Variable Modulus Pneumatic Actuator for Controlled Shape Change
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing control elements require specialized support structures and cushions for each application, leading to significant production complexity and cost due to the need for custom construction and integration.
Innovation Solution
A control element with a modulus of elasticity that varies across its sections, allowing for directed shape change under pressurization or evacuation, achieved through the use of composite materials with stiffening elements that limit expansion in non-target directions, enabling universal application similar to pneumatic control cylinders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a homogeneous expansion element is used, then the element can be simply constructed, but it undergoes uncontrolled deformation and excessive volume changes under pressurization
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion element incorporates sections with different moduli of elasticity - stiffer sections at the ends and more elastic sections in the middle - to achieve controlled deformation patterns while maintaining manufacturing simplicity. This local differentiation allows the element to expand in a predictable, functional manner rather than undergoing uncontrolled deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion element is constructed as a composite structure with sections having different elastic properties. This composite design combines stiffer and more elastic materials in specific sections to achieve both structural stability and controlled deformability, resolving the contradiction between simple construction and deformation control.
2Stability of the object's composition
If stiffening elements are added to control deformation, then deformation control is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Stiffening elements are placed only in specific sections (ends) of the expansion element rather than throughout the entire structure. This localized approach provides necessary deformation control while minimizing the addition of structural complexity, as the middle sections remain simple and elastic.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion element is divided into distinct sections with different structural characteristics - stiffer end sections and more elastic middle sections. This segmentation allows deformation control to be achieved in specific areas without making the entire structure complex, enabling controlled expansion in the elastic sections while maintaining stability in the stiffened sections.
3Reliability
If custom support structures and cushions are designed for each application, then functional safety is achieved, but production outlay and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion element with its differentiated modulus of elasticity is designed as a universal component that can be applied across multiple applications without requiring custom support structures or cushions for each specific use. The inherent structural design provides the necessary control and stability, eliminating the need for application-specific customization and thereby reducing production complexity while maintaining functional safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion element is designed to control its own deformation through its internal structure with different modulus sections, eliminating the need for external support structures or cushions. This self-service capability allows the element to maintain functional safety independently, reducing the overall system complexity and production requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution simplifies the design and production of control elements, allowing for adaptable and efficient use across various applications while preventing uncontrolled deformation and excessive volume changes, thus reducing production costs and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
a control element with at least one elastic expansion element as an internal part that can be connected, via an attachment, to a pressurized fluid source and/or a vacuum source, which permits pressurization or evacuation of a cavity in the expansion element
Implementation Method 2
The control element is preferably designed such that an elastic material of the at least one expansion element as elastic internal part forms, with a stiffer material of a structural element, a composite as a wall
Data Source
AI summary
A control element (1310) has at least one elastic internal part (1332) that can be connected, via a connection, to a pressurized fluid source and/or a vacuum source, which permits pressurization or evacuation of a cavity in the internal part (1332). In order to provide a control member for general use, it is proposed that the elasticity module of a wall (1328) bounding the internal part (1332) is formed differently in certain sections such that, instead of a homogeneous increase or decrease in volume under pressurization or evacuation, an oriented change in shape takes place, between a resting state and a pressurized or evacuated state, that describes a control path of the control element (1310).