Electrostatic tacking membrane assembly
An electrostatic tacking membrane assembly includes a membrane made of an elastic material, a plurality of electrostatic pads disposed on the membrane, one or more tacking elements disposed on the membrane, and a plurality of electrical leads disposed within or on the membrane and connected with the electrostatic pads and the one or more tacking elements. The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly may be positioned with the tacking elements disposed near or in contact with an overlapped or abutted area of two or more layers of material, and the tacking elements may be electrified and heated so as to bond together the two or more layers proximate the overlapped or abutted area.
1 . An electrostatic tacking membrane assembly, comprising:
a membrane made of an elastic material and having opposed top and bottom sides with one or more membrane electrical connectors disposed on the membrane;
a plurality of electrostatic pads each having respective opposed first and second sides, wherein each of the electrostatic pads includes one or more respective pad electrical connectors disposed on or adjacent the respective second side for supplying electrical power to the respective first side;
one or more tacking elements positioned between adjacent ones of the electrostatic pads disposed on the bottom side of the membrane, wherein each of the one or more tacking elements is configured to be electrically heated; and
a plurality of first and second electrical leads disposed within or on the top side of the membrane and connected with the one or more membrane electrical connectors and the one or more tacking elements, respectively.
2 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , wherein the material has a fiber core covered by at least one veil, wherein the fiber core is made of at least one of carbon, polymer, glass, metal and ceramic, and wherein the at least one veil is made of a thermoplastic material or a thermoset material.
3 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrostatic pads form a repeating geometric pattern on the bottom side of the membrane.
4 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , wherein the membrane includes a plurality of thick and thin regions presented on the bottom side of the membrane, wherein the thin regions are arranged in a hub-and-spoke pattern of spokes radiating from a hub region thereby defining the thick regions.
5 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the one or more membrane electrical connectors is disposed on or within a respective one of the thick regions.
6 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein the supplying electrical power to the respective first side is effective for generating an electrostatic potential thereacross.
7 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the electrostatic pads is disposed on a respective one of the thick regions on the bottom side of the membrane with the respective second side of the electrostatic pad attached to the bottom side of the membrane and with the one or more respective pad electrical connectors in communication with the one or more respective membrane electrical connectors.
8 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrostatic pads are spaced approximately 10 millimeters apart from each other.
9 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more pad electrical connectors includes a respective ribbon cable extending from or adjacent the respective second side of the respective electrostatic pad.
10 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein the membrane is bendable along one or more of the spokes so as to make the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly generally conformable with non-planar surfaces.
11 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 3 , wherein the electrostatic pads have a generally trunco-triangular shape, and the repeating geometric pattern includes one or more hexagonal patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other.
12 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 3 , wherein the electrostatic pads have a generally trunco-rectangular shape, and the repeating geometric pattern includes one or more rectangular patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other.
13 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein the membrane includes a first membrane and a second membrane sandwiched and connected together, wherein the bottom side of the membrane is a bottom face of the first membrane and the top side of the membrane is a top face of the second membrane.
14 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of thick and thin regions are formed as part of the first membrane.
15 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of inserts embedded or attached on the top side of the membrane, wherein each of the inserts is configured for fastenable engagement with an end effector.
16 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 15 , wherein some or all of the inserts are threaded.
17 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the thick regions includes one or more recessed pockets formed therein on the bottom side of the membrane, wherein each of the recessed pockets is configured for receiving a respective one of the pad electrical connectors therein.
18 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 4 , wherein the hub-and-spoke pattern includes a plurality of hub-and-spoke patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other.
19 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more tacking elements includes a respective micro-heater.
20 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 19 , wherein each of the one or more tacking elements further includes a respective extending member configured to extend the respective micro-heater outward from the bottom side of the membrane.
21 . A method of using the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 , comprising:
supplying electrical power to the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly to activate at least one of the electrostatic pads or the one or more tacking elements.
22 . A system comprising:
the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 1 ; and
a power module configured to supply electrical power to the electrostatic pads to generate an electrostatic potential and to the one or more tacking elements to heat the tacking elements;
a moving module configured to move and position the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly; and
a control module operatively connected with the power module and the moving module and configured to control operation of the power module and movement of the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly.
23 . An electrostatic tacking membrane assembly, comprising:
a membrane made of an elastic material and having opposed top and bottom sides with one or more membrane electrical connectors disposed on the membrane;
a plurality of electrostatic pads each having respective opposed first and second sides, wherein each of the electrostatic pads includes one or more respective pad electrical connectors disposed on or adjacent the respective second side for supplying electrical power to the respective first side;
one or more tacking elements disposed on the bottom side of the membrane, wherein each of the one or more tacking elements is configured to be electrically heated;
a plurality of first and second electrical leads disposed within or on the top side of the membrane and connected with the one or more membrane electrical connectors and the one or more tacking elements, respectively; and
at least one of:
(1) wherein the membrane includes a plurality of thick and thin regions presented on the bottom side of the membrane, wherein the thin regions are arranged in a hub-and-spoke pattern of spokes radiating from a hub region thereby defining the thick regions;
(2) wherein the electrostatic pads have a generally trunco-triangular shape, and the repeating geometric pattern includes one or more hexagonal patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other;
(3) wherein the electrostatic pads have a generally trunco-rectangular shape, and the repeating geometric pattern includes one or more rectangular patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other;
(4) further comprising a plurality of inserts embedded or attached on the top side of the membrane, wherein each of the inserts is configured for fastenable engagement with an end effector; or
(5) wherein each of the one or more tacking elements includes a respective micro-heater, and wherein each of the one or more tacking elements further includes a respective extending member configured to extend the respective micro-heater outward from the bottom side of the membrane.
24 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 , wherein the membrane includes the plurality of thick and thin regions presented on the bottom side of the membrane, wherein the thin regions are arranged in the hub-and-spoke pattern of spokes radiating from the hub region thereby defining the thick regions.
25 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 , wherein the electrostatic pads have the generally trunco-triangular shape, and the repeating geometric pattern includes the one or more hexagonal patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other.
26 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 , wherein the electrostatic pads have the generally trunco-rectangular shape, and the repeating geometric pattern includes the one or more rectangular patterns that are overlapped or abutted with each other.
27 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 , further comprising the plurality of inserts embedded or attached on the top side of the membrane, wherein each of the inserts is configured for fastenable engagement with the end effector.
28 . The electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 , wherein each of the one or more tacking elements includes the respective micro-heater, and wherein each of the one or more tacking elements further includes the respective extending member configured to extend the respective micro-heater outward from the bottom side of the membrane.
29 . A method of using the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 , comprising:
supplying electrical power to the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly to activate at least one of the electrostatic pads or the one or more tacking elements.
30 . A system comprising:
the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly of claim 23 ; and
a power module configured to supply electrical power to the electrostatic pads to generate an electrostatic potential and to the one or more tacking elements to heat the tacking elements;
a moving module configured to move and position the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly; and
a control module operatively connected with the power module and the moving module and configured to control operation of the power module and movement of the electrostatic tacking membrane assembly.