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:
Apr. 18, 2017
Filed:
Mar. 21, 2016
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Atsuo Orita, Saitama, JP;
HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A present invention provides a device capable of controlling a variable stiffness mechanism, which has a dielectric elastomer interposed between two members, so as to suppress an increase in the strain of the dielectric elastomer caused by the creep phenomenon. A power source control unitcorrects a reference supply voltage Vbase of an output voltage of a power source, which is determined on the basis of a desired degree of stiffness of a dielectric elastomer, by a feedback manipulated variable determined on the basis of a difference between a desired value of the capacitance of the elastomerand an estimated value thereof, thereby setting a desired value for controlling the output voltage of the power sourcein order to control the power sourceaccording to the desired value for control.