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US 10,279,865 B2Granted
Friction drive with speed wheel and automatic traction control
AssigneeShareRoller LLC
InventorJeffrey E. Guida
Life of this patent
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AssigneeShareRoller LLC
InventorJeffrey E. Guida
Estimating the term…
Embodiments of a friction drive system include a battery, a drive motor, a control unit, and a speed wheel. When the friction drive system is mounted on a wheeled vehicle, the speed wheel provides an accurate measurement of the vehicle speed by maintaining contact with a tire of the vehicle. An automatic traction control system, which may be part of the control unit, compares the speed of the speed wheel with the speed of the drive motor to determine whether slippage is occurring. If slippage is detected, then embodiments of an automatic traction control system automatically increase an amount of normal force between a contact surface on the drive motor and the tire, by advancing a position of the drive motor relative to a fixed mounting point. If no slippage is detected, then embodiments of an automatic traction control system automatically reduce the amount of normal force, by retracting a position of the drive relative to a fixed mounting point. In embodiments of a friction drive system, the relative position of the drive motor may be controlled by powering a worm gear motor attached to a worm gear in response to commands from the control unit.
A friction drive system, comprising:
A method of controlling a friction drive system comprising a control unit, a drive motor, an adjustment mechanism coupled to the drive motor, a speed wheel, and a battery, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of controlling a friction drive system comprising a control unit, a drive motor, a worm gear coupled to a pivot bracket, a worm gear motor that powers the worm gear, and a battery, the method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.