Positioning apparatus and gripping apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11627937-B2
Application number	US-202217895546-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2022
Priority date	Aug 13, 2018
Publication date	Apr 18, 2023
Grant date	Apr 18, 2023

Abstract

A gripping apparatus includes: a temperature adjusting device held in a substrate wherein the substrate defines an open region; a phase change material held within the open region and thermally coupled with the temperature adjusting device such that a temperature change in the temperature adjusting device causes a temperature change in the phase change material; and a controller connected to the temperature adjusting device and configured to send a signal to the temperature adjusting device to change its temperature and thereby change the temperature of the phase change material that is thermally coupled with the temperature adjusting device. The phase change material is either in a solid state and configured to grip a stick or in a liquid state and the phase change material and configured to loosen its grip on the stick such that the stick is capable of moving through the phase change material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A gripping apparatus comprising:
a temperature adjusting device held in a substrate wherein the substrate defines an open region;
a phase change material held within the open region and thermally coupled with the temperature adjusting device such that a temperature change in the temperature adjusting device causes a temperature change in the phase change material; and
a controller connected to the temperature adjusting device and configured to send a signal to the temperature adjusting device to change its temperature and thereby change the temperature of the phase change material that is thermally coupled with the temperature adjusting device;
wherein:
when the phase change material is at a temperature below a first transition temperature, the phase change material is in a solid state and the phase change material is configured to grip a stick within the phase change material; and
when the phase change material is at a temperature above a second transition temperature, the phase change material is in a liquid state and the phase change material is configured to loosen its grip on the stick such that the stick is capable of moving through the phase change material.

2. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the stick extends through the phase change material.

3. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material includes one or more of: wax; paraffin wax; and alkane hydrocarbon.

4. The gripping apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the alkane hydrocarbon includes one or more of: n-octacosane, n-heptacosane, n-hexacosane, n-pentacosane, n-tetracosane, n-docosane, n-tricosane, n-heneicosane, n-eicosane, n-nonadecane, n-octadecane, n-heptadecane, n-hexadecane, n-pentadecane, n-tetradecane, and n-tridecane.

5. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material is selected so that the transition between the solid state and the liquid state at the first or second transition temperature occurs at an operating temperature for the gripping apparatus.

6. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the stick is rigid enough to withstand motion through the phase change material without fracturing or bending or kinking.

7. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first transition temperature and the second transition temperature are at room temperature, at a temperature of a living organism, at a temperature below room temperature, or at a temperature above room temperature.

8. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the stick includes one or more of: at least one conductor; at least one measurement probe; at least one capillary tube; at least one optical waveguide; and at least one carbon fiber; and at least one sonic waveguide.

9. The gripping apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the at least one measurement probe includes an electrical testing probe, a silicon probe, an electrical recording probe, or an ultrasonic probe.

10. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is generally defined in an x-y plane, and when the phase change material is at a temperature above the second transition temperature, the stick is capable of moving through the phase change material along a z axis that is perpendicular to the x-y plane.

11. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a cross section of the stick taken along a plane is a circular shape, a polygonal shape, or an irregular asymmetric shape.

12. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the temperature adjusting device comprises a resistive conductive wire and the controller includes a power source that supplies a current to the resistive conductive wire, wherein the resistive conductive wire changes its temperature as the current is changed.

13. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the temperature adjusting device comprises one or more of: a resistive material deposited in the open region of the substrate; a chip resistor adjacent to the open region of the substrate; a wire-wound resistor in the open region of the substrate; and a carbon paste coated in the open region of the substrate.

14. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes a printed circuit board.

15. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material is held within the open region by way of capillary forces.

16. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material remains within the open region even if it is in the liquid state.

17. The gripping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first transition temperature is equal to the second transition temperature.

18. A positioning apparatus comprising:
a single actuator drive movable along an axial direction;
a plurality of axial holders, each axial holder configured to receive a stick and each axial holder being fixed to the single actuator drive; and
a controller in communication with the single actuator drive and with the plurality of axial holders, and configured to:
provide an actuation signal to the single actuator drive; and
provide at least one independent signal to each of the axial holders;

whereby the position of each stick is independently adjustable along the axial direction by the adjustment of the provided at least one independent signal to each of the axial holders without adjusting the provided actuation signal to the single actuator drive.

19. The positioning apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:
the single actuator drive includes a first end and a second end; and
the first and second ends are movable relative to each other along the axial direction.

20. The positioning apparatus of claim 19 , wherein:
each axial holder includes a first gripping apparatus fixed to the first end of the single actuator drive and a second gripping apparatus fixed to the second end of the single actuator drive;
the second gripping apparatus is aligned along an axial direction with the first gripping apparatus; and
for each axial holder:
the first gripping apparatus is configured to receive a first region of the stick that is received in that axial holder and the second gripping apparatus is configured to receive a second region of the stick that is received in that axial holder.

21. The positioning apparatus of claim 20 , wherein, for each axial holder:
the first gripping apparatus includes a phase change material that is configured to receive the first region of the stick that is received in that axial holder; and
the second gripping apparatus includes a phase change material that is configured to receive the second region of the stick that is received in that axial holder.

22. The positioning apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:
providing the actuation signal to the single actuator drive comprises providing a temporally-varying signal to the single actuator drive, the temporally-varying signal controlling an axial position associated with the single actuator drive.

23. The positioning apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:
each axial holder is configured to interact with at least two interaction regions of its associated stick;
at each interaction region, the stick is received in a gripping apparatus; and
providing at least one independent signal to each of the axial holders comprises providing an independent signal to each gripping apparatus in each axial holder.

24. The positioning apparatus of claim 23 , wherein each gripping apparatus comprises:
a temperature adjusting device; and
a phase change material thermally coupled with the temp

Assignees

• Hughes Howard Med Inst

Inventors

• Barbic Mladen
• Smith Richard

Classifications

• A61B8/4209 Primary

  by using holders, e.g. positioning frames · CPC title

• B01L9/50

  Clamping means, e.g. tongs · CPC title

• A61B2560/0242

  adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution · CPC title

• B01L9/065 Primary

  specially adapted for capillary tubes · CPC title

• A61B2560/0462

  Apparatus with built-in sensors · CPC title