a rope, the structure is simple, and the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are uniformly distributed and the winding path is symmetrical.

[0146] When the flexible driving unit is loaded with voltage, the core-shell structure 100 peristaltically deforms towards the flexible anode 2, and since the core-shell structure 100 is uniformly distributed around the flexible anode 2 along the length direction of the flexible anode 2, this makes the flexible driving unit of this winding type structure produce a driving mode of being tightly wound on each other. Specifically, when loaded with voltage, the flexible driving unit shows a contraction motion in the length direction, and a tightly wound motion in the radial direction of the flexible driving unit, without curling deformation in the length direction.

[0147] As can be seen, for the flexible driving unit of the winding type structure, when the flexible driving unit is loaded with voltage, the core-shell structure 100 approaches the flexible anode 2, and since the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are wound, the core-shell structure 100 is uniformly distributed around the flexible anode 2, which makes the core-shell structure 100 approach the flexible anode 2, which will make the length of the flexible driving unit decrease, without curling deformation.

[0148] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 can be wound and arranged in a spiral double-winding mode. For this implementation mode, the winding degree between the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 can be adjusted by twisting or untwisting, so as to increase or decrease the contact area between the two, which is very helpful for adjusting the driving force of the flexible driving unit. For example, when twisting, the contact area between the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 increases, which is helpful for improving the driving force of the flexible driving unit. That is, for this type of flexible driving unit, the driving force of the flexible driving unit can be adjusted only by twisting or untwisting without changing the structure of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2, which has high flexibility.

[0149] In order to facilitate the winding operation described above, the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are designed in a long strip structure, wherein the length direction of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 is the length direction of the flexible driving unit. The cross-sectional shape of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 of this type includes but is not limited to: a circle, an ellipse, a square, a pentagon, a hexagon, and various geometric forms.

[0150] Exemplarily, the cross-sectional shape of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 is circular, that is, the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are both long strip-shaped cylinders.

[0151] Further, the diameter and length of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 can also be the same, for example, the diameter of the core-shell structure 100 can be 1mm-100mm; the diameter of the flexible anode 2 can be 1mm-100mm. The diameter of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 includes but is not limited to the following: 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 9mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, 50mm, 60mm, 70mm, 80mm, 90mm, 100mm, etc. According to different application scenarios, appropriate diameter sizes can be adaptively selected, for example, the diameter of the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 can be 1mm-10mm, 5mm-15mm, 20mm-50mm, 40mm-60mm, 40mm-80mm, 50mm-80mm, 50mm-100mm, etc.

[0152] When the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are wound and arranged, the two ends thereof along the length direction need to be fixed to prevent the wound structure from being scattered. The above fixing mode includes but is not limited to: self-adhesion by hot melting, or fixing by a fixing member.

[0153] In some examples, as shown in FIG. 6, the core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are wound and arranged in a spiral double-winding mode. Figure 12As shown, the flexible driving unit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure further comprises at least one second fixing member 6, which is connected with at least one of the winding start end and the winding end of the flexible driving unit.

[0154] The winding start end of the flexible driving unit refers to the beginning end of the flexible driving unit when the winding operation is performed, and the winding end of the flexible driving unit refers to the ending end of the flexible driving unit when the winding operation is performed. For example, the flexible driving unit is in a long strip shape, and the winding start end and the winding end generally refer to the two ends of the flexible driving unit along the length direction thereof.

[0155] For example, when the winding arrangement is performed in the mode of end-limiting winding pre-tightening, one second fixing member 6 can be used to fix and constrain the end of the flexible driving unit, or when both ends of the flexible driving unit cannot be self-fixed, two second fixing members 6 can be used to respectively fix and constrain the two ends of the flexible driving unit.

[0156] In order to ensure the wearing comfort of the flexible driving unit, the second fixing member 6 is flexible, which makes the second fixing member 6 not only realize the fixing and constraint of the end of the flexible driving unit, but also does not affect the flexibility of the flexible driving unit.

[0157] The fixing mode of the second fixing member 6 to the gel layer 1 includes but is not limited to clamping fixing, perforation fixing, binding fixing, etc., and the structure of the second fixing member 6 can be designed accordingly according to the specific fixing mode.

