Actuator device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9812632-B2
Application number	US-201314418947-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2013
Priority date	Aug 1, 2012
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

An actuator device having an expansion unit ( 10 ), which comprises a magnetically active shape memory alloy material ( 12 ) and which carries out an expansion movement from a starting position along an expansion direction as a reaction to an energization of a coil device ( 30 ) and interacts with restoring means which exert on the expansion unit ( 10 ) a restoring force opposite to the expansion direction, wherein the restoring force has permanent magnets which act or are seated on a section of the expansion unit ( 10 ) such that the restoring force generated magnetically by the permanent magnets changes with increasing expansion stroke in the expansion direction, wherein the permanent magnets ( 16, 34, 40, 52, 54 ) are embodied and/or designed such that the expansion unit ( 10 ) can contract into the starting position along the expansion stroke when the coil device ( 30 ) is not energized.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An actuator device comprising an expansion unit containing a magnetically active shape memory alloy material, said expansion unit executes an expansion movement from a starting position along an expansion direction as a reaction to energisation of a coil device and interacting with restoring means for exerting a restoring force counter to the expansion direction on the expansion unit, the restoring means comprises permanent magnet means for acting on a section of the expansion unit in such a manner that a restoring force generated by permanent magnets changes with increasing expansion travel in the expansion direction, wherein the permanent magnet means are formed and/or set up in such a manner that a contraction of the expansion unit into the starting position can take place along the expansion travel when the coil device is not energised.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the permanent magnet means generates the restoring force that is generated by permanent magnets such that the restoring force falls or is reduced with increasing expansion travel.

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the shape memory alloy material is elongated along the expansion direction and has assigned flux-conducting means on a lateral and/or surface side, which flux-conducting means effect a magnetic flux through the shape memory alloy material owing to the energisation in a flux direction transverse to the expansion direction.

4. The device according to claim 3 , wherein the flux-conducting means interact with the permanent magnet means in such a manner that a permanent magnet flux of the permanent magnet means flows through at least some sections of the flux-conducting means during energisation and when the coil device is not energised.

5. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the elongate expansion unit has the permanent magnet means on an end section that is moved by the expansion.

6. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the permanent magnet means are assigned a permanent magnet flux-conducting means for conducting a permanent magnet flux to a stationary core unit assigned to the shape memory alloy material.

7. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the permanent magnet flux-conducting means is one of cup-, arc- or yoke-shaped.

8. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the permanent magnet means have an axially magnetised permanent magnet body in relation to the expansion direction.

9. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the permanent magnet means have a disc-shaped and radially magnetised permanent magnet body.

10. The device according to claim 1 , wherein a first permanent magnet body of the permanent magnet means is provided at the end of the expansion unit and for magnetic interaction with a second permanent magnet body of the permanent magnet means, the second permanent magnet body is provided on a stator section laterally adjacent to the first permanent magnet body.

11. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the first and second permanent magnet bodies comprise radially magnetised permanent magnet bodies relative to the expansion direction, having the same poles directed towards each other.

12. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the permanent magnet means are assigned a cone section which conducts the permanent magnet flux and extends along the expansion direction.

Assignees

• Eto Magnetic Gmbh

Inventors

• Laufenberg Markus
• Schiepp Thomas

Classifications

• H02N2/04

  Constructional details · CPC title

• H01L41/06

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L41/12 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10N35/80 Primary

  Constructional details · CPC title

• H10N35/00 Primary

  Magnetostrictive devices (integrated devices or assemblies of multiple devices H10N39/00) · CPC title