Foldable structure, method of manufacturing foldable structure, manufacturing device of foldable structure, and non-transitory computer-readable computer medium storing a program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10875273-B2
Application number	US-201815896519-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2018
Priority date	Aug 14, 2015
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

To provide a foldable structure to which stiffness is imparted so that non-uniform extension and contraction is inhibited even when each surface is formed of a flexible material, a manufacturing method and a manufacturing device of the foldable structure, and a non-transitory computer-readable computer medium storing a program. A foldable structure including at least two tubular structures in which the two tubular structures include a shared surface array which is continuous shared surfaces shared by each other, and a twisting characteristic in the shared surface array of one tubular structure is in a direction opposite to that of the twisting characteristic in the shared surface array of the other tubular structure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable structure comprising:
at least two tubular structures,
wherein the two tubular structures include a shared surface array which is continuous shared surfaces shared by the two tubular structures, and
a twisting characteristic in the shared surface array of one tubular structure is in a direction opposite to the direction of the twisting characteristic in the shared surface array of the other tubular structure.

2. The foldable structure according to claim 1 ,
wherein the tubular structures are such that, in a case of transition between a deployed state and a folded state, a propagation amount of a fold angle around the shared surface through one tubular structure is equal to the propagation amount through the other tubular structure.

3. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 1 ,
wherein in a case of transition from a folded state to a deployed state, the tubular structures which are not adjacent to each other so far are adjacent and may be coupled, so that retransition to the folded state may be inhibited.

4. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 1 ,
wherein a surface of the shared surface array is a conceptual surface formed of a plurality of fold lines.

5. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 1 ,
wherein the foldable structure is a folding structure or a flat-foldable structure.

6. The foldable structure according to claim 2 ,
wherein the shared surface array is an arbitrary single curved surface, and
an internal angle at a tetravalent vertex formed of the shared surface array and the wall surface array of the tubular structure including an adjacent wall surface array is such that the sum of opposite angles is 180° or the opposite angles are equal to each other, and a propagation amount of the fold angle through one wall surface array is equal to the propagation amount of the fold angle through the other wall surface array.

7. The foldable structure according to claim 2 ,
wherein the shared surface array is a cylindrical surface in which the shared surfaces are connected by parallel ridge lines, and
where a wall surface array of one tubular structure is such that the extension of the wall surface to the other side so as to penetrate the cylindrical surface is mirror symmetric with the wall surface array of the other tubular structure with respect to a plane orthogonal to the cylindrical surface.

8. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 7 ,
wherein in a case of transition from a folded state to a deployed state, the tubular structures which are not adjacent to each other so far are adjacent and may be coupled, so that retransition to the folded state may be inhibited.

9. The foldable structure according to claim 2 ,
wherein the two tubular structures are Miura-ori tubular structures, and
one tubular structure and the other tubular structure are zipper-coupled such that fold line portions intermesh with each other in the shared surface array.

10. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 6 ,
wherein in a case of transition from a folded state to a deployed state, the tubular structures which are not adjacent to each other so far are adjacent and may be coupled, so that retransition to the folded state may be inhibited.

11. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 2 ,
wherein in a case of transition from a folded state to a deployed state, the tubular structures which are not adjacent to each other so far are adjacent and may be coupled, so that retransition to the folded state may be inhibited.

12. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 2 ,
wherein a surface of the shared surface array is a conceptual surface formed of a plurality of fold lines.

13. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 2 ,
wherein the foldable structure is a folding structure or a flat-foldable structure.

14. The foldable structure according to claim 1 ,
wherein the two tubular structures are Miura-ori tubular structures, and
one tubular structure and the other tubular structure are zipper-coupled such that fold line portions intermesh with each other in the shared surface array.

15. The foldable structure according to any one of claim 14 ,
wherein in a case of transition from a folded state to a deployed state, the tubular structures which are not adjacent to each other so far are adjacent and may be coupled, so that retransition to the folded state may be inhibited.

Assignees

• Japan Science & Tech Agency
• Univ Illinois

Inventors

• Tachi Tomohiro
• Yamaguchi Yasushi
• Filipov Evgueni T
• Paulino Glaucio H

Classifications

• E04B1/345 Primary

  Structures deriving their rigidity from concertina folds · CPC title

• B31D5/04 Primary

  including folding or pleating, e.g. Chinese lanterns · CPC title

• E01D4/00

  Arch-type bridges · CPC title

• B31D5/0086

  Making hollow objects (B31D5/0082, B31D5/0095, B31D5/02, B31D5/04 take precedence) · CPC title

• B31B50/006

  Controlling; Regulating; Measuring; Improving safety · CPC title