Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7692361 - Nanoparticle composite actuator

Microactuators are important components to numerous applications such as inkjet printheads, optical switches, and medical implants. This patent from Hitachi teaches a new type of microactuator using organic material having embedded carbon nanoparticles which operates based on thermal expansion. Claim 1 reads:

1. An actuator comprising:

a molding product of a material comprising a mixture of fine conductive particles and a polymer material, the material expanding or contracting by electric supply; and

at least two electrodes for electric supply disposed on both side portions of the molding product which expands or contracts.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on April 12, 2010 (boomark / email).