[0158] For example, the second fixing member 6 is a flexible clamp, which in some examples comprises a first clamping piece, a second clamping piece and a connecting piece, wherein the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece are respectively connected with the opposite two sides of the connecting piece, and the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece have elasticity. In the normal state, the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece can be tightly attached to clamp the end of the flexible driving unit, and under the action of external force, the first clamping piece and the second clamping piece are forced to open to release the clamping of the end of the flexible driving unit.

[0159] Alternatively, in some other examples, the flexible clamp is in the form of a cap, which has an elastic port with a diameter smaller than the radial dimension of the flexible driving unit, and when the end of the flexible driving unit passes through the elastic port into the inner cavity of the flexible clamp, the elastic port can realize the clamping of the end of the flexible driving unit, and under the action of external force, the elastic port can release the clamping of the end of the flexible driving unit for easy disassembly.

[0160] It can be seen that the second fixing member 6 in the form of a flexible clamp not only has a simple structure, strong clamping force, and is easy to disassemble, but also is beneficial to simplify the assembly of the flexible driving unit.

[0161] When a voltage is applied to the flexible driving unit of the winding type structure, the core-shell structure 100 is attracted to the flexible anode 2 and peristalsis occurs, resulting in deformation in the length direction and the radial direction of the flexible driving unit, wherein the flexible driving unit contracts in the length direction. When the voltage is removed, the flexible driving unit relaxes in the length direction, generating a restoring force that assists movement.

[0162] In some examples, the stress output by the flexible driving unit is up to 50 kilopascals, and the strain is up to 10%, wherein the "stress" referred to here refers to the ratio of force to the area on which the force is applied, that is, the ratio of the output force of the flexible driving unit to the area on which the force is applied of the flexible driving unit; the strain here refers to the ratio of the difference between the size (e.g., length) of the flexible driving unit after deformation and the size (e.g., length) before deformation to the corresponding size (e.g., length) before deformation.

[0163] For the flexible driving unit of the winding type structure, it can be prepared by the following preparation method:

[0164] The core-shell structure 100 is prepared, including providing a gel raw material and a cathode raw material, providing the gel raw material includes uniformly mixing an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer according to a mass ratio to obtain the gel raw material, and providing the cathode raw material includes uniformly mixing a conductive filler and a polymer material to obtain the cathode raw material.

[0165] The gel raw material and the cathode raw material are extruded by a coaxial extrusion process to obtain the core-shell structure 100.

[0166] The conductive filler and the polymer material are uniformly mixed to obtain an anode raw material, and the anode raw material is extruded by a single-axis extrusion process to obtain the flexible anode 2.

[0167] The core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are wound to obtain the flexible driving unit.

[0168] The flexible driving unit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be used alone or simultaneously when used in a flexible driver, and when multiple flexible driving units are used in combination, the multiple flexible driving units are in a parallel connection relationship in terms of electrical connection.

[0169] The chemical composition of each component involved in the above-mentioned laminated flexible driving unit and winding type flexible driving unit is described as follows:

[0170] In some possible implementations, in the laminated flexible driving unit and the rolled flexible driving unit, the electroactive polymer includes at least one of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), polymenthyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyurethane (PU), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), nylon 6 (PA6), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and silicone resin.

[0171] The electroactive polymers of the above-mentioned types are all electrets, and can all generate electro-actuated deformation after gelation, and are used in the flexible driving unit involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0172] Exemplarily, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, polyvinyl chloride is used as the electroactive polymer, which has the advantages of large strain, fast corresponding speed, wide working frequency band, moderate working voltage, light mass, and the like under the action of an electric field, and has excellent application prospects in the application of the flexible driving unit. In particular, polyvinyl chloride with high polymerization degree and narrow molecular weight is used, for example, the polymerization degree of the polyvinyl chloride is greater than or equal to 4400, and the dispersity index of the polyvinyl chloride is less than or equal to 1.7. The polyvinyl chloride of this type has the advantages of good quality, concentrated and uniform molecular weight distribution.

[0173] In some possible implementations, among the laminated flexible driving unit and the rolled flexible driving unit, the plasticizer includes at least one of dibutyl adipate (DBA), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), diethyl sebacate (DES), diethanolamine (DEA), dioctyl sebacate (DOS), dioctyl adipate (DOA), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dioctyl phthalate (DOP), and di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP).

[0174] The plasticizer of the above kind can gel the above electrically active polymer, and then obtain the soft gel layer 1. In particular, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the plasticizer used is dibutyl adipate, which cooperates with the polyvinyl chloride, not only can make the polyvinyl chloride softer to obtain excellent gel effect, but also is beneficial to improve the dielectric constant of the formed gel layer 1, so that the electrically active of the gel layer 1 is stronger.

