초록 ▼

Fuel-powered actuators are described wherein actuation is a consequence of electrochemical processes, chemical processes, or combinations thereof. These fuel-powered actuators include artificial muscles and actuators in which actuation is non-mechanical. The actuators range from large actuators to m

Fuel-powered actuators are described wherein actuation is a consequence of electrochemical processes, chemical processes, or combinations thereof. These fuel-powered actuators include artificial muscles and actuators in which actuation is non-mechanical. The actuators range from large actuators to microscopic and nanoscale devices.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method for actuating an actuator material comprising the steps of: (a) exposing the actuator material in a first chamber to a fuel capable of being oxidized, wherein the exposure of the fuel to the actuator material causes reduction of the actuator material thereby causing actuation of the actu

1. A method for actuating an actuator material comprising the steps of: (a) exposing the actuator material in a first chamber to a fuel capable of being oxidized, wherein the exposure of the fuel to the actuator material causes reduction of the actuator material thereby causing actuation of the actuator material;(b) exposing the actuator material in said first chamber to an oxidizing agent thereby to at least partially reverse said actuation of the actuator material, wherein substantially all products formed by the exposing steps of (a) and (b) on the actuator material have a boiling-point below 150° C. 2. A method for actuating an actuator material comprising the steps of: (a) exposing the actuator material in said first chamber to an oxidizing agent, wherein the exposure of the oxidizing agent to the actuator material causes oxidation of the actuator material thereby causing actuation of the actuator material;(b) exposing the actuator material in a first chamber to a fuel capable of being oxidized thereby to at least partially reverse said actuation of the actuator material, wherein substantially all products formed by the exposing steps of (a) and (b) on the actuator material have a boiling point below 150° C. 3. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a first chamber;(b) an actuator material in the first chamber;(c) a supply of fuel operatively connected to said first chamber for introducing the fuel into the chamber, wherein the fuel is capable of being oxidized, and wherein exposing the fuel to the actuator material can cause reduction of the actuator material thereby causing actuation of the actuator material; and(d) a supply of oxidizing agent operatively connect to said chamber for introducing the oxidizing agent into, the first chamber, wherein the oxidizing agent is capable of at least partially reversing said actuation of the actuator material, and wherein the fuel and the oxidizing agent are reactable such that substantially all products formed have a boiling point below 150° C. 4. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a first chamber;(b) an actuator material in the first chamber;(c) a supply of oxidizing agent operatively connect to said chamber for introducing the oxidizing agent into the first chamber, wherein exposing the oxidizing agent to the actuator material can cause oxidation of the actuator material thereby causing actuation of the actuator material; and(d) a supply of fuel operatively connected to said first chamber for introducing the fuel into the chamber, wherein the fuel is capable of being oxidized thereby at least partially reversing said actuation of the actuator material, and wherein the fuel and the oxidizing agent are reactable such that substantially all products formed have a boiling point below 150° C. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein only the first chamber is required for the actuating function to occur. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuator material is selected from a group consisting of: (i) high surface area materials,(ii) materials that can be intercalated during oxidation processes,(iii) materials that can be intercalated during reduction processes, and(iv) combinations thereof. 7. The method of claim 6 or the fuel-powered actuator of claim 6, wherein the actuator material comprises a high surface area fibrous material, a conducting organic polymer, or both. 8. The method of claim 1, in which the actuator material is electronically insulating for at least some part of the method. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuator material is catalytic with respect to oxidation of the fuel and reduction of the oxidizing agent. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein a catalyst is present with the actuator material, wherein the catalyst is catalytic with respect to oxidation of the fuel and reduction of the oxidizing agent. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuation is (1) capable of providing a mechanical displacement or (2) a change in mechanical, optical, electronic, or magnetic properties. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the actuation is capable of providing the mechanical displacement. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuation results from an event selected from the group consisting of: (i) non-faradaic charge injections,(ii) dopant intercalations,(iii) dopant de-intercalations,(iv) changes in the temperature of the actuating material, and(v) combinations of these events. 14. The method of claim 1, comprising a plurality of actuator materials. 15. The method of 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of the actuator materials actuates due to a temperature change and at least one of the plurality of the actuator materials actuates not due to a temperature change. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein at least of the plurality of the actuator materials stiffens as the operating temperature increases. 