ID: 2009-101 The LET Joint is made from a single planar layer but provides rotational motion out of that plane, it is capable of large angular deflection, and is well suited to both macro and micro applications.
Principal Investigator: Larry Howell
The LET Joint is made from a single planar layer but provides rotational motion out of that plane, it is capable of large angular deflection, and is well suited to both macro and micro applications.
Part of the challenge in designing compliant mechanisms is finding suitable joints that provide the needed motion and force-deflection characteristics. Researchers at BYU developed a torsional joint assembly formed from a planar material sheet that comprises a plurality of contiguous segments. The contiguous segments include at least two parallel hinge segments, each being coupleable to a loading structure; and at least a first connecting element that connects the hinge segments one to another, the connecting element extending substantially orthogonally to the hinge segments. The symmetry of the joint allows each individual torsional bar to go through less than the total joint motion, thus reducing the stress in each torsional member. Key advantages of this inventions are (1) it can be fabricated from a single layer of material, reducing manufacturing costs; (2) it allows for high flexibility and lower stress in the torsional members; and (3) it reduces off-axis loading on adjacent links.
About the Market:
Potential applications include: compliant mechanism applications where large deflections are desired, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) such as torsional hinges, long flexible segments, folded-beam suspensions, and others.
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