[0175] For the gel layer 1, the mass ratio of the electrically active polymer to the plasticizer is 1:(1-9), for example, the mass ratio includes but is not limited to 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7, 1:8, 1:9, and the like.

[0176] For example, the embodiments of the present disclosure use polyvinyl chloride as the electrically active polymer, and use dibutyl adipate as the plasticizer, and the polyvinyl chloride and the dibutyl adipate are mixed in a mass ratio of 1:(4-9), and the two cooperate to facilitate the gel layer 1 to obtain stronger electrically active.

[0177] According to the electrically active polymer and the plasticizer, the gel layer 1 can be obtained by the following method: according to the mass ratio of the electrically active polymer to the plasticizer, the electrically active polymer is first dissolved in a solvent, and then the plasticizer is added after the electrically active polymer is fully dissolved, and the stirring is continued until the plasticizer is fully dissolved, to obtain a gel raw liquid. The gel liquid membrane layer is prepared by using the gel raw liquid, and after the solvent is volatilized (for example, by evaporating the solvent), the desired gel layer 1 can be obtained.

[0178] The solvent used above can be any solvent that can sufficiently dissolve the electroactive polymer and the plasticizer, for example, the solvent includes but is not limited to at least one of tetrahydrofuran, N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N-methylpyrrolidone. The mass ratio of the mixture of the electroactive polymer and the plasticizer to the solvent can be 1:(3-8).

[0179] In some possible implementations, the material of the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 in the laminated flexible driving unit and the rolled flexible driving unit according to the embodiments of the present disclosure includes at least one of a flexible composite conductive material, carbon paste, carbon nanotube and graphene.

[0180] The flexible composite conductive material includes a high polymer material and a conductive filler, and the high polymer material includes but is not limited to silicone rubber, gel or conductive polymer such as polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, poly-p-phenylenevinylene, polyaniline, etc., and the conductive filler includes but is not limited to carbon particles, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene, metal particles, metal foils, metal fibers, etc.

[0181] When the high polymer material is silicone rubber, the corresponding flexible composite conductive material is also called conductive silicone rubber; when the high polymer material is gel, the corresponding flexible composite conductive material is also called conductive gel.

[0182] In other possible implementations, the material of the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 can also be nano-silver wire, liquid metal, etc.

[0183] According to the specific structure of the flexible driving unit, a suitable electrode material can be adaptively selected so that the electrode can be easily formed into a layered structure or a strip-shaped structure.

[0184] When the flexible driving unit is used to prepare a laminated structure, the flexible composite conductive material, carbon paste or graphene can be used to form the corresponding electrode layer on the surface of the gel layer 1 by spraying, coating, screen printing or the like.

[0185] When the flexible driving unit is used to prepare a rolled structure, the flexible composite conductive material can be used to obtain the flexible anode 2 by extrusion, and the flexible cathode 3 in the core-shell structure 100 can be formed by coaxial extrusion.

[0186] The electrode with the flexible feature and good conductivity can be applied to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and in particular, in some examples, the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 with the following characteristics can be used: the resistivity is less than or equal to 2 Ω·m, the tensile rate is greater than or equal to 50%, and the elastic modulus is greater than or equal to 150 KPa, which makes the electrodes have the advantages of high conductivity, great flexibility, small rigidity, great tensile strength and tensile limit, etc., and are particularly suitable for preparing flexible driving units with strong flexibility.

[0187] Compared with the related art using metal electrodes such as steel wire mesh, the flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 prepared by the flexible composite conductive material of the above kind have excellent flexibility, and thus the prepared flexible driving unit has good flexibility.

[0188] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, referring to Figure 13 Alternatively Figure 14 The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a flexible driver, which includes a flexible driving unit. The flexible driving unit can be any one of the flexible driving units in the above-mentioned laminated structure, or any one of the flexible driving units in the above-mentioned wound structure.

[0189] The flexible driver provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is based on the use of the flexible driving unit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The flexible driver has similar strain, strength and response speed to biological muscles under relatively low voltage driving, and shows good stability and durability. Since each component of the flexible driving unit is flexible, the flexible driver has the characteristics of large flexibility and small rigidity. When the flexible driver is used in a power-assisted device, this helps to reduce the weight of the power-assisted device and improve the wearing comfort of the power-assisted device. In addition, since the flexible driving unit is configured not to produce curling deformation in an electric field, the flexible driving unit only shows expansion and contraction movement in the surface direction of the gel layer 1, which makes the flexible driver have stronger movement strength. At the same time, the flexible driver is suitable for preparing a joint movement type power-assisted device or a rehabilitation training type power-assisted device, so that the power-assisted device obtains stronger driving force.

