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:
May. 21, 2019
Filed:
Feb. 10, 2015
Applicant:
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Sakai, Osaka, JP;
Inventor:
Hitoshi Aoki, Sakai, JP;
Assignee:
SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Sakai, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 1/00 (2006.01); G02B 23/24 (2006.01); A61B 1/005 (2006.01); A61B 1/04 (2006.01); A61B 1/015 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 1/00071 (2013.01); A61B 1/00039 (2013.01); A61B 1/00045 (2013.01); A61B 1/0052 (2013.01); A61B 1/0055 (2013.01); A61B 1/00147 (2013.01); A61B 1/015 (2013.01); A61B 1/04 (2013.01); G02B 23/2476 (2013.01);
Abstract
A bending device with which bending motions can be controlled with ease and good controllability includes a plurality of elastic tubes disposed inside an elastic tube. The elastic tubes each include an elastic tube body and a non-stretching body. The portion of the elastic tube body opposite the portion in which the non-stretching body is fixed inflates in a circumferential direction of the elastic tube body in response to increase in its internal pressure, causing the elastic tube to bend. The portion of the elastic tube body in which the non-stretching body is fixed is thicker than the remaining portion of the elastic tube body.