US 12,465,548 B2
Artificial muscle light weight seat massager and haptic response chair
Michael P. Rowe, Pinckney, MI (US)
Assigned to Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US)
Filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US)
Filed on Jul. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/365,267.
Prior Publication US 2023/0000715 A1, Jan. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. A61H 9/00 (2006.01); B60N 2/02 (2006.01); B60N 2/56 (2006.01); B60N 2/90 (2018.01)
CPC A61H 9/0078 (2013.01) [B60N 2/0244 (2013.01); B60N 2/5642 (2013.01); B60N 2/976 (2018.02); A61H 2201/0103 (2013.01); A61H 2201/0149 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1207 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1238 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An artificial muscle chair device comprising:
a plurality of artificial muscles embedded in a chair, where each artificial muscle comprises:
a housing having an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;
a first electrode and a second electrode each disposed in the electrode region of the housing; and
a first electrical insulator layer fixed to a surface of the first electrode opposite the housing and extending across the electrode region and an entirety of the expandable fluid region; and
a dielectric fluid disposed within the housing, where the first and second electrodes are configured to electrostatically attract, inflating the expandable fluid region with the dielectric fluid and thereby applying selective pressure to an outer surface of the chair.