Patents Assigned to Joseph M. Schimmels
  • Patent number: 6021579
    Abstract: A mechanism capable of achieving an arbitrarily specified spatial compliant behavior is presented. The mechanism is a parallel connection of multiple individual elastic components that connect a support body to a single compliantly floated body. Each elastic component is, in itself, a low friction 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) mechanism that provides compliant constraint along and/or about a single axis. The elastic components are of three functional types: 1) a "line spring" which resists only translation along its axis, 2) a "torsional spring" which resists only rotation about its axis, and 3) a "screw spring" which resists a specified combination of translation along and rotation about its axis. Through proper selection of the connection geometry, spring constant, and functional type of each elastic component, a spatial compliant mechanism capable of passive force guidance is realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2000
    Assignee: Joseph M. Schimmels
    Inventors: Joseph M. Schimmels, Shuguang Huang