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:
Jul. 17, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 22, 1998
Paul M. Zavracky, Norwood, MA (US);
Rick H. Morrison, Tauton, MA (US);
Keith Warner, Warwick, RI (US);
Nicol E. McGruer, Dover, MA (US);
Northeastern University, Boston, MA (US);
Abstract
A method of creating plastically deformed devices which have a three dimensional aspect. Micromechanical structures are created from a material which is plastically deformable and then a section of the structure is bent to an out-of-plane position and can be maintained there without being supported by other mechanical devices such as latches or hinges. The bending of the structures may be done mechanically, by electrostatic forces or by magnetic forces. The bending can also be done in a batch mode where a plurality of devices are bent at the same time as part of the same process. Fuses can be utilized to allow only a predetermined number of devices to be bent in batch mode. The fuses are later blown, thereby providing a plurality of devices which are relatively parallel to the substrate as well as a plurality of devices which are generally out-of-plane with respect to the substrate.