An apparatus includes a dielectric tile array including a plurality of dielectric tiles; and a plurality of electroactive (EA) material blocks configured to expand or contract in response to being actuated by the application of an actuation voltage.

An active matrix array of electroactive polymer actuators is provided, each electroactive polymer actuator having a switching arrangement. The switching arrangement comprises a first circuit (90) connected to a first terminal of the electroactive polymer actuator, for selectively driving the first terminal of the electroactive polymer actuator to ground or connecting it to an open circuit. A second circuit (92) is connected to a second terminal of the electroactive polymer actuator, for selectively driving the second terminal of the electroactive polymer actuator to ground or connecting it to an open circuit. Furthermore, a pull-up component (50) is permanently connected between a drive voltage and the first terminal of the electroactive polymer generator. By controlling both terminals of the electroactive polymer actuator, it is possible to reduce static power consumption, at least when no voltage is to be stored across the electroactive polymer actuator.

An active matrix array of electroactive polymer actuators (36) is provided, each electroactive polymer actuator (36) having a switching arrangement (34). The switching arrangement comprises an input which is connected to a respective data line (30) and an output which is connected to a first terminal of the associated electroactive polymer actuator (36), wherein a second terminal of each electroactive polymer actuator is connected to a control line (110). A driver provides drive signals which comprise at least first and second drive levels for application to the data lines and third and fourth drive levels for application to the control line. Use is made of of common electrode driving (i.e. the control line driving) to enable low transistor control voltages to be used to switch larger voltages across the electroactive polymer actuators.

The present invention provides a piezoelectric sensor that has elastic properties in a surface direction thereof, and can smoothly follow stretching of a body to be measured to accurately measure movement of the body to be measured, and detect movement in a surface direction of a surface of the body to be measured on which the piezoelectric sensor is disposed. The piezoelectric sensor of the present invention includes: a piezoelectric sheet including a porous synthetic resin sheet; a signal electrode layer that is layered on a surface of the piezoelectric sheet and contains conductive fine particles and a binder resin having elastic properties; and a ground electrode layer that is layered on another surface of the piezoelectric sheet and contains conductive fine particles and a binder resin having elastic properties.

The present disclosure relates to a medical device with respectively at least one hard part with fluid paths for guiding a medical fluid, for example blood through the hard part. The medical device 200 also includes a converter and a device for determining a characteristic of the device 200. The converter is arranged to measure the characteristic of the fluid, while the fluid is present in one of the fluid paths. The characteristic may be geometric characteristic, for example, a fluid path.

The present invention pertains to a fluoropolymer composition comprising a copolymer of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and trifluoroethylene (TrFE), to a process for the manufacture of said fluoropolymer composition and to uses of said fluoropolymer composition in various applications, in particular to uses of fluoropolymer films obtainable therefrom in electrical or electronic devices.

A metal strip and a coil coating process for multilayer coating of an endless metal strip are disclosed in which a curable polymer primer is applied to a flat side of the metal strip with the aid of a roller application in order to form an electrically insulating primer layer, a curable polymer varnish is applied to this primer layer with the aid of a roller application and cured in order to form an electrically insulating varnish layer, and at least one electric conductor layer is printed at least in some areas between the primer layer and the varnish layer. In order to enable a stable and inexpensive electrical functionalization of a metal strip, it is proposed that an electrically polarizable layer be applied to at least some regions of the electric conductor layer and that the electric conductor layer and electrically polarizable layer be applied by means of a wet-on-wet process.

A friction control device (44) is adapted to induce a lateral strain (or stretching) within a human tissue surface to which the device is applied, in order thereby to reduce the static friction between the device and the human tissue surface. The strain is induced by means of an actuator arrangement adapted to effect a relative separation of a plurality of contact surface regions (40) of the device, such that when said regions are pressed onto the receiving surface, the relative separation induces a strain in at least the region of the receiving surface falling between the locations of the applied regions. The extent of separation matches or exceeds the minimum extent necessary to overcome static friction.

Provided is a configuration capable of improving the signal strength of a piezoelectric element using piezoelectric fibers. This braided piezoelectric element comprises a core comprising conductive fibers and a sheath comprising braided piezoelectric fibers so as to cover the core, the braided piezoelectric element further comprising a metal terminal connected and fixed to the core in either of the following states A or B. A) A state where a portion of the metal terminal grasps a fiber portion constituting the end of a braided piezoelectric element and the core and the metal terminal are electrically connected to each other and fixed within 1 mm from where the metal terminal grasps the fiber portion. B) A state where: a portion of the metal terminal has a fork or needle shape; the fork-shaped or needle-shaped portion is electrically connected to the core while in contact with the sheath; and the braided piezoelectric element is secured to the metal terminal by another portion of the metal terminal or a component fixed to the metal terminal within 10 mm from the point of the electrical connection.

The present disclosure provides a composite electrode, an acoustic sensor using the composite electrode, and a manufacturing method of the composite electrode. The composite electrode includes a conductive layer, and a semiconductor high-molecular polymer layer formed on the conductive layer. The semiconductor high-molecular polymer layer has a three-dimensional mesh structure. The acoustic sensor includes a base; the above-mentioned composite electrode formed on the base; an organic layer formed on the composite electrode; and a top electrode formed on the organic layer.