Source: http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US7064472
Timestamp: 2015-11-29 23:10:52
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Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'application No. 60']

Patent US7064472 - Electroactive polymer devices for moving fluid - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsThe invention describes devices for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid, such as pumps, compressors and fans. The thermodynamic work may be used to provide a driving force for moving the fluid. Work performed on the fluid may be transmitted to other devices, such as a piston in a hydraulic actuation...http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US7064472?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7064472 - Electroactive polymer devices for moving fluidAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7064472 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/393,506Publication date20 Jun 2006Filing date18 Mar 2003Priority date20 Jul 1999Fee statusPaidAlso published asEP1512215A1, EP1512215A4, EP1512215B1, EP2317639A1, US7362032, US7394182, US7911115, US20040008853, US20060158065, US20070164641, US20100026143, WO2003081762A1Publication number10393506, 393506, US 7064472 B2, US 7064472B2, US-B2-7064472, US7064472 B2, US7064472B2InventorsRonald E. Pelrine, Roy David Kornbluh, Scott E. Stanford, Qibing Pei, Richard Heydt, Joseph S. Eckerle, Jonathan R. HeimOriginal AssigneeSri InternationalExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (75), Non-Patent Citations (99), Referenced by (153), Classifications (84), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetElectroactive polymer devices for moving fluid
US 7064472 B2Abstract
The invention describes devices for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid, such as pumps, compressors and fans. The thermodynamic work may be used to provide a driving force for moving the fluid. Work performed on the fluid may be transmitted to other devices, such as a piston in a hydraulic actuation device. The devices may include one or more electroactive polymer transducers with an electroactive polymer that deflects in response to an application of an electric field. The electroactive polymer may be in contact with a fluid where the deflection of the electroactive polymer may be used to perform thermodynamic work on the fluid. The devices may be designed to efficiently operate at a plurality of operating conditions, such as operating conditions that produce an acoustic signal above or below the human hearing range. The devices may be used in thermal control systems, such as refrigeration system, cooling systems and heating systems.
1. A device for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid, the device comprising:
one or more transducers, each transducer comprising at least two electrodes and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes, wherein a portion of the electroactive polymer is arranged to deflect from a first position to a second position in response to a change in electric field, and wherein the electroactive polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 MPa; and
at least one surface in contact with a fluid and operatively coupled to the one or more transducers, wherein the deflection of the portion of the electroactive polymer causes the thermodynamic work to be imparted to the fluid and wherein the thermodynamic work is transmitted to the fluid via the at least one surface.
a chamber for receiving the fluid wherein a bounding surface of the chamber includes the at least one surface.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the chamber is formed from one of a bladder or a bellows.
4. The device of claim 3, wherein the deflection of the portion of the electroactive polymer squeezes the bladder or bellows to reduce a volume of the bladder or the bellows.
5. The device of claim 3, wherein the deflection of the portion of the electroactive polymer stretches the bladder or bellows to increase a volume of the bladder or the bellows.
6. The device of claim 3, wherein the chamber is formed from a cylinder and a piston wherein the one surface is a portion of a piston head.
7. The device of claim 2, wherein the deflection of the portion of the electroactive polymer causes a change in a volume of the chamber.
8. The device of claim 7, wherein the change in the volume in the chamber compresses the fluid.
9. The device of claim 7, wherein the change in the volume in the chamber expands the fluid.
10. The device of claim 7, wherein the change in the volume in the chamber causes a thermodynamic phase change in at least a portion of the fluid.
