Electrorheological valve

摘要

An ER fluid valve includes a housing and a plurality of parallel flow passages through the housing each defined by spaced electrodes at least one of which is controllable independently of other flow passages electrodes. A controller is configured to selectively establish electrical fields for all of the independently controllable electrodes to close all of the flow passages to ER fluid flowing through the housing. By removing the fields from all of the independently controllable electrodes, all the flow passages are open to the ER fluid flowing through the housing. By establishing fields for select independently controllable electrodes to close their associated flow passages and by leaving other flow passages open, restricted flow of the ER fluid through the housing is accomplished to vary the flow rate through the housing.

主权项

1. An electrorheological (ER) fluid valve comprising:
a housing including a first substrate, a second substrate, two or more external walls, and multiple input and output ports, wherein the first substrate includes spaced independently controllable electrodes, and the second substrate includes another electrode spaced from the first substrate; ER fluid capable of flowing in the housing; and a controller configured to selectively establish fields between the first and second substrates, for all of the spaced independently controllable electrodes to define a plurality of ER fluid flow passages through the housing, wherein each ER fluid flow passage connects a distinct set of one or more input ports with one or more output ports, and wherein the ER fluid flow passages are defined when the ER fluid reacts to the established fields.