ELEMENT WITH VARIABLE STIFFNESS CONTROLLED BY NEGATIVE PRESSURE

摘要

The invention relates to an element (1) with variable stiffness controlled by negative pressure, comprising: a sealed casing (10); a plurality of flexible layers (30, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e) in the casing, each layer (30, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e) including a first surface (31, 41) and a second surface (32, 42); and a valve (20) suitable for evacuating the interior of the casing (10). The element is characterised in that: the coefficient of friction between the first and second surfaces (31, 41, 32, 42) of two adjacent layers is greater than 0.5; and the first and second surfaces (31, 41, 32, 42) of two adjacent layers have adhesion properties such that a normal force per unit area of less than 0.07 N/mm2 is required to separate same and/or the energy per unit area required to separate same in the normal direction is less than 6.7 J/m2.