[0190] As Figure 13 Alternatively Figure 14 The flexible driver provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure further includes a flexible packaging layer 7, an anode lead-out piece 8 and a cathode lead-out piece 9, i.e., the flexible driver includes the flexible driving unit, the flexible packaging layer 7, the anode lead-out piece 8 and the cathode lead-out piece 9.

[0191] The flexible packaging layer 7 is wrapped on the outside of the flexible driving unit; the anode lead-out piece 8 is electrically connected with the corresponding flexible anode 2 and led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer 7; and the cathode lead-out piece 9 is electrically connected with the corresponding flexible cathode 3 and led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer 7. Among them, Figure 13 The flexible driver uses the laminated structure flexible driving unit, Figure 14 The flexible driver uses the wound structure flexible driving unit.

[0192] The flexible driver provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure protects the flexible driving unit by using the flexible packaging layer 7 and effectively prevents the risk of electric leakage. Since the flexible packaging layer 7 is flexible, the flexible driver is a full-flexible structure, and the wearing comfort of the flexible driver can be further improved. The anode lead-out piece 8 and the cathode lead-out piece 9 are used to be connected with other electrical elements, such as a power supply, to realize the application assembly of the flexible driver. In the related art, a rigid package is usually used, which makes the flexibility of the flexible driver poor and is not conducive to wearing. The flexible packaging layer 7 is used in the embodiment of the present disclosure, which effectively solves the problems in the related art.

[0193] In some possible implementation manners, the material of the flexible packaging layer 7 includes at least one of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polybutylene terephthalate.

[0194] When packaging is performed, the flexible packaging layer 7 is vacuumized to tightly adhere to the surface of the flexible driving unit, and then the edge of the flexible packaging layer 7 is heat-sealed, which can effectively prevent water, oxygen, and corrosive liquid in the external environment from corroding the flexible driving unit. The flexible packaging layer 7 with the above material can also insulate and isolate the flexible driving unit, and improve the operation safety and service life of the flexible driver.

[0195] In some possible implementation manners, the anode lead-out piece 8 and the cathode lead-out piece 9 are both flexible conductive pieces, that is, they have good conductivity and flexibility. The anode lead-out piece 8 and the cathode lead-out piece 9 have the flexible property, which is conducive to further improving the wearing comfort of the flexible driver.

[0196] For example, the flexible conductive piece includes at least one of a metal adhesive tape, a conductive wire material, and a conductive mesh. For example, the metal adhesive tape includes but is not limited to a copper foil adhesive tape, a silver-nickel alloy adhesive tape, and the like, and the conductive wire material includes but is not limited to a conductive yarn, a graphene conductive wire material, a flexible conductive cable, and the like. When the electrode lead-out pieces are connected and assembled with the corresponding electrodes, it is ensured that the electrode lead-out pieces do not wind each other, for example, the electrode lead-out pieces are parallel to and tightly adhere to each gel layer 1, to avoid air bubbles generated during the flexible packaging.

[0197] In addition, in some application scenarios, the anode lead-out piece 8 can be referred to as an anode lead, and the cathode lead-out piece 9 can be referred to as a cathode lead.

[0198] The flexible driver provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is applied, and positive and negative voltages are sequentially applied, so that the flexible driver is deformed and driven in the in-plane direction of the gel layer 1, and the driving force is used to assist the user.

[0199] In some examples, the flexible driver is used in a motion assisting device or a rehabilitation training assisting device, and the flexible driver can output a stress of 50 kPa or even higher and a strain of 10% or even higher. Here, the strain refers to a ratio of a deformation amount of the flexible driver after deformation to a deformation amount of the flexible driver before deformation.

[0200] It can be seen that the flexible driver provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can output a larger stress and strain to assist the motion of a human joint, and the flexible driver has good flexibility, so that the flexible driver can closely fit the human joint and provide a comfortable wearing experience.

[0201] According to a further aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide an assisting device, which includes any of the flexible drivers described above.

