A method to suppress temperature increase in pneumatic artificial rubber muscles

In the present paper, a method by which to suppress the temperature increase in pneumatic artificial rubber muscles is proposed. The pneumatic artificial rubber muscle (PARM) is a flexible actuator. The use of PARMs in industrial and scientific applications has increased significantly as a result of their advantages. Usually, compressed air is charged or discharged from one end of the PARM as it is inflated or deflated. The PARM expands radially and contracts axially when inflated. The closed end is referred to herein as the end part. Since the fluidity of air at the end part of the PARM is low, when a PARM is pressurized repeatedly, the temperature at the end part increases significantly. This temperature increase shortens the operating life of the PARM and limits the characteristics of continuous drive. A method of addressing this temperature increase is proposed herein. A pipeline is installed in the PARM, and compressed air is charged or discharged through the pipeline in order to promote the convection of air at the end part of the PARM. As a result, the temperature increase in the PARM is suppressed. We confirmed experimentally that the proposed method can effectively suppress the temperature increase in the PARM. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.