Jun 10 2009
LatchTool Group announces the filing of a second patent that covers the workings of their fluidic - annular floating seal valves. The filing, which complements Patent US 2008/0079221 A1, clears the "last obstacle to full and open disclosure", says Bob McPherson, cofounder and CEO.
With over 100 members, the Company operates as a virtual organization embracing Open Innovation. Two officers that shaped LatchTool's approach are CTO Josh Hoyt, PhD/MIT and CDO Philippe Content formally with Bell Labs.
"Philippe was the first to recognize the analogy between our fluidic valves and the transistor", says McPherson. He adds, "Josh immediately drew a parallel between our development and open-source software's; an origin of Open Innovation."
The patent filing allows the Company to address a vexing paradigm issue:
When you mention regeneration to hydraulic engineers they think of double-acting cylinders and the spool valves that regulate them. Physics enables such cylinders to power stoke in either direction. This requires complex plumbing, a valve manifold, an external reservoir able to hold and a pump able to move a volume of fluid equal to the total volume of the cylinder.
A significant aspect of LatchTool's technology is using the rod-side of a cylinder as the reservoir and FastFlow valves to provide the regenerative function without plumbing. A small pump able to move only a rod volume of fluid and an accumulator able to hold this amount integrates easily into a self-contained component.
LTG's fluidic valves enable a very small cartridge pump to move a rod volume of fluid quickly at 10,000 psi. At these pressures, the cross-sectional area of a 1-inch cylinder exerts 4 tons of force; a 2-inch cylinder 15 tons! The energy to swage or clamp with these forces is provided by batteries.
A cylinder equipped with FastFlow valves trades off a double-acting capability for effective fluid management. The swap provides unprecedented power densities for electromechanical systems and fluidic intelligence to otherwise dumb systems.
Two cylinders paired as agonist/antagonist compensate for double-acting functionality.
"It is the paradigm issue of regeneration coupling with double-acting cylinders in an engineer's mind that needs to shift". McPherson goes on to point out that "actuators - devices that push or pull - are essential to nearly all engineered things; the smaller, lighter, smarter and cheaper these power-packages are the better."