Apparatus for spring centered caster wheel
AssigneeDEKA Products Limited Partnership
InventorChristopher C. Langenfeld
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An autonomous delivery vehicle having one or more caster wheels that may be held off the ground for a portion of the time that the autonomous delivery vehicle travels. Each caster wheel is mounted in a pivot with a centering mechanism to hold the caster wheels in a design orientation. The caster wheel in the design orientation maximizes the view of forward-looking sensors on the autonomous delivery vehicle. The centering mechanism uses a compression spring that drives a follower and swashshaft to apply a rotation force on the caster wheels. The rotational force urges the casters frame and wheels to return to a design position. The rotational force increases with the rotational difference between the caster rotational position and the design position.
Claims13
A caster mount on a vehicle for controlling the rotational position of the caster comprising:
- a first part mounted to a base of the vehicle;
- a second part rotatably mounted within the first part, the second part rotating about a castor pivot axis and having a rotational position with respect to the first part, and the second part having a design position;
- and
- a spring actuator that applies a force on the second part, the force increasing with an angular difference between a rotational position and the design position of the second part, the spring actuator comprising:
- a compression spring oriented along the castor pivot axis;
- a swashshaft attached to the second part, the swashshaft including a bearing surface characterized by swashshaft axis that intersects the caster pivot axis at an acute angle, the bearing surface being centered on the swashshaft axis;
- a follower, the follower contacting the bearing surface and the compression spring, wherein the follower, driven by the swashshaft, progressively compresses the compression spring as the angular difference increases.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.