Self-propelled vehicle
AssigneeCommissariat a l'Energie Atomique
InventorJean Vertut
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Self-propelled vehicle with articulated arms able to move in a tube or in a laminar space defined between two approximately parallel surfaces. It comprises a body equipped with at least one driving and guide wheel which bears on a surface on which the vehicle moves and at least two pivoting arms articulated on the body and terminated by bearing members which slide or roll on a surface facing and opposite to the first surface. It also comprises a device which transmits a pivoting torque to the arms in such a way that said arms bear on said opposite surface and by reaction apply the driving wheel against the first surface. A particular application is to the inspection of pipes within a nuclear installation in a radioactive atmosphere.
Claims15
A self-propelled vehicle with articulated arms comprising:
- (a) a vehicle body having a longitudinal plane of symmetry,
- (b) at least one wheel which drives and steers the vehicle, the wheel being mounted on said body and having an individual pivoting axis and an individual steering axis, said steering axis being located in the vicinity of said longitudinal plane, the at least one wheel being adapted to roll on a first surface, the distance between said body and said at least one pivoting axis being fixed,
- (c) at least one pair of pivoting arms carried by said body, each arm of said pair being located on one side of said longitudinal plane, each arm of said pair terminating in a supporting member, which supporting member is adapted to slide or roll on a second surface, the second surface being opposite to said first surface,
- (d) means carried by said vehicle for transmitting individually a pivoting torque to each of said arms, such pivoting torque resulting in an arm rotating and contacting, at the terminating support member of the arm, the second surface, whereby the reaction between the second surface and the support member results in a contact force between the wheel associated with said pair of arms and the first surface to thereby assist the self-propelled vehicle in traversing a bend in the first and second surfaces, and to compensate for variations in shape of the first and second surfaces.
A self-propelled vehicle with articulated arms comprising:
- (a) a vehicle body having a longitudinal plane of symmetry,
- (b) at least one wheel which drives and steers the vehicle, the wheel being mounted on said body and having an individual pivoting axis and an individual steering axis, said steering axis being located in the vicinity of said longitudinal plane, the at least one wheel being adapted to roll on a first surface, the distance between said body and said at least one pivoting arm being fixed,
- (c) two pairs of pivoting arms carried by said body, said pairs being spaced along said vehicle body from each other, each arm of each of said spaced pair being located on one side of said longitudinal plane, each arm of each of said pairs terminating in a supporting member, which supporting member is adapted to slide or roll on a second surface, the second surface being opposite to said first surface,
- (d) means carried by said vehicle for transmitting individually a pivoting torque to each of said arms, such pivoting torque resulting in an arm rotating and contacting, at the terminating support member of the arm, the second surface, whereby the reaction between the second surface and the support member results in a contact force between the wheel associated with said arms and the first surface to thereby assist the self-propelled vehicle in traversing a bend in the first and second surfaces, and to compensate for variations in shape of the first and second surfaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.