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:
Mar. 11, 2014
Filed:
Jul. 09, 2010
Jeffery B Moler, Sarasota, FL (US);
Jeffery B Moler, Sarasota, FL (US);
Viking AT, LLC, Sarasota, FL (US);
Abstract
A micro-scale, smart material actuator having an overall length smaller than 10 mm comprising a multilayer piezoelectric stack housed in a mechanical amplifier made up of a fixed supporting member, a movable supporting member connected to compliant links attached to one or more actuating arms such that, when a suitable electric current is applied to the piezoelectric stack, the resulting expansion is translated through the movable supporting member, thereby causing movement in the actuating arms A method of generating electricity from motion using such an actuator is also disclosed in which the actuating arms are connected to a source of mechanical motion and the piezoelectric stack is connected to an electrical load, whereby the mechanical motion causes the piezoelectric stack to generate electrical charge that is then discharged into the load.