ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,576,549, issued on March 17, was assigned to Black & Decker Inc. (New Britain, Conn.).
"Electrostatic clutch for power tool" was invented by Matthew J. Velderman (Baltimore), Geoffrey S. Howard (Towson, Md.) and Matthew Lazzaro (Towson, Md.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A power tool that includes a housing, a motor, an end effector, an electrostatic clutch assembly, and a control circuit is provided. In a first mode of operation, the control circuit causes a first voltage to be applied to a first electrode and a different second voltage to be applied to a second electrode, generating a first attractive force between the first and secon...