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:
Sep. 18, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1999
Keith A. Williams, Shelburne, VT (US);
George Tsu-Chih Chiu, West Lafayette, IN (US);
Robert J. Bernhard, West Lafayette, IN (US);
Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, IN (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a vibration absorber in which an absorber end mass is coupled to a primary mass by means of a cantilevered beam, wherein at least a portion of the beam comprises a shape memory alloy (SMA). Preferably, the end mass is coupled to the primary mass with several discrete SMA wires which may be individually heated. When each of the SMA wires is heated above a predetermined temperature, the SMA material undergoes a phase change which results in a change in the stiffness of the SMA wire. Heating of the various wires in various combinations allows the operational frequency of the absorber to be actively tuned. The frequency of the absorber may therefore be tuned to closely match the current vibrational frequency of the primary mass, thereby allowing the absorber to be adaptively tuned to the frequency of the primary mass in a simple and straightforward manner.