Spring-Based Magnetic Attachment Method for Crawling Vehicle
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorBrian M. Parrott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle for traversing a surface using magnetic attachment is provided. The vehicle includes a chassis body and wheels attached to the chassis body. At least one magnetic module is attached via a resilient member to the chassis body. Each magnetic module includes a magnet and an offset member that provides an approximately constant offset between the surface and the magnet. The resilient member transfers a magnetic attractive force that is normal to the surface between the magnetic attracting module and the chassis body. The vehicle can traverse uneven surfaces without magnetically decoupling.
Claims17
A vehicle for traversing a surface using magnetic attachment, comprising:
- a chassis body;
- wheels attached to the chassis body;
- and
- a magnetic module attached via a resilient member to the chassis body;
- wherein the magnetic module includes:
- a magnet
- an offset member that provides an approximately constant offset between the surface and the magnet;
- wherein the resilient member transfers a magnetic attractive force that is normal to the surface between the magnetic attracting module and the chassis body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.