[0202] The assisting device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure has at least the following advantages: light weight, high wearing comfort, strong driving force, and the like, and is particularly suitable for assisting the motion of a joint or rehabilitation training.

[0203] In some examples, the assisting device is a wearable assisting device. For example, the assisting device can be an assisting glove, an assisting finger sleeve, an assisting wrist band, an assisting leg sleeve, an assisting sock, an assisting bandage, an assisting garment, and the like. For example, the assisting garment includes but is not limited to an assisting sportswear and an assisting home garment. The wearable assisting device can be used for assisting the motion of a joint such as an ankle joint, a knee joint, a hip joint, an elbow joint, and the like, or rehabilitation training, and a comfortable wearing experience can be achieved.

[0204] The present disclosure will be further described below through specific embodiments:

[0205] Embodiment 1

[0206] The embodiment 1 provides a flexible driver, which is shown in Figure 13 and includes a flexible driving unit in a laminated structure, and the gel layer 1 does not contain the flexible fiber layer 4. The preparation method of the flexible driver is shown as follows:

[0207] The gel layer 1 is prepared by: uniformly mixing polyvinyl chloride particles and di-n-butyl adipate according to a mass ratio of 1:6, mixing the mixture of the polyvinyl chloride particles and the di-n-butyl adipate with tetrahydrofuran, and fully dissolving the polyvinyl chloride particles and the di-n-butyl adipate in the tetrahydrofuran to obtain a gel raw material solution. The mass ratio of the mixture to the solvent is 1:4.

[0208] The gel raw material solution is used to obtain a 60-micron-thick gel layer 1 through a coating process.

[0209] A flexible anode 2 and a flexible cathode 3 with a thickness of 40 microns are respectively formed on the opposite surfaces of the gel layer 1 by a silk screen printing process to form a flexible driving subunit. The flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 are both made of carbon paste.

[0210] In the above manner, a plurality of flexible driving subunits are formed, the plurality of flexible driving subunits are stacked, and the flexible driving subunits are fixed and constrained by the first fixing member 5 to obtain a flexible driving unit.

[0211] The anode lead-out member 8 is electrically connected to the corresponding flexible anode 2, and the cathode lead-out member 9 is electrically connected to the corresponding flexible cathode 3. The anode lead-out member 8 and the cathode lead-out member 9 are both conductive gauze.

[0212] A flexible packaging layer 7 made of polyethylene is sleeved on the outside of the flexible driving unit (wherein the anode lead-out member 8 and the cathode lead-out member 9 are both led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer 7), the flexible packaging layer 7 is vacuumized to be tightly attached to the surface of the flexible driving unit, and then the edges of the flexible packaging layer 7 are heat-sealed to obtain a flexible driver.

[0213] The flexible driving unit is a five-layer structure to obtain a corresponding flexible driver, and the performance of the flexible driver is tested. The flexible driving unit includes the flexible anode 2-gel layer 1-flexible cathode 3-gel layer 1-flexible anode 2 which are sequentially stacked.

[0214] The stress and strain of the flexible driver are tested, and the test results show that under the condition of giving the flexible driver different loads (the load is 0g-50g), the strain of the flexible driver increases with the increase of the loading voltage, and when the loading voltage is 600V and the load is 0, the strain of the flexible driver is at least greater than 10%. In addition, under the loading voltage of 200V-600V, the flexible driver shows excellent output stress, and under the condition of small strain (for example, the strain is less than 5%), the output stress of the flexible driving unit is at least greater than 150KPa.

[0215] Embodiment 2

[0216] Embodiment 2 provides a flexible driver, which is shown in Figure 13 and includes a flexible driving unit with a stacked structure, and the gel layer 1 contains a flexible fiber layer 4. The preparation method of the flexible driver is as follows:

[0217] The gel layer 1 is prepared by: uniformly mixing polyvinyl chloride particles and di-n-butyl adipate according to a mass ratio of 1:4, mixing the mixture of polyvinyl chloride particles and di-n-butyl adipate with tetrahydrofuran, and fully dissolving the polyvinyl chloride particles and di-n-butyl adipate in the tetrahydrofuran to obtain a gel raw material solution. The mass ratio of the mixture to the solvent is 1:5.

[0218] A plurality of flexible fibers 41 are arranged in a certain manner in the region where the gel layer 1 is to be formed in advance, and then a liquid film layer is formed in the region where the flexible fibers 41 are located by using the above-mentioned gel raw material liquid through a coating process. After the liquid film layer is cured, a 65-micron-thick gel layer 1 with an embedded flexible fiber layer 4 is obtained.