17. The method of claim 1, wherein a mechanical catch is used to maintain actuation stroke states whose maintenance would otherwise require the expenditure of energy. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein there is substantially no electrolyte in the first chamber. 19. The method of claim 1, wherein there are electrolytes in the first chamber. 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuator material comprises a conducting polymer. 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuator material comprises an organic conducting polymer. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the organic conducting polymer is capable of (i) oxidation by the oxidizing agent, (ii) reduction by the fuel, or (iii) both. 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the organic conducting polymer is self-dopable. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the self dopable organic conducting polymer possesses substituents including at least one of the following functional groups —COOH, —PO3H2, phosphonic acid half esters, —SO3H, —B(OH)2, boranic half esters, —NH3+, and protonated secondary and tertiary amines. 25. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 3, comprising a second chamber; and a second actuator material in the second chamber. 26. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a chamber containing a mixture of a fuel and an oxidizing agent;(b) a working electrode within the chamber;(c) a counter electrode within the chamber;(d) a first actuating electrode within the chamber, wherein the first actuating electrode is selected from the group consisting of (i) the working electrode, (ii) the counter electrode, (iii) an additional electrode ionically connected to the working electrode and the counter electrode, and (iv) combinations thereof;(e) an electrolyte or plurality of electrolytes ionically connecting the working electrode and the counter electrode;(f) a first catalyst for the working electrode;(g) a second catalyst for the counter electrode, wherein one of the first catalyst and the second catalyst preferentially catalyzes oxidation of the fuel and the other catalyst of the first catalyst and the second catalyst preferentially catalyzes reduction of the oxidizing agent and wherein the actuator is configured to provide mechanical displacement. 27. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, wherein the first actuating electrode comprises either a high surface area material, a material that can be intercalated during oxidation or reduction processes, or a combination thereof. 28. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, wherein the actuator electrode comprises a high surface area electronically conducting material, an electronically conducting organic polymer, or both. 29. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, wherein actuation results from an event selected from a group consisting of: (i) a non-faradaic charge injection;(ii) a dopant intercalation;(iii) a dopant de-intercalation; and(iv) a combination thereof. 30. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, wherein a mechanical catch is used to maintain actuation stroke states whose maintenance would otherwise require the expenditure of energy. 31. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, further comprising a second actuating electrode. 32. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 31, wherein the first actuating electrode is the working electrode and the second actuating electrode is the counter electrode. 33. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, wherein first actuating electrode comprises a phase change material. 34. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 26, wherein the first actuating electrode comprises a conducting shape memory material. 35. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a non-metal phase change material;(b) a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is thermally coupled to the non-metal phase change material; and(c) a fuel and oxidizing agent mixture contacting the catalyst. 36. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 35, wherein the non-metal phase change material comprises a polymer. 37. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 35, wherein the non-metal phase change material comprises a polymer composite. 38. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 37, wherein the polymer composite comprises conducting particles or fibers. 39. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 38, wherein the particles or fibers are nanoparticles or nanofibers. 40. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 38 wherein said polymer composite comprises carbon nanotubes or carbon nanoparticles. 41. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 35, wherein the non-metal phase change material comprises an organic material. 42. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 35, wherein the non-metal phase change material undergoes a substantial volume change when heated above a phase change temperature for the non-metal phase material. 43. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 35, wherein the non-metal phase change material comprises paraffin. 44. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 35, wherein the non-metal phase, change material comprises a shape memory material. 45. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a phase change material;(b) a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is thermally coupled the phase change material;(c) a fuel oxidizer mixture contacting the catalyst; and(d) a physical structure operatively coupled to the actuator, the physical structure selected from the group consisting of (i) a servo controller that controls movement of the actuator,(ii) a controller that controls the compliance characteristics of the actuator at least partially independently of actuator position;(iii) a controller that controls the force generation of the actuator acting on a load in a substantially analog fashion that is substantially independent of the path used to contact the load,(iv) a controlling structure or device which enables passive operation as an oscillator, a tracker, or a constant force generator,(v) a patterned catalyst,(vi) a region selected fuel delivery-system,(vii) a thermo-siphon,(viii) a heat pipe,(ix) an actuator resistance sensing circuit,(x) a displacement sensitive; sensor,(xi) a reverse bias spring, and(xii) combinations thereof. 46. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure is selected from a group consisting of: (A) a servo controller that controls movement of the actuator,(B) a controller that controls the compliance characteristics of the actuator at least partially independently of actuator position,(C) a controller that controls the force generation of the actuator acting on a load in a substantially analog fashion that is substantially independent of the path used to contact the load, and(D) a controlling structure or device which enables passive operation as an oscillator, a tracker, or a constant force generator. 47. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a patterned catalyst. 48. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a region selected fuel delivery system. 49. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a thermo-siphon. 50. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a heat pipe. 51. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises an actuator resistance sensing circuit. 52. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a displacement sensitive sensor. 53. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a reverse bias spring. 54. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 46, wherein the physical structure comprises the servo controller that includes a thermal control loop within an inner servo control loop and an outer servo control loop. 55. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 54, wherein the response time constant or discrete update rate of an inner thermal control loop is at least a factor of two greater than the update rate or response time constant of the outer servo control loop. 56. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 54, comprising a temperature sensor that can be utilized to prevent damage to the actuator. 57. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, configured to utilize a feed forward model. 58. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 57, wherein an electrical resistance of the phase change material can be utilized as a feedback signal. 59. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 58 wherein an additional feedback signal can be utilized and wherein the additional feedback signal is selected from a group consisting of: (A) position,(B) velocity,(C) temperature,(D) resistance change rate, and(E) a combination thereof. 60. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 58, wherein the physical structure comprises a servo controller that is configured to determine a hysteresis state utilizing at least one of the following: velocity direction, velocity magnitude, resistance change direction, and resistance change magnitude. 61. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 58, wherein an actuating element electrical resistance is used as a proxy for position. 62. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein the physical structure comprises a non-linear controller. 63. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 62, wherein the non-linear controller is operable to utilize at least one of the following (A) an adaptive control technique, (B) Kalman filtering, or (C) a neural network. 64. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 45, wherein temperature can be utilized as in input to a position feedback system. 65. The fuel-powered actuator of claim 64, wherein the temperature can be used to resolve a hysteresis state of a non-linear actuator system. 66. A fuel-powered thermally operated actuator comprising: (a) an actuator material, wherein the actuator material comprises a non-phase change material;(b) a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is thermally coupled to the non-phase change material; and(c) a fuel oxidizer mixture contacting the catalyst. 67. The fuel powered thermally operated actuator of claim 66, wherein the actuator comprises a cantilever. 68. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a working electrode;(b) a counter electrode that is mechanically un-coupled with respect to the working electrode;(c) an electrolyte or electrolytes that provide an ion path between the working electrode and the counter electrode; and(d) an actuator material operable for responding to charge injection processes resulting from the operation of the working electrode and the counter electrode, wherein one electrode of the working electrode and the counter electrode is in contact with a fuel and the other electrode of the working electrode and the counter electrode is in contact with an oxidizing agent, and wherein the actuator is configured to provide mechanical displacement. 69. A fuel-powered actuator comprising: (a) a working electrode;(b) a counter electrode;(c) an electrolyte or electrolytes that provide an ion path between the working electrode and the counter electrode; and(d) an actuator material operable for responding to thermal energy produced by joint operation of the working electrode and the counter electrode, wherein the working electrode or the counter electrode comprises the actuator material, and wherein the actuator is configured to provide mechanical displacement. 70. An inch worn type motor comprising: (a) a first end clamp assembly;(b) a second end clamp assembly; and(c) a catalyst-coated shape memory metal extension spring mounted between two end clamp assemblies. 71. The inch work type motor of claim 70, wherein the end clamp configuration can enable selection of linear or rotary operation.