EXPANDABLE DEVICE HAVING BISTABLE SPRING CONSTRUCTION

摘要

The present invention is directed to bistable cells and their use in expandable tubular members having a stable contracted state and a stable expanded state. Each bistable cell is characterized in that the expandable cell passes a transition point that allows the expansion force to be decreased during transition to the expanded state. The bistable cells may comprise arcuate or multilink segments including a longitudinal strut coupled to a flexible link, wherein the flexible link undergoes pivotal motion during expansion to the expanded state. Figure 5b