US Patent Issued to Hutchinson Technology on Sept. 23 for "Shape memory alloy actuators and methods thereof" (Minnesota Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,422,733, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to Hutchinson Technology Inc. (Hutchinson, Minn.).

"Shape memory alloy actuators and methods thereof" was invented by Mark A. Miller (Hutchinson, Minn.), Nathaniel K. Behning (Hutchinson, Minn.), Dean E. Myers (Stewart, Minn.) and Michael W. Davis (Rockford, Minn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "SMA actuators and related methods are described. One embodiment of an actuator includes a base; a plurality of buckle arms; and at least a first shape memory alloy wire coupled with a pair of buckle arms of the plurality of buckle arms. Another embodiment of an actuator includes a base and at least one bi...