Systems and methods for providing wheels having variable spring rates
AssigneeBerkshire Grey Operating Company, Inc.
InventorGuoming Alex LONG
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A wheel is disclosed that includes an inner hub, an outer rim, and a plurality of resilient elements that exhibit a first spring constant that is the same for all elements, and a second spring constant that is higher than the first spring constant for elements being compressed beyond a threshold deflection.
Claims22
-17. (canceled)
A method of operating a vehicle in an object processing system, the vehicle including at least one wheel, said method comprising:
- rotating the at least one wheel in a first direction such that the vehicle is moving, the at least one wheel including a hub, a rim, and a resilient interface between the hub and the rim;
- and
- permitting the resilient interface of the at least one wheel to change its shape as the at least one wheel rotates, the resilient interface including mutually adjacent resilient elements, each of which defines an elliptical void therebetween, the elliptical void having a major axis that is angled with respect to a generally radial direction of the adjacent resilient elements, and wherein each apex of arcuate portions of the adjacent resilient elements alternates from being closer to the outer rim than to the inner hub and closer to the inner hub than the outer rim, such that power is transferred from the inner hub to the outer rim faster when a rotational direction of the inner hub is in the direction of the major axis than when the rotational direction of the inner hub is opposite the direction of the major axis.
A method of operating a vehicle in an object processing system, the vehicle including at least one wheel, said method comprising:
- rotating the at least one wheel in a first direction such that the vehicle is moving, the at least one wheel including a hub, a rim, and a resilient interface between the hub and the rim;
- and
- absorbing a compressive force by the resilient interface of the at least one wheel as the at least one wheel rotates, the resilient interface including mutually adjacent resilient elements, each of which defines an elliptical void therebetween, the elliptical void having a major axis that is angled with respect to a generally radial direction of the adjacent resilient elements, and wherein each apex of arcuate portions of the adjacent resilient elements alternates from being closer to the outer rim than to the inner hub and closer to the inner hub than the outer rim, such that power is transferred from the inner hub to the outer rim faster when a rotational direction of the inner hub is in the direction of the major axis than when the rotational direction of the inner hub is opposite the direction of the major axis.
A method of operating a vehicle in an object processing system, the vehicle including at least one wheel, said method comprising:
- rotating the at least one wheel in a first direction such that the vehicle is moving, the at least one wheel including a hub, a rim, and a resilient interface between the hub and the rim, the resilient interface including mutually adjacent resilient elements, each of which defines an elliptical void therebetween, the elliptical void having a major axis that is angled with respect to a generally radial direction of the adjacent resilient elements, and wherein each apex of arcuate portions of the adjacent resilient elements alternates from being closer to the outer rim than to the inner hub and closer to the inner hub than the outer rim, such that power is transferred from the inner hub to the outer rim faster when a rotational direction of the inner hub is in the direction of the major axis than when the rotational direction of the inner hub is opposite the direction of the major axis;
- applying a compressive force to the at least one wheel as it is rotating;
- and
- absorbing a compressive force by the resilient interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.