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. 27, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1996
Thomas A McMahon, Wellesley, MA (US);
Stephen N Robinovitch, San Francisco, CA (US);
Wilson C Hayes, Lincoln, MA (US);
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc., Boston, MA (US);
President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A tug-resistant unit in which the first and second relatively inextensible members overlap one another. A shear-thickening composition having dilatant flow characteristics is disposed between the first and the second inextensible members. The composition provides a variable resistance to linear movement of the second inextensible member relative to the first inextensible member as a function of the shear forces exerted upon the dilatant fluid. The inextensible members may be enclosed within an extensible enclosure to form an elastic strap. Alternatively, one inextensible member may form a portion of the enclosure while the second inextensible member is disposed within the strap so as to overlap the first inextensible portion of the enclosure. The strap provides low resistance to slowly-varying tensile forces and high resistance to rapidly-changing tensile forces, thereby moderating the velocity of relative motion between the ends.