[0219] A flexible anode 2 and a flexible cathode 3, each with a thickness of 40 microns, are formed on the opposite surfaces of the gel layer 1 by a screen printing process, forming a flexible driving subunit. The flexible anode 2 and the flexible cathode 3 are both made of conductive silicone rubber, specifically Wacker conductive silicone, and the preparation method is as follows: A component A and a component B with a mass ratio of 1:1 are weighed and mixed with silicone oil in a planetary mixer, where the mass ratio of the A+B mixed components to silicone oil is 1:3. When the three are integrated and there is no obvious stratification, the electrode raw material is obtained. The electrode raw material is uniformly coated on the gel layer 1 using a mask coating method. After drying in an oven at 40°C for 12 hours, a flexible driving subunit with a flexible anode 2 and a flexible cathode 3 of a set shape is obtained.

[0220] A plurality of flexible driving subunits are formed in the above-mentioned manner, stacked together, and fixed and constrained by a first fixing member 5 to obtain a flexible driving unit.

[0221] The anode lead-out member 8 is electrically connected to the corresponding flexible anode 2, and the cathode lead-out member 9 is electrically connected to the corresponding flexible cathode 3. The anode lead-out member 8 and the cathode lead-out member 9 are both copper foil tapes.

[0222] A flexible packaging layer 7 made of polyethylene is wrapped around the outside of the flexible driving unit (where the anode lead-out member 8 and the cathode lead-out member 9 are both led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer 7), the flexible packaging layer 7 is vacuumed to adhere tightly to the surface of the flexible driving unit, and then the edges of the flexible packaging layer 7 are heat-sealed to obtain a flexible driver.

[0223] Example 3

[0224] This example 3 provides a flexible driver, as shown in Figure 14 which includes a flexible driving unit of a winding type structure, and the preparation method of the flexible driver is as follows:

[0225] A gel raw material and a cathode raw material are provided, where the gel raw material is prepared by uniformly mixing polyvinyl chloride particles and di-n-butyl adipate at a mass ratio of 1:5. The cathode raw material is prepared by uniformly mixing carbon nanotubes and silicone rubber.

[0226] The gel raw material and the cathode raw material are extruded using a coaxial extrusion process to obtain a core-shell structure 100.

[0227] The carbon nanotubes and the silicone rubber are mixed uniformly to obtain an anode raw material, and the anode raw material is extruded by a single-axis extrusion process to obtain a flexible anode 2, wherein the flexible anode 2 has the same outer diameter and length as the core-shell structure 100.

[0228] The core-shell structure 100 and the flexible anode 2 are wound in a spiral double-winding manner by a method of winding pre-tightening by limiting both ends, and the end portions are fixed and constrained by the second fixing member 6 to obtain a flexible driving unit.

[0229] The anode lead-out member 8 is electrically connected to the corresponding flexible anode 2, and the cathode lead-out member 9 is electrically connected to the corresponding flexible cathode 3, wherein the anode lead-out member 8 and the cathode lead-out member 9 are both conductive yarns.

[0230] The flexible packaging layer 7 made of polyethylene is sleeved outside the flexible driving unit (wherein the anode lead-out member 8 and the cathode lead-out member 9 are both led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer 7), the flexible packaging layer 7 is vacuumized to tightly adhere to the surface of the flexible driving unit, and then the edges of the flexible packaging layer 7 are heat-sealed to obtain a flexible driver.

[0231] For the terms "each", "multiple", and "any" used in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple includes two or more, each refers to each of the corresponding multiple, and any refers to any one of the corresponding multiple.

[0232] The above is only to facilitate those skilled in the art to understand the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A flexible drive unit, characterized by, The flexible driving unit comprises a gel layer (1), a flexible anode (2) and a flexible cathode (3), wherein the gel layer (1) is prepared by using an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer; The flexible driving unit is of a laminated structure, the flexible anode (2), the gel layer (1) and the flexible cathode (3) are arranged in turn and alternately in layers, and the topmost layer and the bottommost layer of the flexible driving unit are either the flexible anode (2) or the flexible cathode (3); The gel layer (1) is multi-layered, and at least one of the flexible anode (2) and the flexible cathode (3) is multi-layered.

