Flexible guide system

Abstract

A flexible guide-track system, including a guide track constituted by a leaf spring formed of a plurality of stacked, elastically resilient leaves joined to one another along their longitudinal extent and slidable relative to one another for some distance at other points of the extent. Due to the slidability, the leaf spring is elastically deformable to conform to a non-planar surface. The system further includes a plurality of attachments to fixedly attach the leaf spring to the surface after having been elastically deformed, to make it conform to the non-planar surface, a plurality of clamps to maintain the leaf spring in the elastically deformed state, a plurality of spacers mounted on the leaf spring for maintaining the leaf spring, when so deformed, at a predetermined, substantially uniform distance from the non-planar surface, and a carriage riding on, and guided by, the flexible guide track. The carriage is provided with at least three pairs of rollers straddling and gripping the track at the longitudinal edges thereof.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.