Claims
- 1. An apparatus, comprising:
a support member comprising a top and a bottom; a non-rigid member attached to the bottom of the support member; and an island member movably supported by the non-rigid member.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the support member comprises a frame.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the frame surrounds the island member.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top of the island member is at least partially reflective.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-rigid material has a Young's modulus that is smaller than a Young's modulus of the island member.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-rigid material comprises an elastomer.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-rigid material exhibits substantially linear-elastic behavior over an operational frequency range of the apparatus.
- 8. An actuated mechanism, comprising:
a movable mechanism, comprising:
a support member comprising a top and a bottom, a non-rigid member attached to the bottom of the support member, and an island member movably supported by the non-rigid member; and an actuator configured and positioned to move the island member in response to a control signal.
- 9. The actuated mechanism of claim 8, wherein the actuator comprises an electrostatic actuator.
- 10. The actuated mechanism of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the actuator is attached to the island member.
- 11. The actuated mechanism of claim 8, wherein the actuator comprises:
at least one electrode positioned on the non-rigid member below the island member; and at least one electrode disposed on an actuator support.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/284,943, filed Apr. 20, 2001. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/085,143 (Attorney Docket No. SMT-0039), filed Mar. 1, 2002 entitled “Compliant Mechanism and Method of Forming Same,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/811,612 filed Mar. 20, 2001, entitled “Electrostatically-Actuated Tunable Optical Components Using Entropic Materials”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/766,687 filed Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “Tunable Fabry-Perot Interferometer Using Entropic Materials.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/811,612 also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/190,111, filed Mar. 20, 2000 and 60/211,529, filed Jun. 15, 2000. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/085,143 also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/284,943, filed Apr. 20, 2001 and 60/303,772, filed Jul. 10, 2001. All of the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference in there entirety.
Provisional Applications (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60190111 |
Mar 2000 |
US |
|
60211529 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
|
60284943 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
|
60303772 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10085143 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Child |
10126972 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09811612 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10085143 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09766687 |
Jan 2001 |
US |
Child |
09811612 |
Mar 2001 |
US |