Fluid leak correcting device
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsVinod Anandram Valecha, Jagabondhu Hazra, Sarbajit Kumar Rakshit, Manikandan Padmanaban
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Abstract
A device includes multiple segments interconnected via a plurality of articulating joints. At least one segment includes a vacuum cap. The vacuum cap has a curved sheet of a first flexible material, a flexible membrane, a region defined between the curved sheet of the first flexible material and the flexible membrane, and a pump configured to evacuate the region. A controller is controllably coupled to the plurality of segments and the pump. The controller is configured to navigate the device to a leak, position the vacuum cap on the leak and engage the vacuum cap.
Claims20
A device comprising:
- a plurality of segments interconnected via a plurality of articulating joints;
- at least one segment of the plurality of segments including a vacuum cap, the vacuum cap comprising a curved sheet of a first flexible material, a flexible membrane, a region defined between the curved sheet of the first flexible material and the flexible membrane, and a pump configured to evacuate the region;
- and
- a controller controllably coupled to the plurality of segments and the pump, the controller configured to navigate the device to a leak, position the vacuum cap on the leak and engage the vacuum cap.
A method comprising:
- dispatching a segmented device, the segmented device including a plurality of segments interconnected via a plurality of articulating joints, at least one segment of the plurality of segments including a vacuum cap, the vacuum cap comprising a curved sheet of a first flexible material, a flexible membrane, a region defined between the curved sheet of the first flexible material and the flexible membrane, and a pump configured to evacuate the region, and a controller controllably coupled to the plurality of segments and the pump and to a plurality of sensors, the controller configured to navigate the device to a leak, position the vacuum cap on the leak and engage the vacuum cap;
- navigating the segmented device about an environment and detecting a leak using the controller;
- and
- positioning the vacuum cap over the leak and engaging the vacuum cap, thereby sealing the leak.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.