Steerable drive wheel

A steerable drive wheel assembly comprising:

• an outer housing defining a sheltered interior space,
• an intermediate suspension module disposed at least partially within said sheltered interior space of said outer housing,
• a drive module disposed below said intermediate suspension module, said drive module including a first drive subassembly having a first wheel and a second drive subassembly having a second wheel, said first and second wheels supported in side-by-side orientation for independent rotation about a common horizontal axis,
• a rotary bearing operatively disposed between said drive module and said intermediate suspension module for enabling rotational movement of said drive module relative to said intermediate suspension module about a generally vertical steering axis, and
• a serpentine energy chain disposed generally co-planar with said rotary bearing.

A steerable drive wheel assembly comprising:

• an outer housing defining a sheltered interior space,
• an intermediate suspension module disposed at least partially within said sheltered interior space of said outer housing,
• at least one left linear guide bearing assembly operatively disposed between said outer housing and said intermediate suspension module, at least one right linear guide bearing assembly operatively disposed between said outer housing and said intermediate suspension module,
• at least one biasing member operatively disposed between said outer housing and said intermediate suspension module biasing relative movement between said intermediate suspension module and said outer housing through said left and right linear guide bearing assemblies,
• a drive module disposed below said intermediate suspension module, said drive module including a first drive subassembly having a first wheel and a second drive subassembly having a second wheel, said first and second wheels supported in side-by-side orientation for independent rotation about a common horizontal axis, said first drive subassembly including a first drive motor operatively connected to said first wheel through a first transmission, said second drive subassembly including a second drive motor operatively connected to said second wheel through a second transmission, each of said first and second drive motors having an armature and a stator body,
• a rotary bearing operatively disposed between said drive module and said intermediate suspension module enabling rotational movement of said drive module relative to said intermediate suspension module about a generally vertical steering axis,
• each of said armatures are disposed for rotation in respective axes parallel to said common horizontal axis, said stator body of said first drive motor at least partially overlaps said second wheel, and said stator body of said second drive motor at least partially overlaps said first wheel.