Selective Stiffening for Producing a Mass-Fabrication Compatible Motion Conversion Mechanism

We present a mechanism that converts in-plane to out-of-plane motions, which is fully compatible with mass-fabrication processes. By using selective stiffening, we induce coupling between in-plane and out-of-plane responses of the mechanism. The conversion ratio is constant (i.e., linear response), and it can be easily tailored by the number of stiffeners used in an otherwise unchanged design planform. The linearity of the motion conversion and the possibility to tailor it, are demonstrated experimentally using dedicated test devices. As a specific example of application, we use the motion conversion mechanism to achieve a parallel out-of-plane motion of a flat stage, which is driven by in-plane comb-drives.