Claims
- 1. A process for making a magnetostrictive actuator comprising the steps of:
mixing a magnetostrictive material with a UV curable polymer to form a material mixture; placing a first film of said material mixture on a bottom slide; partially curing said polymer with UV light in an oxygen free environment forming a partially cured layer; placing a second film of said UV curable polymer on said partially cured layer and curing said second film, whereby said first and second films form a composite beam.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said first and second films are further cured by heat.
- 3. The process of claim 1 further comprising aligning a portion of said first layer with a magnetic field prior to curing.
- 4. The process of claim 1 wherein said UV light is around 364 nm wavelength.
- 5. The process of claim 1 further comprising using a plurality of said beams made by said process arranged in a predetermined pattern to make a clamp actuator.
- 6. The process of claim 1 wherein said polymer is DSM 4D6-73.
- 7. The process of claim 1 wherein said magnetostrictive material is TERFENOL-D.
- 8. A method of forming a magnetostrictive actuator comprising the steps of placing a magnetostrictive material and a cross-linking polymer on a base, aligning said magnetostrictive material in a first direction with a magnetic field, curing at least one region of said polymer, aligning magnetostrictive material in uncured regions of said polymer in a second direction with a magnetic field, curing at least a second region of said polymer, whereby at least two regions of cured polymer are created with magnetostrictive material aligned in at least two different directions.
- 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising curing a top layer of polymer on said previously cured polymer, where said previously cured layer of polymer contains magnetostrictive material and said top layer of polymer contains no magnetostrictive material.
- 10. The method of claim 8 wherein said curing is by UV light.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said UV light has a wavelength of around 364 nm.
- 13. The method of claim 8 wherein said first region of polymer is selected with a mask.
- 14. A method of producing a magnetostrictive actuator comprising the steps of placing a first polymer layer on a glass slide, said first polymer layer containing a magnetostrictive material, curing at least a portion of said polymer on said slide, placing a second polymer layer on said first polymer layer, curing said second polymer layer.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein said curing is with a UV light source.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said UV light source has a wavelength of around 364 nm.
- 17. The method of claim 14 further comprising placing a sheet magnet under said glass slide before said curing.
- 18. The method of claim 14 further comprising placing a second glass slide over said polymer layers during curing.
- 19. The method of claim further comprising making multiple layers of polymer with magnetostrictive material and polymer without magnetostrictive material.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein at least two of said layers with magnetostrictive material are aligned in different directions.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional patent application No. 60/421,635 filed Oct. 25, 2002 and hereby incorporates that application by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60421635 |
Oct 2002 |
US |