2. The flexible drive unit of claim 1, wherein, The flexible driving unit further comprises a flexible fiber layer (4) located inside the gel layer (1), wherein the flexible fiber layer (4) comprises a plurality of flexible fibers (41) parallel to each other.

3. The flexible drive unit of claim 2, wherein, The plurality of flexible fibers (41) are arranged in turn and spaced apart along the surface of the gel layer (1).

4. The flexible drive unit of claim 1, wherein, The thickness of the gel layer (1) is 10-150 microns; The thickness of the flexible anode (2) and the flexible cathode (3) is 5-50 microns.

5. The flexible drive unit of claim 1, wherein, The flexible driving unit further comprises two first fixing members (5) corresponding to the two ends of the multi-layered gel layer (1), and the first fixing member (5) is connected to the end of the corresponding gel layer (1).

6. The flexible drive unit of claim 5, wherein, The first fixing member (5) is a flexible clamp.

7. The flexible drive unit according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein, The electroactive polymer comprises at least one of polyvinyl chloride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, nylon 6, polyvinyl alcohol, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyacrylonitrile and silicone resin; The plasticizer comprises at least one of di-n-butyl adipate, dimethylacetamide, diethyl sebacate, diethanolamine, dioctyl sebacate, dioctyl adipate, dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate and di(2-ethyl)hexyl phthalate.

8. The flexible drive unit of claim 7, wherein, The material of the flexible anode (2) and the flexible cathode (3) comprises at least one of flexible composite conductive material, carbon nanotube and graphene.

9. A flexible drive unit, characterized by The flexible driving unit comprises a gel layer (1), a flexible anode (2) and a flexible cathode (3), wherein the gel layer (1) is prepared by using an electroactive polymer and a plasticizer; The flexible driving unit is of a winding structure, the gel layer (1) is wrapped outside the flexible cathode (3) to form a core-shell structure (100), wherein the gel layer (1) serves as a shell layer, the flexible cathode (3) serves as a core layer, and the core-shell structure (100) and the flexible anode (2) are arranged in a winding manner.

10. The flexible drive unit of claim 9, wherein, The core-shell structure (100) and the flexible anode (2) are both in the shape of a strip-shaped cylinder.

11. The flexible drive unit of claim 9, wherein, The winding arrangement of the core-shell structure (100) and the flexible anode (2) comprises that the core-shell structure (100) is wound on the flexible anode (2); or, The flexible anode (2) is wound on the core-shell structure (100); or, The core-shell structure (100) and the flexible anode (2) are wound with each other.

12. The flexible drive unit of claim 11, wherein, The core-shell structure (100) and the flexible anode (2) are wound in a spiral double-winding mode.

13. The flexible drive unit of claim 9, wherein, The flexible driving unit further comprises at least one second fixing member (6) connected with at least one of the winding start end and the winding end of the flexible driving unit.

14. The flexible drive unit of any of claims 9-13, wherein, The electroactive polymer comprises at least one of polyvinyl chloride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, nylon 6, polyvinyl alcohol, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyacrylonitrile and silicone resin. The plasticizer comprises at least one of di-n-butyl adipate, dimethylacetamide, diethyl sebacate, diethanolamine, dioctyl sebacate, dioctyl adipate, dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate and di(2-ethyl)hexyl phthalate.

15. The flexible drive unit of claim 14, wherein, The material of the flexible anode (2) and the flexible cathode (3) comprises at least one of flexible composite conductive material, carbon nanotube and graphene.

16. A flexible driver, comprising: The flexible driver comprises a flexible driving unit, a flexible packaging layer (7), an anode lead-out member (8) and a cathode lead-out member (9). The flexible driving unit is as claimed in any one of claims 1-8 or as claimed in any one of claims 9-15. The flexible packaging layer (7) is coated on the outside of the flexible driving unit. The anode lead-out member (8) is electrically connected with the corresponding flexible anode (2) and led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer (7). The cathode lead-out member (9) is electrically connected with the corresponding flexible cathode (3) and led out to the outside of the flexible packaging layer (7).

17. The flexible driver of claim 16, wherein, The material of the flexible packaging layer (7) comprises at least one of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate and polybutylene terephthalate.

18. The flexible driver of claim 16 or 17, wherein, The anode lead-out member (8) and the cathode lead-out member (9) are flexible conductive members.

19. The flexible driver of claim 18, wherein, The flexible conductive member comprises at least one of metal adhesive tape, conductive wire and conductive mesh.

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