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:
Jan. 07, 2025
Filed:
Sep. 09, 2020
President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US);
Kevin Galloway, Somerville, MA (US);
Conor Walsh, Cambridge, MA (US);
Donal Holland, Athgarvan, IE;
Panagiotis Polygerinos, Mesa, AZ (US);
Tyler Clites, Natick, MA (US);
Paxton Maeder-York, Cambridge, MA (US);
Ryan Neff, Lincoln Park, NJ (US);
Emily Marie Boggs, Charleston, WV (US);
Zivthan Dubrovsky, Lexington, MA (US);
President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A multi-segment reinforced actuator includes (a) a soft actuator body that defines a chamber and (b) a plurality of distinct reinforcement structures on or in respective segments of the soft actuator body. First and second reinforcement structures are respectively configured to produce a first and second actuation motions, respectively, in first and second segments of the soft actuator body when fluid flows into or out of the chamber. The actuation motions are selected bending, extending, expansion, contraction, twisting, and combinations thereof; and the first actuation motion differs from the second actuation motion. The actuator can be used, e.g., to facilitate bending of the thumb with corresponding bending, extending, expansion, contraction, and twisting actuation motions.