The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 11, 2018
Filed:
Aug. 06, 2015
President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Samuel M. Felton, Somerville, MA (US);
Robert J. Wood, Cambridge, MA (US);
Michael T. Tolley, San Diego, CA (US);
Erik D. Demaine, Cambridge, MA (US);
Daniela Rus, Weston, MA (US);
President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A self-folding machine comprises a laminate including a flexible layer with a first side and a second side; a first rigid layer including at least one gap laminated to the first side of the flexible layer; a second rigid layer including at least one gap laminated to the second side of the flexible layer, wherein the rigid layers are more rigid than the flexible layer; a first contractible layer laminated to the first rigid layer and extending across at least one gap in the first rigid layer; and a second contractible layer laminated to the second rigid layer and extending across at least one gap in the second rigid layer, wherein the first and second contractible layers retract to respectively create folds in the machine across gaps in the first and second rigid layers when activated.