Patent ID: 7331273
Filing Date: 2008-02-19
Classification: B62D,F15B,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A pneumatic actuator comprising: a flexible plate, wherein said flexible plate is made of a rigid flexible material; at least two elongate, flexible but poorly extensible pneumatic pressure ducts that are disposed side by side and are in parts connected to the flexible plate to which they are secured and on which they are arranged in such a manner that, when said pressure ducts are pressurized with compressed gas, tangential forces are generated parallel to the flexible plate causing said flexible plate to bend; wherein each of the at least two pressure ducts comprise a flexible envelope made of poorly extensible textile material and a gas tight bladder inserted in said envelope, said envelope comprising: wherein, for each of the at least two pressure ducts, the bladder is inserted into the envelope; and wherein if the bladder of each of the at least two pressure ducts is pressurized with compressed gas, the first and second webs between the strips bulge, exerting onto the flexible plate tangentially oriented tensile forces causing the flexible plate to bend on a side of the pressure ducts, defining a tensile arrangement.