11. The device of claim 7, wherein the change in volume in the chamber draws fluid into the chamber.
12. The device of claim 7, wherein the change in volume in the chamber expels fluid from the chamber.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from co-pending; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/365,472, by Pelrine, et al., “Electroactive Polymer Devices For Moving Fluid,” filed Mar. 18, 2002 which is incorporated by reference for all purposes;
and the application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/792,431 entitled “Electroactive Polymer Thermal Electric Generators,” filed Feb. 23, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,040, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/184,217 filed Feb. 23, 2000, naming Q. Pei et al. as inventors, and titled “Electroelastomers And Their Use For Power Generation”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/190,713 filed Mar. 17, 2000, naming J. S. Eckerle et al. as inventors, and titled “Artificial Muscle Generator”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes;
and the application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/154,449 entitled “Rolled Electroactive Polymers,” filed May 21, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,891,317 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/293,003 filed on May 22, 2001, which is incorporated by reference for all purposes;
and the application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/053,511 entitled “Variable Stiffness Electroactive Polymer Systems,” filed Jan. 16, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,086 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/293,005 filed May 22, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes; and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/327,846 entitled Enhanced Multifunctional Footwear and filed Oct. 5, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes;
and the application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/619,847 entitled “Improved Electroactive Polymers,” filed Jul. 20, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,624 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/144,556 filed Jul. 20, 1999, naming R. E. Pelrine et al. as inventors, and titled “High-speed Electrically Actuated Polymers and Method of Use”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/153,329 filed Sep. 10, 1999, naming R. E. Pelrine et al. as inventors, and titled “Electrostrictive Polymers As Microactuators”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/161,325 filed Oct. 25, 1999, naming R. E. Pelrine et al. as inventors, and titled “Artificial Muscle Microactuators”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/181,404 filed Feb. 9, 2000, naming R. D. Kornbluh et al. as inventors, and titled “Field Actuated Elastomeric Polymers”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/187,809 filed Mar. 8, 2000, naming R. E. Pelrine et al. as inventors, and titled “Polymer Actuators and Materials”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes; and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/192,237 filed Mar. 27, 2000, naming R. D. Kornbluh et al. as inventors, and titled “Polymer Actuators and Materials II”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/184,217 filed Feb. 23, 2000, naming R. E. Pelrine et al. as inventors, and titled “Electroelastomers and their use for Power Generation”, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes;
and this application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/007,705 entitled “Electroactive Polymer Sensors,” filed Dec. 6, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,462, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/293,004 filed May 22, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes and which is also a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/828,496 filed Apr. 4, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,859, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/194,817 filed Apr. 5, 2000, all of which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes;
and this application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/066,407 entitled “Devices and Methods for Controlling Fluid Flow Using Elastic Sheet Deflection,” filed Jan. 31, 2002, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes
an this application is a continuation-in-pat and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/779,203, filed Feb. 7, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,718, by Pelrine, et al, and entitled, “Monolithic Electroactive Polymers,” which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/181,404, which is incorporated by reference for all purposes
and this application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/090,430, filed on Feb. 28, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,806,621, by Heim, et al. and titled, “Electroactive Polymer Rotary Motors,” which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. �119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/273,108, filed Mar. 2, 2001 and titled, “Electroactive Polymer Motors,” both of which are incorporated by reference for all purposes.
This application is related to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/383,005, filed on Mar. 5, 2003, by Heim, et al., and entitled, “Electroactive Polymer Devices for Controlling Fluid Flow,” which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes.
and the application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority co-pending from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/047,485 entitled “Elastomeric Dielectric Polymer Film Sonic Actuator,” filed Oct. 26, 2001; which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,801 filed Jul. 19, 1999 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,129 which claims the benefit of International Application No. PCT/US98/02311 filed on Feb. 2, 1998 which application is entitled to the priority benefit of co-pending U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/037,400, filed Feb. 7, 1997.
This application was made in part with government support under contract number N00014-02-C-0252 awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research. The government has certain fights in the invention.
The present invention relates generally to electroactive polymer devices that convert between electrical energy and mechanical energy. More particularly, the present invention relates to pumping devices comprising one or more electroactive polymer transducers.
