Systems for mechanical logic based on additively manufacturable micro-mechanical logic gates

1. A mechanical logic NOT gate system comprising:

a first pair of bi-stable buckling structures each being operatively connected at a first connection point thereof to one another and also to a first rigid structure at second connection points, the first rigid structure being held stationary;

a second pair of bi-stable buckling structures each being operatively connected at first connection points thereof to each other and at second connection points thereof to a second rigid structure being held stationary;

an output element coupled a first one of each of the first and second pairs of bi-stable buckling structures;

an input element coupled to a second one of each of the first and second pairs of bi-stable buckling structures; and

wherein the output element moves from a logic 1 position to a logic 0 position in response to movement of the input element from a logic 0 position to a logic 1 position, respectively.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each one of the bi-stable buckling structures comprises a plurality of interconnected flexure beams.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the flexure beams of each one of the bi-stable buckling structures are connected to form a triangle.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the flexure beams of each one of the bi-stable buckling structures are connected to form a right triangle.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein portions of the first pair of bi-stable buckling structures are connected using a first U-shaped connection structure.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein portions of the second pair of bi-stable buckling structures are connected using a second U-shaped connection structure.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein each one of the bi-stable buckling structures includes three flexure beams connected to form a right triangle.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the input element and the output element are connected so as to be longitudinally in line with one another and evenly spaced between the first and second rigid structures.

9. A mechanical logic OR gate system comprising:

a first fixed structure;

a second fixed structure spaced apart from the first fixed structure;

a central body acting as an output element, which is positioned between the first and second fixed structures;

a first input element supported by at least one first bi-stable flexure beam between a portion of the central body and the first fixed structure;

a second input element supported by at least one second bi-stable flexure beam between the central body and the second fixed structure;

at least one third bi-stable flexure beam connecting the first input element to the central body;

at least one fourth bi-stable flexure beam connecting the second input element to the central body; and

wherein an input applied to either one of the first or second input elements to cause movement from a logic 0 level position to a logic 1 level position of either one of the input elements, causes movement of the central body from a logic 0 level position to a logic 1 level position.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one first bi-stable flexure beam comprises a first pair of bi-stable flexure beams.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one second bi-stable flexure beam comprises a second pair of bi-stable flexure beams.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one third bi-stable flexure beam comprises a third pair of bi-stable flexure beams.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one fourth bi-stable flexure beam comprises a fourth pair of bi-stable flexure beams.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein inputs applied to both of the first and second input elements which cause both of the first and second input elements to move from a logic 0 level position to a logic 1 level position causes movement of the central body from a logic 0 level position to a logic 1 level position.

15. A mechanical logic NAND gate system comprising:

a mechanical OR gate subsystem having first and second input elements and an output element;

a mechanical NOT gate having first and second mechanical NOT gates, each of the first and second mechanical NOT gates including a plurality of bi-stable buckling structures supported from a plurality of stationary structures;

the first mechanical NOT gate including an input element and an output element, the output element of the first mechanical NOTgate coupled to the first input element of the OR gate subsystem;

the second mechanical NOT gate including an input element and an output element, the output element of the second mechanical NOT gate coupled to the second input element of the OR gate subsystem; and

wherein a logic 1 level signal applied to one or the other of the input elements of the first or second mechanical NOT gates causes movement of the output element of the mechanical OR gate from a logic 0 level position to a logic 1 level position, and movement of both of the input elements of the first and second mechanical NOT gates to the logic 1 level position causes movement of the output element of the OR gate subsystem to the logic 0 level position.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein each of the NAND gates includes four interconnected ones of the bi-stable buckling structures.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein each one of the bi-stable buckling structures includes a plurality of interconnected flexure beams.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the interconnected flexure beams of each of the NOT gates are coupled to form a triangle.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the interconnected flexure beams of each of the NOT gates form a right triangle, with one corner of each one of the right triangles coupled to either the input element of the OR gate subsystem or one of the input elements of one of the NOT gates, and one corner of each of the right triangles is coupled to one of the plurality of stationary structures such that the NOT gates are formed in a side-by-side configuration.