ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,553,532, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH (Ingolstadt, Germany).
"Pneumatic valve with an SMA actuator" was invented by Michael Beuschel (Stammham, Germany), Johann Steinberger (Brunnen, Germany) and Stefan Bauer (Engelbrechtsmunster, Germany).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A pneumatic valve features a fluid supply port, a fluid outlet port, and a fluid drainage opening. The valve includes a valve chamber with fluid supply, outlet, and trigger openings, and an actuator chamber connected to the trigger opening. An actuator with an SMA wire, actuating and resetting elements, and a printed circuit board is ...