Fluid systems are ubiquitous. The automotive industry, the plumbing industry, chemical processing industry, computer industry, refrigeration/cooling industry, home appliance industry, and the aerospace industry are a few examples where fluid systems are of critical importance. In most fluid systems, it is often desirable to perform thermodynamic work on the fluid in the fluid system. The thermodynamic work, such as in the case of a pump or fan, may be used to provide the energy needed to move the fluid in the fluid system from one location to another location in the fluid system. As another example, the thermodynamic work may be used to place the fluid in a desirable thermodynamic state, such as compressing the fluid in a refrigeration system to convert it from a gas phase to a liquid or compressing the fluid in a combustion system prior to combustion such as in an automobile engine. In yet another example, thermodynamic work may be performed on a fluid as a means of energy transfer, such as in a hydraulic lift or hydraulic control system.
In general, pumps, fans and compressors have wide ranging applications in both the home and industrial environment. As examples, pumps, fans and/or compressors are used for circulating refrigerant and removing waste heat in cooling systems (e.g., air conditioning, refrigeration), pumping water in washing machine and dishwashers, removing waste heat from heat sources (e.g., CPU) in the computing industry, pressurizing air for pneumatic systems, transporting water for irrigation, transporting oil and gas in pipelines, and moving fluids between various unit operations in a chemical process plant. Pumps and compressors are also used widely in biomedical applications including, for example, circulating blood for dialysis or during surgical procedures.
Pumps, fans and compressors have been in existence for centuries for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid. Conventional pumps and compressors are predominantly piston-driven with an electric motor; these conventional devices tend to be heavy (bulky), noisy, inefficient at slow speeds (or require gearboxes to step down higher speeds), and can be mechanically complex and costly. Electric motors are generally designed to operate in the 50–500 Hz range. These motors usually operate in the audible range and need to be geared down (with the associated cost, weight, inefficiency, and complexity) to the proper pump or compressor frequency. For many applications, there is a need for pumps, fans, compressors and hydraulic devices that are more lightweight, higher power and efficiency, quieter, and lower cost.
New high-performance polymers capable of converting electrical energy to mechanical energy, and vice versa, are now available for a wide range of energy conversion applications. One class of these polymers, electroactive elastomers (also called dielectric elastomers, electroelastomers, or EPAM), is gaining wider attention. Electroactive elastomers may exhibit high energy density, stress, and electromechanical coupling efficiency. The performance of these polymers is notably increased when the polymers are prestrained in area. For example, a 10-fold to 25-fold increase in area significantly improves performance of many electroactive elastomers. Actuators and transducers produced using these materials can be significantly cheaper, lighter and have a greater operation range as compared to conventional technologies used for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid in a fluid system.
Thus, improved techniques for implementing these high-performance polymers in devices used for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid in a fluid system would be desirable.
One aspect of the present invention provides a device for performing thermodynamic work on a fluid. The device may be generally characterized as comprising: i) one or more transducers, each transducer comprising at least two electrodes and an electroactive polymer in electrical communication with the at least two electrodes wherein a portion of the electroactive polymer is arranged to deflect from a first position to a second position in response to a change in electric field; and at least one surface in contact with a fluid and operatively coupled to the one or more transducers wherein the deflection of the portion of the electroactive polymer causes the thermodynamic work to be imparted to the fluid wherein the thermodynamic work is transmitted to the fluid via the one surface. The deflection of the one portion of the electroactive polymer may generate one of rotational motion, linear motion, vibrational motion or combinations thereof for the one surface. The thermodynamic work may provide a driving force to move the fluid from a first location to a second location.
The device may be one of a pump, a compressor, a hydraulic actuator and a fan. In particular, the device may be one of air compressor, a bellows bump, a fuel pump and a centrifugal pump. The device is one of a pump or a compressor for a refrigeration system.
The device may be a fan used in a ventilation system where the fluid is air. The device may be used in a thermal control system for controlling a temperature at one or more locations in a second device. As an example, the second device may be a computer and one of the locations is proximate to a microprocess