The REAPERlab is pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Balog (Professor and lab Director), Mr. Moustafa Raslan (former MS Student of the Texas A&M University Department of Interdisciplinary Engineering), and Dr. Ibrahim Karaman (Professor and Department Head of the Texas A&M University Department of Materials Science and Engineering) have been awarded US Patent 11,929,219 for their invention of the shape memory alloy actuated switch (SMAAS). This is their second issued US patent on the technology.
A shape-memory alloy actuated switch (SMAAS) enables the bi-stable switching between two or more electrical circuits. The SMAAS includes a substrate, one or more electrical contacts attached to the substrate for connecting to one or more electrical circuits, and one or more electrically conductive elements for selectively connecting the one or more electrical contacts. The SMAAS also includes one or more shape-memory alloy actuators attached to the substrate. The shape-memory alloy actuators are configured to move the electrically conductive element(s) and are self-heated by passing a brief current pulse through the shape-memory alloy material. The SMAAS invention includes a retention mechanism(s) to prevent movement of the electrically conductive element(s) after actuation. The SMAAS is efficient as is only requires energy to changing switch state and does not require holding current to maintain a particular switch configuration.
For Prof. Balog, this is his twenty-second US patent that he has been awarded. Most of his patents have been assigned or licensed to the industry and have already been or are currently being commercialized.
The patent assignee is Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development. This patent was made possible by NPRP grant # 7-299-2-124 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.