Electrically-driven artificial muscle

Abstract

The invention provides a specific implementation scheme of an electrically-driven artificial muscle, and is characterized in that the electrically-driven artificial muscle comprises at least two flexible electrodes wrapped with flexible insulating outer layers, the flexible electrodes are immersed in dielectric liquid in an interactive stacking manner, the dielectric liquid is trimethylolpropane tricaprylate / tridecanoate, and the dielectric liquid has the characteristics of low cost, high sensitivity, high reliability and the like. And the elastic silicone tube and the outer layer of the braided tube are matched, so that a reliable and low-cost technical scheme can be provided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an artificial muscle, and more specifically, to an electrically driven artificial muscle with electrodes stacked in a three-dimensional manner. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, electro-hydraulic artificial muscles, such as the Hasel artificial muscle, have received widespread attention in the field of biomimetic actuation. The inventors, combining the characteristics of the Hasel electro-hydraulic artificial muscle, have presented an electro-hydraulic artificial muscle with three-dimensionally stacked electrodes. In engineering applications, the selection and combination of relevant materials is a key issue for the commercialization of this technology. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a low-cost and highly reliable specific implementation scheme based on the inventor's proposed three-dimensionally stacked electro-artificial muscle. According to one aspect of the invention, a preferred embodiment includes: at least two flexible electrodes encased in a flexible insulating outer layer, the flexible electrodes being immersed in trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate in a double-helical three-dimensionally stacked manner; terminals, each end of the double-helically stacked flexible electrodes being connected to a terminal, the flexible electrodes extending from the terminals and connected to the two poles of an external power source; a flexible sealing outer layer, the flexible sealing outer layer being composed of two layers of material, its two ends in the longitudinal direction being sealed to the terminals, the inner layer of the flexible sealing outer layer being composed of an elastic silicone tube for housing and sealing the flexible electrodes and trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate, and the outer layer being composed of a braided tube for limiting the radial expansion and longitudinal contraction of the electro-driven artificial muscle.

[0004] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the subsequent detailed description are illustrative and explanatory, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection claimed in this invention. Attached Figure Description

[0005] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the construction of an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0006] The objects and functions of the present invention, as well as the methods for achieving these objects and functions, will be clarified by referring to exemplary embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed below; it can be implemented in various forms. The purpose of this specification is merely to help those skilled in the art to comprehensively understand the specific details of the invention.

[0007] The specific implementation methods of the embodiments of the present invention are as follows: Figure 1As shown. The three-dimensional spirally stacked electrodes 01a and 01b, each wrapped with a flexible insulating outer layer, are immersed in dielectric fluid 02, which is trimethylolpropane trioctyl ester / tridecanoate. Terminals 03a and 03b are connected to the two ends of the spirally stacked flexible electrodes 01a and 01b. The two flexible electrodes 01a and 01b are led out from terminals 03a and / or 03b and connected to the two poles of an external power source. The flexible sealing outer layer is composed of two layers of material, and its two ends in the longitudinal direction are sealed to terminals 03a and 03b. The inner layer is composed of an elastic silicone tube 04, which is used to hold and seal the flexible electrodes 01a and 01b and the dielectric fluid 02. The outer layer is composed of a braided tube 05, which is used to limit the radial expansion and longitudinal contraction of the electrically driven artificial muscle.

[0008] In early McKibben artificial muscle technology, elastic rubber tubing was typically used as the sealing layer. However, due to the characteristics of its elastic modulus, elastic rubber tubing usually exhibits significant energy loss during deformation, and its service life and temperature tolerance are far inferior to materials such as waterborne polyurethane and elastic silicone tubing. For the electro-hydraulic artificial muscle of this invention, using a sealing outer layer with a lower elastic modulus can effectively reduce unnecessary energy loss and improve energy conversion efficiency. Furthermore, considering production costs and environmental adaptability, elastic silicone tubing is a more ideal sealing outer layer material.

[0009] In existing electro-hydraulic artificial muscle technology solutions, the choice of dielectric fluid mainly focuses on silicone oil, mineral oil, vegetable-based transformer oil FR3, and rapeseed oil. Previously, it was understood that silicone material itself has high oil absorption, especially sensitive to mineral oil, PAO, and esters. When these oils enter the interior of the elastic silicone tube, they cause the tube to absorb oil and expand, resulting in swelling, which degrades its mechanical properties and reduces the overall structural reliability and service life. Experiments have verified that the aforementioned dielectric fluids have serious compatibility issues with elastic silicone tubes, exhibiting significant swelling; or they have high pour points, making them unsuitable for low-temperature environments. Although fluorinated fluids can be well-compatible with elastic silicone tubes, their application cost is too high. These issues limit the practical application and promotion of related technologies.

[0010] This invention breaks with the conventional understanding that esters cause silicone materials to swell. It employs trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate, widely used in personal care products (such as shampoos and shower gels), as the dielectric fluid for the electrohydraulic artificial muscle. This synthetic ester exhibits good compatibility with the elastic silicone tubing and does not cause swelling. Furthermore, it possesses low kinematic viscosity and pour point, improving the environmental adaptability of this invention. Although trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate does not cause swelling of the elastic silicone tubing, a small amount of leakage still occurs. Due to the excellent lubricity of trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate, this small amount of leakage from the elastic silicone tubing effectively reduces friction between the elastic silicone tubing 04 and the braided tubing 05 during the expansion and contraction of the artificial muscle, improving product reliability and lifespan.

Claims

1. An electrically driven artificial muscle, characterized in that: include: At least two flexible electrodes, each encased in a flexible insulating outer layer, are immersed in trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate in a three-dimensionally interlocked stack. A terminal is connected to each end of the three-dimensionally interlocked flexible electrodes, and the flexible electrodes extend from the terminal to connect to the two poles of an external power source. A flexible sealing outer layer is composed of two layers of material, with its two ends in the longitudinal direction sealed to the terminal. The inner layer of the flexible sealing outer layer is composed of an elastic silicone tube for housing and sealing the flexible electrodes and trimethylolpropane trioctanoate / tridecanoate, while the outer layer is composed of a braided tube for limiting the radial expansion and longitudinal contraction of the electrically driven artificial muscle.

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