Patent ID: 7931240
Filing Date: 2011-04-26
Classification: B29K,B63B,B63H,B64C,Y02T

Abstract:
1. An assembly for controlling a vehicle, comprising: a resilient fluid contact surface constructed and arranged to act against a fluid passing over said fluid contact surface; and a cellular support structure coupled to said fluid contact surface and supporting said fluid contact surface against fluid loads applied to the fluid contact surface, said cellular support structure comprising a plurality of rigid elongate support members extending substantially parallel to each other and spaced from each other within a plane, and a plurality of resilient linking members spaced in a row and fixedly attached between each opposing pair of support members, each linking member further comprising a strut consisting of two legs each attached distally to one of said opposing pair of support members and converging to a flexible hinge suspended between said opposing pair of support members, each said opposing pair of support members and row of linking members there between defining a zero-Poisson effect cellular structure of enclosed cells adapted for expansion and contraction along an axis within said plane without dimensional change along an in-plane transverse axis and without dimensional change along an out-of-plane axis; said support structure constructed and arranged to expand or contract between a first position and a second position by structural flexing deformation of said linking members at said flexible hinges, such that a first in-plane dimension of said support structure changes during movement of said support structure between said first position and said second position, while a second transverse in-plane dimension of said support structure remains substantially constant during the movement of said support structure between said first position and said second position, and a third out-of-plane dimension of said support structure remains substantially constant during the movement of said support structure between said first position and said second position, said fluid contact surface being coupled as an external layer to said cellular support structure for resilient deforming movement along with the support structure, wherein said deforming movement of fluid contact surface is such that its resilience exhibits a Poisson's ratio substantially close to zero in-plane with respect to said first and second dimensions of said support structure movement.