초록 ▼

A conductive hinge is made of a superelastic shape memory alloy such as nitinol (NiTi) having a large elastic strain limit for enabling the hinge to bend around a small radius during stowage and flexible return to a trained rigid hinge position. The hinge is conductive enabling use of the hinge as a

A conductive hinge is made of a superelastic shape memory alloy such as nitinol (NiTi) having a large elastic strain limit for enabling the hinge to bend around a small radius during stowage and flexible return to a trained rigid hinge position. The hinge is conductive enabling use of the hinge as a conductor for routing power through multiple solar cell panels interconnected by the hinges forming a hinged solar cell array that is deployed when the hinges are released from the bent stowed configuration to the rigid deployed configuration when the hinges further function as latches to lock the panels in place.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A hinge for moving two panels from a stowed position to a deployed position for forming a hinged surface, the deployed position being defined by a trained angle between the two panels, the panels conducting electrical current, the hinge comprising,a bending portion made of a shape memory alloy, t

1. A hinge for moving two panels from a stowed position to a deployed position for forming a hinged surface, the deployed position being defined by a trained angle between the two panels, the panels conducting electrical current, the hinge comprising,a bending portion made of a shape memory alloy, the shape memory alloy is conductive for conducting the electrical current between the two panels, the bending portion trained to the trained angle, andopposing first and second edges made of the shape memory alloy respectively coupled to and between the two panels for securing the panels to each other, the bending portion and two opposing edges and two panels for forming the hinged surface, the panels for conducting the electrical current through the shape memory alloy of the opposing edges and bending portion, the opposing edges being joined to the bending portion disposed between the opposing first and second edges, whereinthe bending portion is trained to the deployed position for defining the deployed position of the panels forming the hinged surface, the bending portion for bending about a hinge axis for placing the two panels in the stowed position, the bending portion for unbending about the hinge axis for deploying the two panels into the deployed position for forming the hinged surface having the trained angle. 2. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the shape memory alloy is nitinol, andthe panels are solar panels. 3. The hinge of claim 1 further comprising,a conducting plating for increasing the conductivity of the shape memory alloy. 4. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the hinge axis extends through the bending portion,the bending portion is made of the shape memory alloy that is trained,the opposing edges are flat, andthe opposing edges are made of the shape memory alloy that is untrained. 5. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the hinge axis extends through the bending portion,the bending portion is made of the shape memory alloy that is trained,the bending portion can be bent 180 degrees so that the two panels are parallel when in the stowed position,the bending portion unbends from the bent 180 degrees to the trained angle when the unbending from the stowed position to the trained position,the bending portion unbends to the trained angle when the two panels are in the deployed position,the opposing edges are flat, andthe opposing edges are made of the shape memory alloy that is untrained. 6. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the hinge axis extends through the bending portion,the bending portion is made of the shape memory alloy that is trained,the bending portion can be bent 180 degrees so that the two panels are parallel when in the stowed position, the bending portion in the stowed position defining a diameter being less than 0.016 inches as a distance between the opposing first and second edges,the bending portion unbends from the bent 180 degrees to the trained angle when the unbending from the stowed position to the trained position,the bending portion unbends to the trained angle when the two panels are in the deployed position,the opposing edges are flat, andthe opposing edges are made of the shape memory alloy that is untrained. 7. The hinge of claim 1, whereinthe electrical current conducting between the two panels and through the bending portion and opposing first and second edges serves to heat the bending portion of the hinge when the two panels are in the stowed position and for raising a temperature of the bending portion to above a training temperature for unbending to the bending portion for positioning two panels into the deployed position. 8. The hinge of claim 1,whereinthe hinge axis extends through the bending portion,the bending portion is made of the shape memory alloy that is trained,the bending portion can be bent 180 degrees so that the two panels are parallel when in the stowed position,the bending portion unbends from the bent 180 degrees to the trained angle when the unbending from the stowed position to the dep loyed position,the bending portion unbends to the trained angle when the two panels are in the deployed position,the opposing edges are flat, andthe opposing edges are made of the shape memory alloy that is untrained, andthe electrical current conducting between the two panels and through the bending portion and opposing first and second edges serves to heat the bending portion of the hinge when the two panels are in the stowed position and for raising the temperature of the bending portion to above a training temperature for unbending to the bending portion for positioning two panels into the deployed position. 9. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the bending portion is trained to the trained angle when bent to the trained angle and heating to above a training temperature. 10. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the bending portion is frozen when below a transformation temperature. 11. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the bending portion unbends to the trained angle when above the transformation temperature and below the training temperature. 12. The hinge of claim 1 wherein,the electrical current is conducted through the opposing first and second edges and through the bending portion is the stowed position,the electrical current serving to heat the bending portion to raise a temperature of the bending portion from below a freezing transformation temperature to above the freezing transformation temperature and below a training temperature, andthe electrical current serving to heat the bending portion into a temperature range between the transformation temperature and the training temperature wherein the bending portion unbends along the hinge axis. 13. The hinge of claim 1, wherein,the shape memory allow is nitinol having a nitinol alloy ratio of 55.8% Ni. 14. The hinge of claim 1, wherein,the shape memory alloy is nitinol having a transformation temperature of 0° and having a training temperature of 500° C.